Tommy Pham will help bridge the gap to this promising Reds outfield prospect

The Cincinnati Reds signed outfielder Tommy Pham to a one-year/$6M contract on Wednesday. That will certainly help to beef up the Reds outfield and it gives David Bell the right-handed power-bat he sorely needed.

Per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Pham and the Reds have a $1.5M mutual option for the 2023 season which includes a $1.5M buyout. Essentially, Pham will be in the Queen City for just one season. But that isn't a bad thing, as the Reds have a tremendous crop of young outfielders coming up through the farm system.

Prospect Allan Cerda is a big part of the future Reds' outfield.

One outfield prospect who the Reds will be watching closely this season is Allan Cerda. The 22-year-old was added to the 40-man roster over the winter despite the fact that Cerda has yet to play above High-A. That should give you some insight into how valuable the Reds believe this young outfielder can be.

Cerda has already asserted himself this spring. The right-handed hitter has appeared in five game thus far this spring, mainly coming off the bench later in games. Cerda is 2-for-5 in Cactus League play with a walk and two strikeouts.

Last season, Cerda split the year between Low-A Daytona and High-A Dayton. Cerda posted an identical wRC+ of 136 at both stops and combined for an OPS of .884. Cerda also put up an impressive walk-rate of 11.3%.

While all those numbers are nice, Allan Cerda did strike out quite a few times as well. The Bronx native posted an unsightly 28.9% strikeout-rate with 105 punch outs in 304 at-bats. That is the one area that Cerda must concentrate on heading into the 2022 season.

In all likelihood, the fanbase will see Cerda debut at High-A this season. If all goes well during the early part of his 2022 campaign, a promotion to Double-A Chattanooga might be in order prior to the All-Star break, and there's an outside chance that Cerda could even make it all the way up to Triple-A Louisville before the season's up.

Allan Cerda is versatile outfielder who's capable of playing all three spots on the grass. Most of his experience has come in center field, though he settled into right field for a handful of games with the Dayton Dragons last season as well.

Adding Tommy Pham to the Cincinnati Reds roster is nice stopgap option to allow the outfielders in the farm system more time to develop. Keep your eye on Cerda this season, because he might not be in the minors for very long.