2022 Red Reporter Community Prospect Rankings: Dauri Moreta is your #22 prospect!

The brilliant run of scoreless, nearly flawless innings by righty Dauri Moreta as he rose through the minor league ranks of the Cincinnati Reds system in 2021 was a sight to behold. He breezed through AA Chattanooga, did the same at AAA Louisville, and rode his newfound fastball velocity all the way to the big league bullpen by season’s end.

I hope it stays that easy for him. I hope the 2022 big league season takes place in enough form and fashion to let him roll right through it for the Reds, too.

Moreta is your #22 prospect. On to the voting for spot #23!

Joe Boyle - RHP (22 years old)

2021 at a glance: 2.29 ERA in 19.2 IP split between the Reds’ Arizona Complex League (7.0 IP) and Daytona Tortugas (Low-A Southeast)

Pros: Tremendous triple-digit fastball, elite strikeout ability (41 K in 19.2 IP)

Cons: Duck! Or, jump! 14 BB, 2 HBP, 2 WP in those 19.2 IP

The 6’7” Boyle throws some serious heat, man. Routinely sitting at or above 100 mph with his fastball, he mixes in a hard slider that, paired with a frame that makes it feel like he’s stepping on home plate at his release point, makes him a strikeout machine. The only problem is, of course, that the scouting report shows that a whole lot of those offerings are going to miss the zone, and batters have reacted accordingly.

That big frame and hard motion means it’s been a bit of a struggle for Boyle to repeat his delivery, and it’s up to the Reds new pitching gurus to figure out how to make it so. If so, the former 5th round pick out of Notre Dame is going to be a fast-track asset in the team’s relief corps, as that kind of arm talent simply doesn’t show up very often.

Malvin Valdez - OF (18 years old)

2021 at a glance: .218/.363/.347 in 212 PA in the Dominican Summer League; 25 SB

Pros: Prototypical power/speed combo who projects as a potential middle-of-the-order bat and CF; 17.0% walk rate in DSL play

Cons: 34.4% K-rate in DSL play, pitch recognition must improve

This CPR update led off with comparing Ariel Almonte to Christian Yelich, with Almonte having signed during the international window in 2021 for some $1.85 million. Enter Malvin Valdez, who signed for $1.9 million in that same window, and let’s go ahead and compare him to...Mike Cameron.

Power and speed for days with the ability to cover CF? Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of upside teams look for all over the planet, and in Valdez, the Reds hope they’ve found that rare combo in a player - one who can expertly cover one of the most difficult defensive positions and be perhaps the biggest bat in the lineup, too.

There’s obviously a long, long way to go with Valdez, of course, and he struggled more in the DoSL than did Almonte just last year. With these kinds of tools, though, we’ll be plenty patient, and hope that as his pitch recognition improves, a lot of the swings and misses we saw from him during his first pro PA in 2021 turn into barreled rockets down the line.

Jared Solomon - RHP (24 years old)

2021 at a glance: Same as his 2020 at a glance, which is to say...nothing. Solomon missed all of 2021 after a lack of a 2020 MiLB season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery

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Pros: High-spin fastball that runs up to 99 mph, plus slider.

Cons: The injury, obviously, and that he’s not pitched in a game since 2019; questionable change-up puts his ability to stick as a starter in question, as does control.

Solomon yielded just 5 HR in over 115 IP during the 2019 season, the last season in which he posted any sort of stats for us to break down. It was a season that mixed in early struggles with command, some brilliance in the middle, and some shoulder issues he managed to pitch through while progressing from (then) Low-A Dayton to (then) High-A Daytona. On top of that, his ability to spin the ball was highlighted specifically during the early days of the Driveline revolution around Spincinnati, and it looked like he was precisely the kind of in-house prospect the new pitching gurus would perfectly mold.

The unfortunate followed, of course, and Tommy John surgery was then required, meaning we’ve not seen him since those 115.1 IP of 3.98 ERA, 8.7 K/9 ball. Still, there was enough that Solomon showed to prompt the Reds to add him to their 40-man roster last winter and keep him away from any would-be Rule 5 Draft selection, and it’s clear they think his upside is still pretty damn promising. Not bad for a former 11th round draftee out of Lackawanna College (PA).

Reiver Sanmartin - LHP (25 years old)

2021 at a glance: 3.32 ERA in 100.1 IP split between Chattanooga Lookouts (AA-South) and Louisville Bats (AAA-East), 112/28 K/BB; 1.54 ERA in 11.2 IP with Cincinnati Reds, 11/2 K/BB

Pros: Three-pitch mix of fastball/slider/change, career 1.8 BB/9 indicates ability to hammer the zone while keeping the ball in the ballpark, too (just 6 allowed last season across all levels)

Cons: Stuff doesn’t wow, generously listed at 160 lbs

Reiver Sanmartin came to the Cincinnati Reds from the New York Yankees as part of the Sonny Gray, Shed Long deal, and has continued to climb the minor league ladder in steady fashion since then.

On the surface, there’s not a ton to him, both physically on when watching his stuff. He’s slight of frame and chucks his fastball up to the occasional 91 mph, but a bit of a herky delivery helps him hide the ball well enough while mixing in solid slider and change offerings to keep his opponents off-balance. That and the fact that almost all of them go for strikes are his biggest weapons, as is keeping the ball both on the ground and in the ballpark.

It’s an approach that saw him get his big league cup of coffee last season, and with Wade Miley jettisoned to save a few bucks, he’s now firmly in the mix for a back-end rotation spot if and when the 2022 big league season ever materializes. Whether he’ll stick there or end up in a relief role is still TBD, though the 25 year old (26 in April) just continues to put up numbers that suggest he deserves to be in the mix for the Reds somewhere, somehow.