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A pair of former 1st round picks by the Cincinnati Reds were listed among the Top 100 prospects in all of baseball on Saturday. Both lefty Nick Lodolo (2019) and Hunter Greene (2017) cracked the list at MLB Pipeline, with Greene checking in at #53 and Lodolo just a tad ahead at #47.
Lodolo, a Texas Christian University product, had a stupid-good short season debut in 2019, striking out 30 against nary a walk in 18.1 IP for the rookie league Billings Mustangs. He received a non-roster invite to big league spring training with the Reds in Goodyear, AZ for 2020, and is expected to move quickly through the minors given his polish and command.
Meanwhile, Greene hasn’t thrown a professional pitch in roughly a year and a half now thanks to an elbow injury that he tried to rehab through before eventually needing Tommy John surgery. His combination of tools when healthy, though, is rather legendary, as his 102 mph fastball as a 17 year old led the Reds to take him 2nd overall in the 2017 MLB Draft. He’s likely to miss the first portion of the 2020 season while finishing up his rehab from surgery, but should make a return to the mound in the Reds system at some point this year, likely with A+ Daytona. Yes, he’s been on the shelf for an incredibly long time since being drafted, but keep in mind he’s still just 20 years old - and some 20 months younger than Lodolo, even.
The two were the only Reds prospects to make the cut, as Jonathan India (#53 in last year’s rankings) fell off the list after an up and down 2019 season. Tyler Stephenson had an outside shot at making the cut after the best season of his professional career at AA Chattanooga, but apparently just missed the cut as well.
Adding a bit of insult was the inclusion of several former Reds prospects who featured prominently. Both Jeter Downs (#44) and Josiah Gray (#67) made the cut, both now with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization after the trade that saw Matt Kemp, Alex Wood, Yasiel Puig, and Kyle Farmer go the other way (with Homer Bailey included, too). Meanwhile, Taylor Trammell (#57) had a rather large slide down the rankings following a lackluster 2019 season, but the now San Diego Padre prospect still made the cut after being dealt away in the three-team deal that landed Trevor Bauer in Cincinnati.