Reds prospects ranking will soon take a hit, but one name is drawing immense praise

By most accounts, the Cincinnati Reds have one of the better farm systems in the league. MLB Pipeline ranks the club as having the 12th-best collection of prospects in the league. Other evaluators are even more bullish.

It won't stay that way for long. By the midseason update, we'll see the Reds take a tumble down the rankings. That shouldn't concern you at all. It means the pipeline is working just as it's intended.

The reason we'll see Cincinnati take a fall isn't that the evaluation on the crop of minor leaguers suddenly will become less rosy. Instead, it's because two of the main prospects holding the system up will no longer qualify as prospects.

Sal Stewart is raking and building an early NL Rookie of the Year case. Rhett Lowder has looked promising as well. These two will soon graduate from prospect status, and as two of the guys at the top of the system, it will hurt the rankings. That's the point. The farm isn't there to collect accolades and look pretty on some writer's breakdowns. It's there to feed talent to the big league club.

One publication that's already on the more bullish side in its evaluation of Cincy's farm is Bleacher Report. They've pegged the Reds at No. 10 in their rankings, and they've already identified the next Reds' farmhand to shoot the club back up the pecking order — right-handed pitcher Aaron Watson.

Reds' 2025 draft pick Aaron Watson is poised to become the next top prospect

We'll soon see the Trinity Christian Academy product take the mound for the first time professionally, and hopes are already high. Watson was the Reds' second-round pick last season, and the 19-year-old was so enticing that he forced the organization to buck its trend of selecting college pitchers, becoming the first prep arm to be selected by the Reds in the first two rounds of the draft since Lyon Richardson.

The Reds went over-slot to sign Watson, and you can see why. First and foremost, scouts note his advanced feel for pitching. The pitchability allows him to locate all of his pitches well, repeat his delivery, and consistently throw strikes. While that's something that can be taught, it's very hard for many young arms (looking at you, Chase Petty) to grasp, so it's nice to have that stuff already built in.

Next is his frame and the projection it provides. At 6-foot-5, 205 pounds, Watson is already more developed than most his age, but he's still so young that he'll fill out more, and with access to real player development facilities will get even stronger.

That bodes well for his stuff ticking up, and though he can already reach back and hit 95 with his fastball, it lets you dream of more. If he can put together that advanced feel with increased potency in his stuff now that he's a pro, he could become a fast riser.

Bleacher Report predicts he'll be the club's top pitching prospect by this time next year, and we don't disagree. If all goes as planned, he'll look like a true gem. If and when that happens, the tumble the system takes in the rankings will start to reverse course. This is what it's all about. Feed talent to the big league club and replace it with savvy pickups in the draft and international markets, rinse and repeat. Look for Watson to establish himself quickly as one of those next top talents.