\n<\/p>\n
Cam Collier came off the board ranked #6 in this year’s Community Prospect Rankings for the top prospects in the Cincinnati Reds program, and he certainly deserves the honor. I’m very excited to see what he can do in 2026 in hopes of a full, healthy season again.<\/p>\n
Now, we turn our attention to candidate #7.<\/p>\n
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As usual, there will be a poll embedded at the bottom of the post where you can vote, but if that’s removed you can also find a link to the vote by clicking here (until the poll ends and I remove both access points).<\/p>\n
Also, if there’s anyone you think deserves consideration who hasn’t been listed yet, let us know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n
On to the candidates for position #7!<\/p>\n
2025 at a glance: <\/strong>6.39 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 102\/58 K\/BB in 112.2 IP with AAA Louisville Bats (International League); 13 ER in 6.0 IP with the Cincinnati Reds<\/p>\n Good:<\/strong> Three combination pitches, including a fastball that flirts with 100 mph and a 60-yard slider and cutter<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Disadvantages: <\/strong>It shined in the first cups of MLB coffee, and struggled in AAA after being demoted<\/p>\n Petty has long been on the radar of every scout in the game, a former first-rounder for the Minnesota Twins out of high school (the Reds had an eye on drafting him back then, too). He was the centerpiece of the deal that sent Sonny Gray the other way, and has entered many Top 100 lists since then.<\/p>\n Of course, he has gone back to this same list again, and most of his work in 2025 does just that. He lost at the big league level, though that’s a caveat that he just turned 22 when that went down. The stuff is still there, he just struggled to put it all together long enough to show he could be a viable big league starter. Hopefully the lumps he took in 2025 paired with a healthy season for the first time in a while will send him into 2026 ready and with something to prove.<\/p>\n 2025 at a glance:<\/strong> .340\/.396\/.532 (.928 OPS) in 207 PA with ACL Reds (Arizona Complex League); .268\/.347\/.417 (.765 OPS) in 144 PA with Class-A Daytona Tortugas (Florida State League)<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Good:<\/strong> Statcast favorite with elite exit velocity and left-handed swing power; elite athleticism and added speed give him a chance to stick at SS for a long time, though a move from the position seems likely.<\/p>\n Disadvantages:<\/strong> It came in at a shocking 35.4% for Daytona (and at a shocking 29.1% overall last year); .432 BABIP across all leagues last year screams ‘down’<\/p>\n Tools. Tyson Lewis has all the tools out there. He hit the ball over 119 mph in his pro debut, was the Gatorade Player of the Year at Nebraska before being drafted as the No. 2 player (with an overslot bonus) by the Reds, and was originally committed to the University of Arkansas.<\/p>\n The upside here is obvious, as it has the loudest bat at any level. Swinging and missing things, however, is something that he will need to fully address as he climbs the ladder, or getting out of the FSL’s close quarters would probably help some.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 2025 at a glance:<\/strong> Drafted 9th overall in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds out of Hewitt-Trussville HS (AL); 2025 Mr. Baseball in the state of Alabama, he once committed to the powerhouse University of Tennessee before signing with the Reds for $5.75 million.<\/p>\n Good:<\/strong> Speed, and its abundance; visible power and a potential five-tool player whose defense and arm look like they will play well in the short term; it was only 17 years old when it was drafted after being reclassified a year early<\/p>\n Disadvantages:<\/strong> It’s all still ‘predictable’ since, again, he just turned 18 after the draft and doesn’t have a professional PA to show for it.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Hall was also included in the 2025 class despite originally being part of the 2026 class, and the Reds \u2014 who had been scouting him \u2014 thought he had the talent to eventually become a player who would be a part of the overall selection in 2026. So, when he was picked #9 in 2025, there was no chance to sign him full time, there was no chance to sign him.<\/p>\n He has been compared to the likes of Trea Turner and Dansby Swanson, which is pretty high. Although he has never played a pro game and is only 18 years old, he is ranked 79th on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top 100 prospects in the game. How quickly he can mature and adjust to breaking balls at the highest levels remains to be seen, but the speed, glove, and arm all look like they will be major league level in a very short time.<\/p>\n 2025 at a glance: <\/strong>Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Trinity Christian Academy (FL); signed a $2.7 million overslot bonus to commit to the University of Florida<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Good:<\/strong> 6’5″; nearly 60-yard slider; fastball that tops out at 96 mph from three-quarter arm range and already has a solid three-pitch mix with his swing changeup<\/p>\n Disadvantages:<\/strong> He didn’t post professionally after being drafted, so he’s completely unknown<\/p>\n One glimpse of Watson on the mound and you think fast yeah, I bet this guy could turn into a great pitcher<\/em>. He has the right frame to produce upward pitches, and his fastball\/slider mix is \u200b\u200balready something to hang his hat on.