Reds prospect Austin Hendrick has been steadily improving throughout the dog days of summer

Austin Hendrick was the Cincinnati Reds first-round selection during the pandemic-shortened 2020 MLB Draft. Hendrick was taken with the No. 12 overall pick.

Having no minor league season to speak of in 2020, Hendrick's first taste of professional baseball was last season at Low-A Daytona where he struggled mightily. In 63 games, Hendrick hit just .211/.380/.388 with 100 strikeouts.

Hendrick's numbers, on the surface this season, have not been very good. In fact, the overall numbers are worse. The 21-year-old, while splitting time at both Low-A Daytona and High-A Dayton, is slashing a combined .212/.302/.414 in 106 games.

Reds OF prospect Austin Hendrick has been heating up this summer.

Austin Hendrick had been a three-true outcome hitter in 2021. The outfield prospect was either going to strikeout, hit a home run, or draw or walk. In fact, those three outcomes made up about 60% of Hendrick's plate appearances last season.

This season, however, it's been more strikeouts and fewer walks. According to FanGraphs, Hendrick has a 9.1% walk-rate and 37.7% strikeout-rate. However, once the calendar flipped to August, Hendrick has caught fire and has ben playing much better.

Over the last six weeks, Hendrick has a walk-rate of 13.9% and a strikeout-rate of 27.7%. The outfielder is also slashing .233/.362/.454 with five home runs, 23 RBIs, and eight stolen bases.

For those fans wanting to see Austin Hendrick get his batting average above .250, you may be waiting awhile. The Pennsylvania native is certainly a power-over-hit prospect. But, that's alright if he's able to reach base consistently and crush 20-plus home runs.

Hendrick, along with Rece Hinds and Elly De La Cruz, has some of the loudest pop in the Cincinnati Reds farm system. But after a disastrous campaign in 2021, Hendrick took a tumble in the rankings of many talent evaluators, dropping all the way down to No. 20 according to MLB Pipeline. The slugger is looking to regain his good standing within the Reds organization.