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Can he rebound from a disappointing 2024?
Carlos Jorge’s stock was sky high this time last year. He had mauled his way through the difficult offensive environment that is the Florida State League and made it all the way to the Dayton Dragons in the Midwest League in 2023, and had done so at just the age of 19. He’d swiped 32 bags, socked 12 homers, and even began the move
up the defensive spectrum from 2B to CF.
At Dayton full time in 2024, however, things turned sideways for Jorge.
His walk rate dropped from 11.4% to just 7.7%, while his strikeout rate jumped from 22.2% all the way to 31.1%. He also suffered a thumb injury on August 11th that ended his season prematurely.
The overall numbers were quite down for Jorge, though the way he was playing prior to his injury leaves hope he can climb back up this list in 2025. Over his final 29 games before the busted thumb, he’d hit .248/.358/.446 with a 17/31 BB/K, 9 2B, 3 HR, and 10 SB, numbers much more in-line with the elite set of tools he has at his disposal.
Still just in his age-21 season this year, Carlos Jorge has a whole lot of upside that is just waiting to reemerge. He’s the #19 prospect in this year’s Community Prospect Rankings, and I fully expect him to end up a lot, lot higher this time next year.
On to the voting for the final spot on the 2025 list!
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Yerlin Confidan, OF - 22 years old
2024 at a glance: .249/.343/.419 with 9 HR, 16 SB in 400 PA with Daytona Tortugas (Class-A Florida State League)
Pros: Plenty of pop from the left-hand side of the plate, with plus speed and developing plate approach
Cons: Vulnerable vs. LHP, repeated at Daytona after struggling there (.612 OPS) in 2023
Confidan flashes the kind of power from the left side that few others can replicate within the Reds farm system, and at times has put it together in-game. During the 2021 season he raked for the ACL Reds, but struggled to replicate that during most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons - seasons that saw him reach Daytona and stall somewhat.
2024 was different, fortunately, and the in-game pop began to show up (28 doubles) despite being mired in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League.
It was a performance good enough to finally earn him a likely start with High-A Dayton to begin 2025, something that’s still right on-par with his age 22 season. If his bat speed and raw power continue to develop, he’s precisely the kind of toolsy corner OF prospect the Reds desperately need in their system.
Julian Aguiar, RHP - 24 years old
2024 at a glance: 6.25 ERA, 6.86 FIP, 1.33 WHIP in 31.2 IP for the Cincinnati Reds; 3.79 ERA, 1.21 WHIP in 116.1 IP split between Louisville Bats (AAA International League) and Chattanooga Lookouts (AA Southern League)
Pros: Strike-thrower who uses a sinker/slider mix; fastball that sits around 95 mph and a potential plus changeup
Cons: Will miss the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late 2024
Aguiar was drafted in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Reds out of Cypress College (CA), a JUCO program that hasn’t exactly produced a ton of big league talent before (Rowan Wick, who caught for the Cubs for a time, and former outfielder Brandon Barnes are their best known products). He signed for just $125,000, never really sat on any top prospect lists prior to 2023, at which point he fired 125.0 IP of 2.95 ERA/1.10 WHIP work between Dayton and Daytona and firmly worked his way into the Reds pitching depth chart.
Solid enough work again in 2024 put him in line for a call-up in August when the Reds rotation was in tatters. While his numbers certainly were nothing to write home about there, he did flash some stuff that looked like it could get big league hitters out more often than not.
Problem is, it’s hard to discern just how much his stumbles before his season ended were due to the elbow troubles that eventually led him to Tommy John surgery. If he’s more effective at throwing strikes when his elbow’s in better shape, perhaps he’d have shown even more than we saw last. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait another year to find out, as he’s likely in recovery-only mode for the entirety of 2025.
Adolfo Sanchez, OF - 18 years old
2024 at a glance: .216/.356/.345 with 2 HR, 11 SB in 177 PA in Dominican Summer League play
Pros: Potential five-tool player. Those are cool!
Cons: Yet to see tools fully displayed in-game just yet; may eventually need to move off CF to a corner
The Reds went to $2.7 million to sign Sanchez in January of 2024 during the international signing window, and a quick glance at Sanchez taking batting practice will let you know why.
