Former and Future Dragons on Reds Top-10 List
As expected, Billy Hamilton, now the all-time leader in single-season stolen bases for all of professional baseball, is rated as the # 1 Reds prospect by Baseball America. Hamilton spent the 2011 season with the Dragons and set an all-time Reds organizational record by stealing 103 bases, then set the record for all of pro ball in 2012 with 155. The Reds are converting Hamilton from shortstop to center field.
Flame-throwing starting pitcher Robert Stephenson, who spent the last six weeks of the 2012 season with the Dragons and may return to the club to start 2013, is ranked as the Reds second best prospect. Stephenson threw a pitch that registered at 101 miles per hour on the scoreboard radar gun in his Dragons debut last summer at the young age of 19. He is arguably the hardest thrower in Dragons history and considered by some to be the hardest-throwing teenage prospect with the Reds in decades.
Baseball America projects that Stephenson could be joined in the 2013 Dragons rotation by two other members of the Reds top-10 prospect list, which would give the Dragons one of the most interesting starting rotations in franchise history. Left-handed starting pitcher Ismael Guillon is listed as the Reds # 8 prospect, while right-hander Dan Langfield is # 10. Guillon, like Stephenson, finished the 2012 season with the Dragons and could return in 2013. Langfield was the Reds third round draft pick in 2012 out of the University of Memphis and could also start the 2013 season with the Dragons. Few clubs in Minor League Baseball could feature three starting pitchers ranked among their organization's top-10 prospects.
Meanwhile, hard-hitting outfielder Jesse Winker, the # 6 prospect on the list, appears to be on a clear path to start 2013 with the Dragons. Winker, just 19 years old, was the Reds supplemental first round draft pick in 2012. The Orlando, Florida native batted .338 for the Billings Mustangs in his professional debut after signing last summer. In Baseball America's listing of "Best Tools", Winker is ranked as the "Best Hitter for Average" in the Reds organization.
Nick Travieso, a right-handed pitcher who was the Reds top draft pick in the first round in 2012, could also potentially see action in Dayton at some point in 2013. He is rated as the Reds # 5 prospect. Outfielder Jonathan Reynoso is rated at # 9 and could see some action in Dayton in 2013 after some time in extended spring training. Travieso and Reynoso both played two levels below the Dragons on the Reds organization ladder in 2012.
Former Dragons starting pitcher Daniel Corcino is listed as the Reds # 4 prospect. Corcino was a key member of the Dragons 2011 club that finished with the Midwest League's best record. He pitched at the Double-A level in 2012.
Here is the complete list from Baseball America:
1) Billy Hamilton, shortstop
2) Robert Stephenson, right-handed pitcher
3) Tony Cingrani, left-handed pitcher
4) Daniel Corcino, right-handed pitcher
5) Nick Travieso, right-handed pitcher
6) Jesse Winker, outfielder
7) J.J. Hoover, right-handed pitcher
8) Ismael Guillon, left-handed pitcher
9) Jonathan Reynoso, outfielder
10) Dan Langfield, right-handed pitcher
Reds # 1 Prospects over the last decade by season from Baseball America (listed with the upcoming season):
* indicates player played for Dragons
2013: *Billy Hamilton, shortstop/center field
2012: *Devin Mescoraco, catcher
2011: Aroldis Chapman, left-handed pitcher
2010: *Todd Frazier, third baseman/outfielder
2009: Yonder Alonso, first baseman
2008: *Jay Bruce, outfielder
2007: *Homer Bailey, right-handed pitcher
2006: *Homer Bailey, right-handed pitcher
2005: *Homer Bailey, right-handed pitcher
2004: Ryan Wagner, right-handed pitcher
2003: *Chris Gruler, right-handed pitcher
2002: *Austin Kearns, outfielder
Complete information on the list is available at baseballamerica.com