Reds top prospect Steele Hall is turning heads with surprising new development

The Arizona Complex League is in full swing, and one of the Cincinnati Reds top prospects has gotten off to a hot start out in the desert. Shortstop Steele Hall has come of the gates swinging (literally), but there's been one thing that Reds fans didn't expect to see so soon. Hall has some pop in his bat.

The Reds selected Hall with their first-round pick just last summer, but he didn't make his pro debut until earlier this month. This has become somewhat of a standard practice for the Reds of late. Two of their most recent shortstop prospects — Sammy Stafura (2023) and Tyson Lewis (2024) — had their professional debuts delayed by almost a year following the draft.

The Reds appear to be following that same blueprint with Hall who, despite being drafted last July, has played fewer than 20 game as pro thus far. He's amassed just 18 starts with the ACL Reds and has fewer than 100 plate appearances.

Reds prospect Steele Hall is showing off his power

Because of the small sample size, Hall's performance in the ACL should be taken with a grain of salt; but you can't just ignore what he's been doing either. Through 18 games for the ACL Reds, he's hitting .297/.436/.608 with four home runs and a 143 wRC+.

It's that last number of the slash line that should be receiving the most attention. While the ball certainly flies differently in Arizona, a .608 slugging percentage with 14 extra-base hits in just under 70 at-bats is quite impressive. Reds fans had heard about Hall's speed, but if he's able to hit for power too, this could turn out to be quite the pickup.

Hall's been showcasing his speed as well this year. He's swiped nine bags, though he's been thrown out three times. He's striking out more the Reds would prefer (23.5% K-rate), but some of that is offset by his 17.6 walk rate.

The ACL wraps up near the end of July, and after that, the Reds are likely to promote Hall to Low-A Daytona to close out the year. The aforementioned Lewis played 46 games in the Complex League last season before being promoted to the next level.

This season, Lewis is hitting just .232/.298/.345 at with the Daytona Tortugas after posting a combined .311/.376/.486 slash line between the ACL and Low-A last season. Lewis' sophomore slump should act as a warning sign for Hall. He may be excelling at the moment, but the journey to the big leagues is not without difficulty.

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