Four 2017 Dragons on Reds top-10 List
Baseball America, the trade publication for Minor League Baseball, has announced its annual list of top-10 prospects in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Selection to the top-10 prospect list is a notable achievement for any player among the approximately 200 minor leaguers in the Reds system.The top-10 list includes four players
Baseball America, the trade publication for Minor League Baseball, has announced its annual list of top-10 prospects in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Selection to the top-10 prospect list is a notable achievement for any player among the approximately 200 minor leaguers in the Reds system.
The top-10 list includes four players who spent the 2017 season with the Dayton Dragons. Left fielder
Third baseman
Here is the complete top-10 list:
Eight of the 10 players on this year's list have already played for the Dragons, and Hunter Greene is expected to play in Dayton in 2018. This list marks the seventh straight year in which at least one player from that year's Dayton team appeared on the Reds top-10 list after the season.
For the first time since 2001, as many as three players who spent an entire season with the Dragons made the Reds top-10 prospect list at the end of that same year. Trammell, Siri, and Santillan all spent the entire 2017 season with the Dragons (Stephenson spent the first three months in Dayton before suffering a season-ending injury). The only other seasons in Dragons history in which three players spent an entire year with the Dragons and earned a spot on the top-10 list at the end of that season were 2000 (Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns, Ty Howington) and 2001 (Wily Mo Pena, Dustin Moseley, David Espinosa).
The last time that as many as four players who had spent any time with the Dragons in the year they made the top-10 list was 2013, when six Dragons players appeared on the list (Robert Stephenson,
Senzel has been picked as the Reds #1 prospect after each of the first two seasons of his professional career. He was selected by the Reds with the second overall pick in the first round of the 2016 draft out of the University of Tennessee and appeared in 58 games for the Dragons to close out the 2016 season. He batted .329 with seven home runs and 36 runs batted in. In 2017, Senzel split the season between Advanced-A Daytona and Double-A Pensacola, batting a combined .321 with 14 HR and 65 RBI.
Greene was taken with the second overall pick in the first round of the 2017 draft out of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. He played briefly this summer at the Rookie level with the Billings Mustangs.
Trammell was the Reds supplemental first round pick (an extra pick added between the first and second rounds of the draft) in 2016 out of high school in Powder Springs, Georgia. He enjoyed a big season with the Dragons in 2017 as one of the league's youngest everyday players (age 19), batting .281 with 13 HR, 77 RBI, and 41 stolen bases.
Santillan is one of the hardest throwers in the Reds organization. He reached 99 mph with his fastball in 2017 and also featured a slider that sometimes topped 90 mph. He finished fourth in the Midwest League in strikeouts and fifth in earned run average while posting a 9-8 record at the age of 20.
Siri was at the center of one of the most exciting achievements in Dragons history in 2017 when he broke the all-time Midwest League record with a 39-game hitting streak. Siri enjoyed one of the best offensive seasons in Dragons history, batting .293 with 24 HR, 76 RBI, and 46 stolen bases. He was one of three outfielders selected to the full-season Midwest League All-Star team and led the league in hits, extra base hits, slugging percentage, runs scored, stolen bases, and total bases while finishing second in home runs. He was also selected as the league's "Best Defensive Outfielder" and "Fastest Baserunner" in a poll of league managers. Siri was 21 years old for most of the season.
Stephenson showed clear progress in his second year with the Dragons in 2017 and was firmly stationed among the league leaders in RBI until he suffered a thumb injury in July that ended his season. He batted .278 with 6 HR and 50 RBI in 80 games while also making progress defensively at the catcher position at the age of 20.
Mahle and Winker, both former Dragons, enjoyed outstanding seasons in 2017 and both players finished the season with strong stints in the big leagues with the Reds. Mahle (2015 Dragons) went 10-7 with an organization-best ERA of 2.06 while splitting the year between Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Louisville. He made four starts with the Reds and posted a 2.70 ERA. Winker (2013 Dragons) hit .314 in Louisville and then played in 47 games with the Reds, batting .298 with seven home runs. Long, also a former Dragon, split the season between Daytona and Pensacola, batting a combined .281 with 16 HR and 50 RBI. He was with the Dragons in 2015-16.
Baseball America also selected the Reds prospects with the "best tools" in several categories. Siri was named the Reds prospect with a best tool in four different categories including "Best Power Hitter," "Fastest Baserunner," "Best Athlete" and "Best Outfield Arm."
The full list of Best Tools as well as the complete top-10 list and other comments from BaseballAmerica.com is here: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2018-cincinnati-reds-top-10-prospects/#K1jK2Al0Pz01wZeH.97
Reds # 1 Prospects by season from Baseball America since 2000:
Reds #1 prospect following their seasons with the Dragons. Chris Gruler also pitched briefly for the Dragons in the year he was selected as the Reds #1 prospect (2002).
2017: Nick Senzel, third baseman
2016: Nick Senzel, third baseman
2015: Robert Stephenson, right-handed pitcher
2014: Robert Stephenson, right-handed pitcher
2013: Robert Stephenson, right-handed pitcher
2012: Billy Hamilton, shortstop/center fielder
2011:
2010:
2009:
2008:
2007:
2006: Homer Bailey, right-handed pitcher
2005: Homer Bailey, right-handed pitcher
2004: Homer Bailey, right-handed pitcher
2003: Ryan Wagner, right-handed pitcher
2002: Chris Gruler, right-handed pitcher
2001: Austin Kearns, outfielder
2000: Austin Kearns, outfielder
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