For the first time in 20 months, the minor-league baseball season is back.
It was a long road to reach 2021 Opening Day across the minor leagues. The 2020 season was canceled because of the pandemic and the start of the ’21 season was pushed back a month to allow for a minor-league spring training.
There have been a lot of changes to the minor leagues since the end of the 2019 season. There are now only four levels – Triple-A, Double-A, High-A and Low-A – after Major League Baseball consolidated the structure and axed 40 affiliates.
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Each level will experiment with a new rule. Triple-A will have larger bases (15 inches square to 18 inches), which may increase stolen base attempts. Double-A will have restricted shifting. Infielders won’t be allowed to position themselves in the outfield. High-A will require pitchers to step off the rubber before they attempt a pick-off move. Low-A will limit pickoffs to two per plate appearance and experiment with an automatic strike zone in most ballparks.
Despite all the changes, the biggest relief for teams is that their young players and top prospects will finally play in games again. Here’s where the Reds top prospects will begin the minor-league season (*Baseball America rankings):
Low-A Daytona
Pitchers: RHP Christian Roa (#11), RHP Bryce Bonnin (#17), RHP Case Williams.
Position players: OF Austin Hendrick (#2), 3B Rece Hinds (#8), SS Ivan Johnson (#12), 2B Tyler Callihan (#16), 1B Michel Triana (#20), OF Allan Cerda (#23).
If there’s one thing about the Daytona roster, they have a lot of guys who can hit – and hit for power. Hendrick was the No. 12 pick in last summer’s draft, and he has incredible bat speed. He was viewed as the top high school power hitter in his draft class. Hinds was the organization’s top hitter at the instructional league last year, hitting five homers in about 20 games, and he features jaw-dropping power.
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Callihan, a third-round pick in 2019, was considered one of the best pure prep hitters in his draft class. He lost about 15 pounds from last fall, which should help him improve defensively. Several scouts like Johnson, a switch-hitter, as a breakout candidate.
Triana was one of the organization’s top international signees in 2019 and he’s known for his bat. Cerda hit nine homers in 39 games at rookie-level Greeneville in 2019.
There are a lot of power arms at Daytona, too. Roa was the Reds’ second-round pick last summer out of Texas A&M. Bonnin, a third-round pick in 2020, impressed at the instructional league last year. The Reds traded for Williams when they acquired Jeff Hoffman from the Colorado Rockies, a guy they targeted in the draft but was picked right in front of them.
More: Reds prospect Austin Hendrick takes out cars with homers in minor-league camp
High-A Dayton
Pitchers: RHP Lyon Richardson (#13), RHP Noah Davis (#15), Graham Ashcraft (#30).
Position players: CF Michael Siani (#10), OF Mariel Bautista.
Richardson and Ashcraft participated in spring training games with the Reds this year. Richardson, a second-round pick in 2018, pitched well against older hitters and he was throwing in the upper-90s at the end of minor-league spring training. Ashcraft, listed at 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, reached 100 mph in a spring training game.
Davis, an 11th-round pick, throws in the mid-90s and features a strong slider. He spins the ball well, so he’s a good fit with the Reds’ pitching development staff.
Siani is considered the best defensive outfielder in the Reds’ farm system. He spent time at the alternate site last summer. In 2019, he had a .333 on-base percentage and stole 45 bases. Bautista has a ton of raw power, but he struggled at Dayton in 2019 when it was the organization’s Low-A affiliate.
Double-A Chattanooga
Pitchers: RHP Hunter Greene (#5), LHP Nick Lodolo (#7), RHP Nick Howard (1st-round pick in 2014).
Position player: SS Jose Garcia (#1).
Greene hasn’t pitched in a minor-league game since July 26, 2018. He missed the 2019 season because of Tommy John surgery and then the pandemic hit. He did spend last summer at the alternate site and he worked with the big-league club in spring training. The headline is that he reached 105 mph this spring, but he’s been working hard at his secondary pitches.
More:How a spring training start may have been a turning point for Reds prospect Nick Lodolo
Lodolo was the first pitcher taken in the 2019 MLB Draft. He’s not far from being big-league ready, but he’s worked hard at improving his changeup. Howard, 28, struggled with the yips and was already released by the Reds once. Give him credit for putting himself in position to earn another chance (he briefly was in the Royals’ farm system).
Garcia played 24 big-league games last season and he’s viewed as the Reds’ shortstop of the future. The reason he’s starting in Double-A is that he hit .194 in 67 at-bats with 26 strikeouts. He had the talent to skip from A-ball to the Majors, but the Reds know he needs time to develop offensively.
Triple-A Louisville
Pitchers: RHP Tony Santillan (#9), Vladimir Gutierrez (#14), RHP Riley O’Brien (#27).
Position player: OF TJ Friedl (#24).
Santillan, Gutierrez and O’Brien are all on the 40-man roster, so they’re on the big-league radar. Gutierrez, who served an 80-game suspension, could be the next starter called up. He didn’t allow an earned run in seven innings this spring, striking out 11 and walking two, and he’s pitched well at the alternate site (five scoreless innings in a start last week).
Santillan dealt with some injuries in 2019, but he throws in the mid-90s with a solid slider. He could be a power reliever if the Reds opted to move him out of the rotation. The Reds acquired O’Brien when they traded Cody Reed to the Tampa Bay Rays. O’Brien struck out five in 2 1/3 hitless innings this spring.
Friedl is a speedy outfielder with good plate discipline. He stole 30 bases in 131 games in 2018, and 13 bases in 65 games in 2019.
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