Day one of the 2025 Major League Baseball draft is now complete. The first day consisted of the first three rounds, with rounds 4-20 coming tomorrow. The Cincinnati Reds only had three picks on the first day and they used them to pick a high school shortstop, a high school pitcher, and a college pitcher.
1st Round: Steele Hall – Shortstop
Steele Hall was the Reds pick in the 1st round. Cincinnati took the shortstop out of Hewitt-Trussville High School in Alabama with the 9th overall pick in the draft. As we wrote in the article about him earlier when the selection was made, he’s a big time athlete with the potential to be an All-Star caliber player who can contribute in just about every way a position player can. The Reds were impressed this past season as he looked better every time they saw him and they believe that given his age – he was originally in the 2026 draft class, but graduated high school a year early to be eligible for this year’s draft – that he can carry that forward and that if he hadn’t graduated a year early he could have potentially been the top pick in next year’s draft.
2nd Round: Aaron Watson – RHP
With their second pick of the night the Reds stuck with a high school player. This time around they selected Aaron Watson out of Trinity Christian Academy in Florida.
The 6′ 5″ and 205 lb. right-handed starter has plenty of projection as he fills out his frame. The hope is that when that happens he can add some velocity to his fastball, which currently works in the low 90’s and has been up to 96. He pairs his 2-seam fastball with a 4-seamer, a slider, a curveball, and a splitter. His slider is the best pitch and rates out as above-average, while the other two secondary offerings are more average.
He’s got good pitchability and good control. His ceiling likely depends on if he can add velocity and how much. Without picking up something on his fastball he profiles more as a back end starter, but things get better from there if the velocity increases over the next few years.
3rd Round: Mason Morris – RHP
Cincinnati went with a college pitcher with their final pick of day one. Mason Morris pitched out of the bullpen at Ole Miss during each of his three seasons there. The first two seasons did not go well.
His third season he looked like a completely different pitcher as his ERA dropped from 6.55 in 2024 to 3.29 this year. He changed his arm angle, picked up significant velocity, threw more strikes, and added a new pitch which became his best offering. Some teams think he might profile as a starter. If he does wind up in the bullpen his upper 90’s fastball and plus cutter in the low 90’s will pair well with his slider.
Looking towards Day 2 of the Draft
The remaining 17 rounds of the draft will take place on Monday, starting at 11:30am. Over at RedsMinorLeagues.com we will have full coverage throughout the day if you are looking to follow along or even just check in from time to time throughout the day. You can listen to the conference call for all of the picks on MLB.com throughout the day.
On the second day of the draft the Reds will probably select 14 or 15 players who will eventually sign. Expect every player taken in the top 10 rounds to sign because the teams lose that player’s slot value if they don’t, so organizations only draft players in those rounds that they are pretty certain will sign.
Still not happy with 1st day draft.
With the available players at the #9 position, I would have gone wih Arnold or Carlson.
I do not like the fact, he has a lot of issues with breaking ball. Over the last 14 or so years,the Reds really stink at selecting and devloping players.
Sad day to be Reds fan.
Don’t stress yet. This kid has a real chance of being a good player. Hes only 17 so he has some time to develop.
Tyler Stephenson
TJ Friedel
Matt McClain
Chase Burns
Andrew Abbott
Nick Lodolo
Hunter Greene
Tony Santillian
Carsen Spiers
Julian Aguilar
Tyler Mahle
I’m probably missing someone. There are teams who have done better, but Reds have a pretty good job of drafting and developing.
Let’s see how this plays out in a year if 2 to see if this kid can make it to The Show.
Add Lyon Richardson and Graham Ashcraft to that list.
Elly should go in there too since they developed him. If you’re talking strictly draft picks TJ Friedl doesn’t belong in that list. He was an undrafted free agent.
14 years is pretty arbitrary, no idea why you chose that number. But how bout since the current regime?
Very good chance that the entire SP staff will be made up of Reds 1st/2nd round draft picks – Green, Lodolo, Abbott, Burns and Lowder.
Infield – Elly, McClain, Stephenson
Outfield – Friedl
Bullpen – Richardson, Ashcraft, potentially Mey and Maxwell.
And with Collier and Stewart knocking on the door, I’ll be honest, I’m pretty happy with the Reds drafting developing.
Now having said that, not crazy about the 1st round pick. But at 17 years old, he’s got plenty of time to prove me wrong and I hope he does!!
