2021 Red Reporter Community Prospect Rankings: Ryan Hendrix Is Your #19 Prospect!

Congratulations to Ryan Hendrix! We are down to our last placement on the list. You get two choices, make them count!

Joel Kuhnel, 26, RHP

Where he spent 2020: Cincytown

What excites you: Dude throws super hard.

What concerns you: He’s gotten beat around in the big leagues.

Fangraphs Page

Joel Kuhnel is a monster of a man, coming in at 6’5 and tipping the scales at near 300 pounds. He uses all that potential energy to sling fastballs towards the plate at 100+ MPH hour. That part is really cool, and honestly Kuhnel has been kind of a fan favorite at Red Reporter for a couple years now because he’s fun. The dude has a legit 70 grade fastball and a slider that plays. His scouting grade for his control isn’t terrible, but he has shown some struggles with his command. While he doesn’t walk a ton of guys, it’s pretty likely he doesn’t always put the ball where he wants.

Due to some of these concerns, Kuhnel, has had some serious struggles when he’s been with the big league club. Mostly, he tries to live and die with that fastball and MLB hitters turn it around about as fast as he brings it in there. If he could find a little better command, and rely more his secondary offerings, Kuhnel has closer like potential. However, right now he’s relegated to AAAA/middle relief status, but he’s still fun.

Mariel Bautista, 23, OF

Where he spent 2020: Alternate Site

What excites you: Good athlete, scores well in a lot of tools with plus power and plus defense.

What concerns you: Plate discipline. The guy needs to walk more and strikeout less.

Fangraphs Page

Mariel Bautista is the case of that youngster that has all the tools but the chances of him figuring it all out is not real great. Taking off 2020 due to the pandemic likely didn’t help his career much either. Bautista has spent most of his time with the Reds in the variety of development and rookie leagues until 2019. Before that year, he showed really good ability at the plate. While he didn’t walk a ton, and his strikeout numbers were better than I thought they would be, he wasn’t able to transition all that success to Dayton. Now, I wouldn’t say that his 2019 season in Dayton was terrible. He posted a 87 wRC+ with an OBP over .300. His batting average was a bit low, walked at a 6.5% clip and struck out in around 20% of his at bats. With his tools, and if he can actually get some development time, there is still a chance for the youngster. But, he needs to show that those tools have developed now.