<\/p>\n However, command of all three of his pitches \u2014 especially his developing changeup \u2014 will be what he needs to work on to begin moving quickly through the ranks. He has a good ‘feel’ right now about what pitches to throw, what portion of the offense he should attack vs. hitters, etc., but how well he can build with more manipulation of his offerings will be important.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 2025 at a glance:<\/strong> 3.11 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 118\/54 K\/BB in 110.0 IP split between AA Chattanooga Lookouts (Southern League) and AAA Louisville Bats (International League)<\/p>\n Good:<\/strong> Fastball that flirts with triple digits with ease<\/p>\n Disadvantages:<\/strong> Second pitches need work, and that affects his overall command (and ability to limit walks)<\/p>\n Franco turned 25 in November and earned a promotion to the Reds’ 40-man roster soon after because of his consistent performance in the upper levels of their farm system.<\/p>\n The Reds have had a few hulks put on the mound in recent years, and Franco is a perfect fit. He’s listed at 6’2″ and an oddly specific 257 lbs, and his size and frame allow him to get to his fastball velocity with ease. It’s an area where he misses bats the most, but how he can isolate his breaking gaps (and improve his changeup command) will determine if he can break through the lefty high and run.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n He’s been a late bloomer, in part due to an injury that cost him his entire 2023 season, and if he continues the way he’s been since getting healthy there could be a lot more for him in 2026 with Cincinnati.<\/p>\n 2025 at a glance:<\/strong> .251\/.342\/.355 with 6 HR, 40 SB in 469 PA with High-A Dayton Dragons (Midwest League)<\/p>\n Good:<\/strong> Increased speed; the former midfielder moved to CF in 2023 and in 2025 he looked like a natural there; and speed; took a 12.5% \u200b\u200bhit in K-rate from the bottom of the 2024 season; Arm strength 60 grade weapon in CF<\/p>\n Disadvantages:<\/strong> The ISO declined for the third year in a row, this time quickly; prone to excessive following<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n If you threw out all the other stops in Carlos Jorge’s career and just focused on the good, he would already be ranked right now. The good parts of his best years were great, all told. He flashed great speed (40 steals in 2025), good pop for a young-ish CF (12 HR in 2023 and 2024; .483 SLG in the cavernous Florida State League in 2023), and the ability to play outstanding CF defense (as recently as 2025).<\/p>\n Well, he added some real clunkers in there, too. He hit just .220\/.291\/.394 with a K-rate over 31% in Dayton in 2024, and that was followed by hitting just .239\/.277\/.398 in 23 games when he arrived in Dayton at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n Maybe it’s just Dayton, where he was again in 2025 in a better year, although his energy dried up again. He will certainly start with AA Chattanooga of the Southern League in 2026, and at 22 years old (his position in CF is now settled) the former 2B may finally have one song to focus his entire game on in a new place. After strengthening his defense, shaving off a bunch of strikeouts, and raising his walk rate to over 11.1% (where it was his career high), perhaps 2026 will have more in store for him.<\/p>\n 2025 at a glance: <\/strong>4.50 ERA, 5.64 FIP, 13\/4 K\/BB in 10.0 IP with Cincinnati Reds; 4.17 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 59\/32 K\/BB in 49.2 IP with AAA Louisville Bats (International League)<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Good:<\/strong> The big one. Literally gigantic (6’6″, 275-ish lbs). Throws gas (100 mph+) with a devastating slider (70 yards). And he’s titanic.<\/p>\n Disadvantages:<\/strong> Struggle and control (6.1 BB\/9 in 172.1 IP in his career in the minors)<\/p>\n Maxwell, a former 6th round pick out of Georgia Tech, throws the ball up to 102 mph with his heater, and it’s clear that hitters have as little idea of \u200b\u200bwhere they’re going as Maxwell himself. That’s the rub here, really, in that Big Sugar has the neat stuff to turn even the best hitters into guessers, and it depends that they’re going to guess wrong more often than Maxwell misses a spot in the entire PA.<\/p>\n If they swing, though, they’re likely to miss, and that’s why he’s poised to earn a spot in Cincinnati’s bullpen again in 2026 after making his debut there in 2025. He can be a little wild when it comes to being wild, and that’s a tightrope he’s walked since his days at North Paulding HS. However, when locked in, the heater is supported by a destructive slide piece, and that pitch-pitch mix – again, when locked in – is good enough to be a close thing. He has to continue to work on his delivery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cam Collier came off the board ranked #6 in this year’s Community Prospect Rankings for the top prospects in the Cincinnati Reds program, and he certainly deserves the honor. I’m very excited to see what he can do in 2026 in hopes of a full, healthy season again. Now, we turn our attention to candidate …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3858"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3860,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3858\/revisions\/3860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tyson Lewis, SS (20 years old)<\/h2>\n
Steele Hall, SS (18 years old)<\/h2>\n
Aaron Watson, RHP (19 years old)<\/h2>\n
Jose Franco, RHP (age 25)<\/h2>\n
Carlos Jorge, OF (age 22)<\/h2>\n
Zach Maxwell, RHP (25 years old)<\/h2>\n