@Colorado Red – Hello. Happy Monday – what evidence do you have that the Reds stink at developing players? I don’t think you have any data to back that up beyond “feelings”. if you do, please share. Doug has provided plenty of evidence that the Reds have been very good at drafting and developing plays for the past decade.
Please provide a link to the data set that you are referencing too.
Name some position players who have been drafted and developed by the Reds in the last 15 years. How many all star games have they made?
They have done decent with pitchers, Abbott in the 2nd rd looks like an all timer. Greene, Lodolo and Ashcraft have all came thru the Reds system. Impressive.
They simply have missed on position players. Not sure if they take the wrong guy or the right guy isn’t being developed by our minor league instructors. Probably a combo of all of those things. A high school SS is a little better than a lottery ticket.
I think that if making the All-Star team is the criterion for a successful draft pick, every single pick is a lottery ticket.
How many all-star games? Since when is that the criteria for a good draft pick?
If a guy makes it to the majors and has a solid career as an everyday player or starting pitcher, I’d say it was a good draft pick.
I am once again here to re-iterate that by the time you get to the middle of THE FIRST ROUND the average pick turns out to be a bench guy or a non-closing type of reliever. And it gets a lot worse from there. Half of second round picks never get a cup of coffee.
Carlson is 360 days older than Hall, is less of an athlete, and played on one of the most loaded HS teams in the country so he had plenty of protection in that lineup.
I thought the Reds might draft Billy Carlson, and I would have been fine with that choice. Carlson hits better, and he was drafted tenth. Find any mock draft where Steele gets picked over Carlson. I did not see one. Check their videos out for yourself. Steele does not compare at all with the first and fourth picks in this draft. They were shortstops who show much better hitting ability.
William, how many of these high school shortstops did you actually see play at a game you attended?
Why can someone not share their thoughts without you disparaging their comments in some form?
You have made a run the last view days. I understand that there was a full moon recently, but I would think no one from this forum walked across your lawn recently.
Because it gets old seeing people whine and complain about kids they’ve never seen play in person. They have no idea if the pick will work out, all they’re doing is looking at pre-draft rankings and mock drafts.
Not one mock draft from last year picked Chase Burns at 2
Steele is also a full year (minus 5 days) younger than Carlson.
This:
The Reds were impressed this past season as he looked better every time they saw him and they believe that given his age – he was originally in the 2026 draft class, but graduated high school a year early to be eligible for this year’s draft – that he can carry that forward and that if he hadn’t graduated a year early he could have potentially been the top pick in next year’s draft.
Time will tell. Reds are just projecting which means guessing he would go high in the draft if he was there next year. At least the kid is moving in the right direction with his development.
Roch Chowolwsky is going 1-1 in 2026. He would have gone 1-1 this year if he was draft eligible.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the first MLB draft in 1965.
The Reds have now picked 15 SS with their first round picks. Hunter Green was drafted as a pitcher but also played SS when he didn’t pitch in HS.
Barry Larkin no doubt the most successful SS picked by Reds.
Age is a powerful metric in this draft. Hall could be a huge hit in this draft
We probably won’t see the first 2 picks until the ACL starts as they will most likely not start on a full season team. Morris most likely Daytona with the possibility of Dayton. Will be interesting to see what each signs for. We have nice group of SSs throughout the organization, but none who looks to push out EDLC. Arroyo, Balcazar, Stafura, Lewis and Hall should occupy the SS position from Louisville to the ACL Reds next year. I’m thinking a couple of them might be in trades over the next few seasons. Hopefully, Watson gets 40-50 innings in with the ACL Reds. Let’s hope Morris will fast track and play at a couple of levels next year, hopefully ending up at Dayton, possibly Chattanooga. Would’ve loved to see the Reds take Arnold or Witherspoon at 9, but the FO might’ve been gun shy as we’ve had many college pitchers who were drafted high over the last 3 drafts that have not yet made an impact in the organization due to injury or ineffectiveness.
Trade or move positions to fill an area of need. I think Stafura would make an excellent CF. Possibly Lewis too, but I haven’t seen him play yet. All these guys could play 2B and most of them 3B if needed.
For all the pearl clutching about shortstops, Hall is the second shortstop in the last 25 drafts whom the Reds have selected with their first pick. The other is Matt McLain.
Among the other “shortstops” they have selected through the years are Eric Davis, Billy Hamilton and Rece Hinds. What position they played at age 17 is almost entirely irrelevant, other than being a pitcher or position player.
OBE>>
“What position they played at age 17 is almost entirely irrelevant, other than being a pitcher or position player.”
As an old once upon a time catcher, I’d also separate catcher from the other field positions. 😉
Craig Biggio and Kyle Schwarber could always hit better than they could catch, and are the exception. They were hitters first and catchers as an afterthought. Guys like Bench, the two Pudges, and Mike Piazza stayed behind the plate till their bodies gave out.
Good point. OBE was himself a young catcher.
Joey Votto and Bryce Harper were catching prospects at one time too.
Fisk was a hit first catcher that us old guys remember.
Bench was a heck of a pitcher in Binger OK. I think he was 16-0 his Sr. yr. if I remember correctly.
Yours truly was also a catcher and has the 70-something year old knees to prove it. Played Knothole but not in HS. Only intramural (softball) in college. Knees still hurt.
I still have my Johnny Bench model catcher’s mitt from my college intramural days.
David Espinosa (2000), Alex Blandino (2014), and Jeter Downs (2017) also SS drafted 1st round by Reds.
That makes me feel better lol
Among the Great 8 plus Driessen (DH), only Bench and Griffey were drafted by Reds. Perez and Rose were signed in 1960 before the draft. Morgan, Foster, and Geronimo were acquired in trades. Driessen and Concepcion were undrafted free agents.
Among the pitchers, Nolan, Gullett, and Zachry were drafted. Norman and Billingham were acquired in trades. Alcala undrafted free agent. Eastwick and McEnaney were drafted. Borbon acquired in trade,
Last year Tyler Bell who was drafted 66 by the Rays decided to go to college. He was the only player drafted in the first two rounds not to sign. He was the starting SS for UK , and was there best offensive player. Due to his age he will be eligible for next years draft, and will probably be a first round pick.
I actually like the Hall pick. Hadn’t heard much about him, and he slipped pretty far down Keith Law’s board at the Athletic IIRC, but I like the pick. He has a pretty high ceiling and is quite young for draft. We haven’t seen Cam Collier in the show yet, but we likely will in the next 18 months. His combination of youth and hit tool are looking good at this point. I’m not concerned that a 17 year old hasn’t hit quality breaking pitches very well yet. He’ll sign and get the better part of a decade to become proficient, but if he has a good work ethic and good character make up, it shouldn’t take nearly that long.
The draft is the draft. It is very rare that a team drafts someone that helps immediately, e.g., Skenes. But these picks are 5+ years away from mattering to the Reds if they ever do. The question is what is Krall going to do in the meantime to produce a competitive team. No given that the Reds are in striking distance of the playoffs with 60+ games to go. So, like everyone, it’s interesting to see the draft picks and debate who should have been picked, but let’s not lose sight of the big picture.
Back in the day, an abundance of quality prospect capital could be important in acquiring a good player to add to the major league team. We dont see much of that anymore which is frustrating.
If the Reds make any really big additions to the MLB roster at this deadline, prospects are going to be paying the way.
A leftie hitter like Lux or Fraley may be in the give to help the Reds with salary; but, the trade will be about the prospects the Reds send with them.
Sometimes it seems that teams hang on to quality prospects for bragging rights/rankings instead of using them constructively. Considering the high failure rate of prospects, that just seems like a really bad business model.
They just need to make a move. On a topic, Mason Neville may be a really good pick at some point – potentially a power hitting CF’er? That would be something.
“They just need to make a move.” Yes. A good one. Which will require prospects (i.e., maybe or maybe not mlb-ers down the road) in return. Do it.
Making a move just to make a move hardly seems like a good plan. Would trading 6 of our top 12 prospects to get Ryah O’Hearn and Jhoan Duran make the Reds a world series contender? I think not.
From what I am hearing Steele Hall was a good pick for the Reds. This is contrary to my reaction and comment of his selection being a move to save money. What do I know.
The Reds need to develop an heir to Elly because I do not believe that they have a snowball chance in hades of signing him long term when he is a FA.
I believe Tyson Lewis will move to CF, Arroyo will be traded, Stafura will become a utility player. Rambling ended. I thank you.
Tyson Lewis MAY become a major talent, but yeah, I see him moving to another position other than SS. The way he is hitting, I wonder why he is still at the ACL level?
@Doofus>> It could be true that Hall was a good pick *and* that the Reds think they can save some slot money on him.
Hall reclassified himself to make this draft. He must want to sign now. Contrast Cam Collier, for example. He reclassified, then went to junior college and was still drafted several months short of 18 years old.
Hall was picked at least 3 slots higher than any of the public rating sources had him. That might give the Reds leverage to get him to split the difference between his projected slot and actual slot.
Makes sense JW.
July 13 Fangraphs mock draft had Hall at #9 to the Reds.
I will be the first to admit that I don’t follow the draft all that closely. But it baffles me why you would draft a high school player who has been playing against 15 and 16 year olds.
Surely, there was a better college player available. Someone who has played against the highest amateur competition in the country.
Nothing against these kids but if they ever have an impact it will likely be after Nick Krall and Tito are long gone. Why not pick someone who could impact your team in a couple of years. I just don’t get it.
Because this isn’t the NBA or the NFL and none of them are stepping on the field tomorrow. Most 1st rounders never turn into more than a bench guy/reliever, so you take the guy you think has the best chance to be an impact player.
Why would you pass on a possible all star for a guy that is at or just above league average just to help team now. This isn’t how the mlb draft works. Dude is getting Tre Turner comps, so this could end up being one heck of a pick. Ask Angel fans how they like drafting players out of college to “impact” their roster today.
A short thread from bluesky about this that I saw this morning while waiting for my dog to do her morning routing out in the backyard.
Yeah, the Reds were idiots to take Johnny Bench from Binger, Oklahoma in 1965, as were the Mariners with Griffey, Jr. and ARod, and the Nationals with Bryce Harper. Joe Mauer? Awful. Carlos Correa or Byron Buxton, who were 1-1 and 1-2 in 2012? Useless; the Indians were much wiser in using #15 to select Tyler Naquin.
The very best high school bats don’t go to college, nor do players from the Dominican or Venezuela. There are plenty of hitters who would have been 12th rounders out of high school but who develop in college to be be drafted much higher, but for the most part, 21-year-old minor league pitchers compete against better hitters and deeper lineups than 21-year-old college pitchers, even in the SEC or ACC. And vice versa.
Well. Old Big Ed, you probably also recall that the Reds took Bernie Carbo ahead of Johnny Bench in the 1965 draft.
Bernie Carbo. Who had ONE good season (1970).
So it goes…
The Reds saw Bench twice. Once as a P (like everyone else) and once as a C. He regularly pitched for his HS team. They got lucky.
Carbo actually had a nice career. He couldn’t hit lefties; he had a career OPS of .838 against RH pitching, but only .610 against lefties. But it was good enough for a career 126 OPS+, a .389 career OBP, and 18.4 WAR.
One of his comps on Baseball Reference is Jesse Winker.
Carbo led a tough life, though, but is apparently doing well now. His SABR bio on BR is worth reading.
I think I also saw where he (Bench) ocassionally played 3rd base (badly) in HS, and some scouts saw only that.
Yeah, Bernie did have a decent season with the Cardinals in 1973, and had years with the Red Sox, where he also had several good years. He never repeated his 1970 debut year with the Reds. A cautionary tale about players that “burst” on the scene, but never repeat or exceed their “rookie” year.
@V4L
You probably should have stopped at “I don’t follow the draft all that closely”
@Allthehype Please share with us your extensive knowledge of these players. It must be nice to have all the answers.
You had an opportunity to be kind or snarky you chose the later. Hope you feel good about it.
The first round pick was very Billy Hamilton like. I would have taken Billy Hamilton, if I had the choice of only the two. The Reds should never draft any hitter in the first round who is not built for their home run friendly baseball park. If they do not have a hitter like this, draft a good pitcher. Best wishes to Steele Hall. My confidence in Reds leadership is at an all-time low.
As far as “built for it,” Mantle and Mays were under six feet tall and weighed less than 200 lbs. Henry Aaron was six feet tall, but less than 200 lbs. I know a number of commenters feel that any non-pitcher the Reds acquire should be a home run hitter, but many of the same people get upset about strikeouts and poor on-base skills. My view is that a team, even the Reds, needs players to get on base in addition to sluggers. A two run homer has at least twice the impact of a solo shot. We have no idea–well, some of us have ideas–no real knowledge of what this kid will become. What we do know is that he’s fast, athletic, and 17 years old.
Exactly! Steele is at best four to five years away from the majors. But if the Reds hit on this pick, his skillset plays in any ballpark.
MLB.com currently projects Hall’s power at “45,” which equates to 14-18 HRs per season. According to Baseball Reference, Hamilton averaged four HRs per season, which equates to “20-25” on the scouting scale. Comparing Steele’s MLB.com scouting report with Hamilton’s 2013 scouting report (the year he debuted with the Reds), Steele has a better arm and projects to play the same level of defense as Hamilton, but at a more valuable position. Steele looks like the better prospect, and the most significant difference is that he’s a good bit stronger than Hamilton.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/explaining-the-20-80-baseball-scouting-scale/
I’m sure Reds leadership won’t be able to sleep tonight because the great William has no confidence in them.
If you disagree with someone do you think it is good form to be constructive?
Power is wasted in GABP. Homers hit in the 18th row count the same as ones that land in the 1st row. (Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr. had an ongoing comedy routine about this.) It’s like Fenway Park before the area behind home plate was heightened. I saw Fredie Patek hit 3 homers in a Fenway game, and saw Bucky F. Dent hit a routine fly ball one early October afternoon that barely cleared the Wall.
The Reds don’t need a lot of big power hitters there. They need several guys with 25-HR power, plus guys who can get on base in front of them. They need a deep lineup, and they are close to having one.
Mason Neville was chosen in the fourth round, out of Oregon State.
A left handed power hitting outfielder, tied for the college lead with 26 HR this year, but he may strike out a lot (during his junior year, struck out at a 34% level, cut down a lot this year, and his power numbers went up).
Runs well, could stick in CF, where he played most of the year for Oregon State in 2025.
This is the power hitting outfielder that many Reds fans wanted. See how fast he moves up in the Reds’ farm system.
I saw a video of Hall saying his favorite players were Mookie Betts and Dansby Swanson. He said he likes the leadership qualities of Swanson. I thought that was pretty mature for a 17 year old to pick up on the qualities of those two players and pattern his game and leadership approach off of those players.
It sounds like he could probably definitely eventually play in the big leagues from a defensive and speed approach, and have the power to hit a fair amount of homeruns. Of course, hitting is the main skill you need, so understandably I’d understand the concerns with it being said he may not be a great hitter.
I think any 17 year old is a risk for any team picking them wherever they do in the first round. Maybe the Nationals #1 pick is more of a lock of course, but the MLB draft is a lot of guessing overall I think. I think this is where you really see who has the best scouting dept. when drafting the high school players though.
Overall, I think it’d be hard for me not to just always pick the best College Pitching or Hitting Prospect. It’s such a long wait for these young high school players to get to the big leagues, usually 4-5 years at the earliest it seems?
There’s very few Griffey/Sotos who I think both made it to the Majors at 19 years old?
He seems like a pretty likeable young man, and I hope he turns out to be the player that the Reds expect him to be. Don’t know if he is finished growing at 17, and may put on more weight, and more muscle. As BK said, he is years away from helping the Reds, in any case. Only time will tell if he it the player they thought he would be.
I think the Reds drafted for the most talented player they thought was available, and not particularly for any specific need, hence, not a college player who might be closer to the Majors, like Ike Irish, who many of the experts expected to go higher in the draft.
They drafted Mason Neville in the fourth round, and he is older and might be closer to reaching the ML level. Or, maybe never.
Maybe the Reds can issue a “no diving back to first base” order to Steele for the first few seasons of his pro career?
Why the question mark with the last sentence? It’s an obvious statement. I’m with you on not being a big fan of drafting guys that are so young and need much more development. He has great speed but we don’t even know if he can handle college pitching. Fingers crossed that it works out.
I’m always amazed at the number of non-scouts who opine on 17-21 years olds they’ve never seen, and probably never heard of until they saw someone’s mock draft (also called a crapshoot) a week ago. There have literally been a handful of sure things in the past 38 years (Griffey Jr, Harper, Strasburg, Skenes). No one, and I mean no one, has any idea how these draft picks will develop … or not.
Most of the people complaining about a pick, have never actually seen the player in person. They’re just basing their opinion on the various mock drafts and player rankings.
