I’m not sure if there was a mistake somewhere along the way, as the list is currently not up at Baseball Prospectus at all, but you can download the Baseball Prospectus Top 101 Prospects PDF right now thanks to their publishers website (with a hat tip to Red Reporter).
The Cincinnati Reds have landed five prospects on the Top 101 list. Robert Stephenson is leading the way among the Reds prospects, coming in at #30 on the list. That would rank him as the 9th best pitching prospect in all of baseball, according to this particular list. There were concerns with his control, which could lead him anywhere from a #2 starter to a late inning reliever in this write up.
Left hander Cody Reed is the next Red on the list, ranking 47th overall (and 17th among all pitchers). Despite his high ranking, the write up on Reed talks more about using him as an elite late-inning reliever. While I agree that he could certainly be that, it seems awfully early to go that route, especially given how he performed as a starter in 2015 where he dominated at three different stops.
Jesse Winker comes in a few spots later, ranking 50th overall on the list. The top position prospect in the organization saw his write up finished with this:
The raw power won’t wow you, but Winker should deliver plenty of doubles, hit for a good average and show a strong approach that ties the whole offensive package together.
Left handed pitcher Amir Garrett is the next Red on the list, coming in at #77 overall. Despite his strong season in 2015, the write up seems to have some concerns for the next step for the lefty:
That (inconsistent delivery) hasn’t necessarily mattered thus far, as he’s shown plenty of raw stuff to get by in the lower minors, but 2016 will bring with it a stronger challenge at Double-A and a chance for Reds brass to figure out Garrett’s place among the organization’s expanding hierarchy of interesting pitching prospects.
Newly acquired infielder Jose Peraza rounds out the list for the Reds, ranking four spots behind Garrett as the 81st overall prospect. He’s interestingly listed as a shortstop here.
That profile can be tough at the highest level, because major-league arms will challenge you if the worst they can expect is a line-drive single. Peraza can give you those those, though. He can also run and has experience at all three up-the-middle positions. If he improves at shortstop, he’s an everyday player.
The showing is a good, but not great one for the Reds. Tyler Stephenson failed to make the list and he ranked higher than Jesse Winker did on the Baseball America Top 10. He was the next prospect in line for the Reds according to the Baseball Prospectus Reds Top 10 that was released less than a week ago. This is the first of the major publications that has released their Top 100 (or 101, in this case). Expect to see similar names when MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN and John Sickels release their lists later this offseason (MLB Pipeline will release theirs on Friday) and maybe even expect a few additional names to crack some of those lists.