He’s got an incredibly smooth swing from the left side of the plate, one that carries with it plus power potential as well. A natural athlete, he makes good reads in the outfield and currently holds down CF just fine even though an eventual move to a corner may be in order. He even flashed an impressive eye at the plate during DSL play in 2024 (30 BB in 177 PA) even though the strikeouts (60) were higher than you’d like to see.
At age 18, he’s still got tons of time (and needs tons of time) to continue developing, but the baseline tools are there for Sanchez to explode onto the scene as he moves up the minor league ladder.
Peyton Stovall, 2B - 22 years old
2024 at a glance: .235/.355/.333 with 4 SB, 9/7 BB/K in 62 PA with Daytona Tortugas (Class-A Florida State League); .340/.409/.535 with 9 HR, 2 SB in 230 PA for University of Arkansas; drafted by the Reds in the 4th round of 2025 MLB Draft
Pros: Plus hit tool and plate discipline; Keith Law had him as a borderline 1st round grade in last summer’s draft
Cons: May not have the glove to stick at 2B, and his lack of power potential would make him a poor fit most everywhere else
Stovall mashed his way to 2nd team All-SEC honors after a brilliant 2024 season in the same conference that produced 1st round draftees such as Charlie Condon, Jac Caglianone, Christian Moore, Hagen Smith, Braden Montgomery, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Ben Hess, Ryan Waldschmidt, and Blake Burke. In other words, he was a bruiser within a conference of well renowned bruisers, prompting many evaluators to give him a borderline 1st round grade entering the 2024 draft.
Stovall slipped to the Reds in the 4th round, however, though the same tools that earned him that grade are still very much there: a sweet left-handed swing, great pitch recognition and patience, and the ability to spray liners all over the field. Todd Walker, if you will!
He’ll have the chance to show his tools with Dayton this year, in all likelihood, since he’ll be 22 with a lengthy college resume already intact. He’ll need to keep hitting
and show he can stick at 2B, however, since his defense doesn’t really profile anywhere else.
Luis Mey, RP - 24 years old
2024 at a glance: 3.44 ERA, 1.47 WHIP in 55.0 IP split between Dayton Dragons (High-A Midwest League) and Chattanooga Lookouts (AA Southern League); 8.2 scoreless IP across 8 G with Glendale Desert Dogs (Arizona Fall League)
Pros: Fastball that runs up to 102 mph; potential plus slider; 6’5” 235 lbs with good extension and downward plane
Cons: Accuracy? Precision? Has walked 128 batters (against 177 Ks) in 163.1 IP as a professional
Two out of three times Luis Mey is right 100% of the time. One out of three times, Luis Mey can’t find home plate with any pitch.
At times he’s as unhittable as any reliever the Reds have at any level, it’s just the consistency that has kept them slow-playing his advancement up the minor league ranks. Walks, as we all know, will haunt, and Mey has a proclivity to miss the zone enough that batters often lay off even the pitches he does pump into the zone because they know if they wait long enough he’ll throw four balls quicker than he’ll throw three strikes.
If he can continue to refine things enough to flip that ratio, though, he becomes a potential elite option at the big league level as early as 2025. There just isn’t stuff like his out there.
Arnaldo Lantigua, OF - 19 years old
2024 at a glance: .301/.430/.575 with 11 HR, 6 SB in 193 PA for Dodgers Mega (Dominican Summer League); acquired by the Reds from the Dodgers in January 2025 in exchange for $1.5 million in international bonus pool money
Pros: Plus power paired with excellent eye at the plate (51/60 BB/K in 78 career DOSL games); plus arm strength and 6’2” frame profile as prototype RF
Cons: Repeated DOSL in 2024, although he was still just 18; yet to ply his trade in full-season ball in the US
No, the Cincinnati Reds did not sign Roki Sasaki. Yes, they gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a lot of extra bonus pool money so that
they could sign Roki Sasaki. Yes, it’s all a bit unfortunate that the Evil Empire got even more evil, but it sure seemed like that was an inevitability that was impossible to avoid.
So, at least the Reds managed to get something very tangible out of that entire process, and said tangibility comes in the form of Arnaldo Lantigua, himself an incredibly promising young OF.
Ranked as the #23 overall prospect in the 2023 signing period, he initially inked with LA and took a bit to get going, but his breakout 2024 season in the Dominican put him on the maps of every team out there, Cincinnati very much included. His potential blend of elite pop and excellent plate discipline could well be farm-changing, and he’ll get the chance to show it stateside for the first time this year.
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