If we draft a guy later than her was “supposed” to go? Great pick. If we take a guy earlier than he was supposed to go? Terrible pick.
The truth is, we will not know whether it was a good pick or not until several years down the road. A guy that seems like a reach may have been a smart pick all along. And a pick that seems like we outsmarted everybody else may be a bust.
Anyone see where the Reds have drafted another 1B from Canada?
Ty Doucette, left handed hitting 1st baseman from The Great White North.
Joey Votto, redux, or just a later draft choice that may never see AAA level?
Doug, who was the lowest draft selection by the Reds, that you remember, that had a lengthy career in the majors?
Ken Griffey was drafted in the 29th round in 1969 and played in MLB from 1973-1991.
29th Round Geez they got really luck then. Most guys past the 4th or 5th round never see major league baseball action of any kind.
Kevin Mitchell was signed as an undrafted free agent in 1980 (back when there were like 45 rounds).
Supposedly Mitchell hadn’t even played high school baseball. He just showed up at a Mets open tryout as an 18 year old.
He played for almost 15 years.
2x AllStar
NL MVP
World Series champion.
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/draft/team-draft.php?t=CN5 I’s go with Chris Chambliss (although the Reds never signed him). He was picked in 32nd round of 1967 draft then picked again (higher) in 1968 draft. He was star 1B for NYY.
Well, he was a “star” first baseman for the Cleveland Indians first, then was traded to the Yankees, where he had more visibility in New York City.
A normal franchise would look at its athletic young multidimensional talented prospect capital depth and trade from an area of strength to fix a weakness at the major league level.
Lots of teams out there in sell mode and not in the mix for 2026 either
Find a controlled elite outfielder who wont help the bad team win now and will get expensive in the Arb years and trade some cheap young talent
Kyle Stowers Marlins is blowing up.
Lefty OF who hits lefties and is controlled for years
19 bombs and AS and Marlins aint winning
Trade the Marlins Chase Petty Arroyo benson and Collier and grab your franchise RF for the next 4 years and they can throw in a good reliever
This team needs a good lefty right fielder
Friedl hays stowers is a good OF
Marte elly mcLain Steer solid
Catching duo solid
Lux and espy nice extras
Fraley a bench bat until his shoulder goes
Trade for a Geno Suarez 2 month rental – give them Rece Hinds and a A prospect back
Its time to act
I disagree that lots of teams are in sell mode.
In the AL, there are 3 teams that are more than 4.5 games out of the wildcard. And one of those is the Orioles, who at 7.5 could be still on the fence.
In the NL, there are 5 teams that are more than 5.5 games out of wildcard. And of those, I’d question if the Marlins @7.5 would be in sell mode, as well as they were playing before the break.
So realistically, probably 6 teams “could” sell at this point.
And if you assume all teams within 5.5 of wildcard are buyers, that’s 22 teams that “could” be buyers.
So, most definitely a sellers market and the prices and competition will reflect that.
Of course the seller/buyer calculus in the 2 weeks after the break. But right now, I’d bet the sellers are asking for a boatload back in trade. Why wouldn’t they? They hold all the cards right now and the market is well in their favor.
If more sellers get added to the pool, it would might bring down prices a bit.
But the time to act is not now while prices are at a premium and, judging by the fact that trades have not been occurring,. I think the buying teams are all in consensus on that.
“Of course the seller/buyer calculus could change in the 2 weeks after the break.”
Why would the Marlins trade Stowers who doesn’t even hit arbitration until 2027? That’s like saying we should have traded Elly last year.
i believe in the seventies the reds sent a scout to Hilton Head, South Carolina to scout a kid named Driessen. then hetold the scout about his brother, a softball player named Danny. i’d say that was a home run signing.
The 2025 MLB draft seemed weak overall, especially at the top of the first round compared to some past drafts. My hunch is the Reds would have taken any of the three players taken right before them in the 1st round over Steele Hall, but that’s how the luck of drafts go. I would have liked Hernandez, Arquette, or Parker over Hall. Besides Aiva Arquette and Ike Irish, I’m not sure there were any really good/dependable college power hitters draftable by the Reds in the first round and beyond. Irish sounded like a liability on defense, similar to CES and Candelario. Jace LaViolette would have been fun to dream on, but many of the same swing and miss issues as Mason Neville, with less athleticism. Hoping a couple of the Reds players pan out.