Reds just gave their once struggling top prospect a chance to flip the script

Austin Hendrick is one step closer to making his Major League dreams come true. This week, the Cincinnati Reds promoted Hendrick from Double-A Chattanooga to Triple-A Louisville, and he'll now have a chance to prove that he has what it takes to make it to The Show.

Hendrick was the Reds' first-round pick in 2020 — a draft that's now rather infamous for churning out subpar talent. Among the others taken in Round 1 of the 2020 MLB Draft were Heston Kjerstad, Robert Hassell III, Reid Detmers, Zac Veen, and Nick Yorke. Outside of Garrett Crochet and Pete Crow-Armstrong, there was very little top-talent taken in the first-round that year.

Reds prospect Austin Hendrick has a lot to prove in a little time

Hendrick has been stuck in the lower-levels of the Reds' farm system for years. Because of the cancellation of the minor-league season in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, he missed out on a year of development.

He began his minor-league career at Low-A Daytona in 2021, but an inordinately high strikeout rate came him in the Florida State League for two seasons. He moved up to High-A Dayton during the second-half of the 2022 season, but once again, strikeouts remained a chief concern.

Hendrick was finally promoted to Double-A Chattanooga to begin the 2024 season, but that's where he's been stuck for the last three years. Hendrick accumulated 251 games played and 883 at-bats at the Double-A level before finally receiving a shot with the Reds' Triple-A affiliate.

Hendrick was in right field for the Louisville Bats on Tuesday night and recorded his a base hit in his first Triple-A at-bat. He finished the evening going 1-for-3 with a strikeout, before the game was paused due to rain.

It's tough to call this a make-or-break season for Hendrick. He's been labeled as a bust for several years now. But his promotion to Triple-A gives the 24-year-old a chance to flip the narrative and show the Reds' front office that he has what it takes to be a big leaguer.

The aforementioned strikeouts have haunted Hendrick throughout his career, and in 37 games with the Chattanooga Lookouts this season, he was striking out 29% of the time. But he's got some massive pop in that bat and represents a lottery ticket that Cincinnati has yet to cash in. Hendrick is the same age as Noelvi Marte, so it's not as if the idea of him finding success is utterly hopeless.

Will Hendrick ever make an impact at the major-league level? Most critics would say, no. And they're probably right. But some players are late bloomers, and if Hendrick excels during his tenure with the Bats, it's possible that he'll eventually get his shot to swing the bat in the big leagues.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow