Adolfo Sanchez and his kit have been selected as the No. 14 prospect in the Cincinnati Reds system in 2026 by you, the voters, and participants in this year’s Community Prospect Rankings. Now, we turn our attention to #15!
As always, you’ll find a link to the Google voting form here, but if you’d like to read through it first without having to bother scrolling all the way back here, it’s also embedded at the bottom. However, once voting closes, both the link and the embed will be removed, so you can’t stuff your ballot after the fact, so be aware that if you stumble across this paragraph a year from now, it will mean zero.
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Here’s how the list is implemented so far:
Listed below are plenty of talented names for the No. 15 spot. Use your votes to do it!
Aaron Watson, RHP (19)
2025 Overview: Cincinnati Reds select Trinity Christian Academy (Fla.) in second round of 2025 MLB draft; signs over $2.7M bonus, giving up commitment to University of Florida
advantage: 6-foot-5 frame; potential 60-grade slider; runs a fastball up to 96 mph from the three-quarter arm slot and already has a solid three-pitch mix with his changeup spin
shortcoming: Didn’t pitch professionally after being drafted, so he’s completely unknown
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When you see Watson on the mound, you immediately think Yeah, I bet that guy could be a really good pitcher. He has an ideal frame to produce downhill production, and his fastball/slider combo is already something he can hang his hat on.
However, he’ll need to work on controlling all three pitches – especially a very developmental changeup – to start to advance quickly. Currently, he has a good “feel” on what pitches to throw, which parts of the zone to attack, and which batters to hit, but how he builds more deception with his production will be critical.
Carlos Jorge, OF (22 years old)
2025 Overview: .251/.342/.355, 6 HR, 40 SB, 469 PA, High-A Dayton Dragons (Midwest League)
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advantage: Acceleration; Former infielder transferred to CF in 2023 and looks a natural in 2025; Acceleration; K rate cut 12.5% starting in 2024 season; Level 60 arm weapon in CF
shortcoming: ISO drops for third consecutive year, this time sharply; prone to extreme banding
If you put aside all other phases of Carlos Jorge’s career and just focus on the good parts, he’s ranked right now. All in all, the good parts of his best years were pretty huge. He’s shown great speed (40 snaps in 2025), good numbers for small CF (12 HR in 2023 and 2024; .483 SLG in the Florida State League in 2023), and the ability to play pretty elite CF defenses (as recently as 2025).
However, he also added some real old stuff in there. He hit just .220/.291/.394 on over 31% of his K’s in Dayton in 2024, and hit just .239/.277/.398 in 23 games after arriving in Dayton in late 2023.
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Maybe it’s just Dayton, where he comes in again in 2025 and has an all-around better year, even if his power once again dries up. He’ll definitely start in 2026 with AA Chattanooga of the Southern Conference, and at 22 years old (his spot at CF is now set), the former 2B player may finally be able to focus on his all-around game in a new environment. Maybe there will be more to come from him in 2026 after a stellar performance on defense, cutting down on a ton of strikeouts, and getting his walk rate back above 11.1% (which it has been for most of his career).
Liberts Aponte, SS (age 18)
2025 Overview: .247/.368/.461, 7 HR, 9 SB, 193 PA, DSL Rojos (Dominican Summer League)
advantage: 29/35 K/BB Shows much improved strike zone awareness; already a good defender in short range, his range and arm strength will be excellent in the long run
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shortcoming: Although early returns have been better than initial scouting reports, still not viewed as a potential upside with the bat; still a long way to go in terms of physical maturity
Last January, the Reds paid $1.9 million to sign Aponte, the largest single contract they had handed out during the given international signing window. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the 18th-ranked player in the class, noting that he is “one of the most skilled defenders in his class” who “provides solid wheels” and “magic in his hands,” while giving his defensive ability a 65 grade.
We know the rest will take time, because he’s only liked because he’s 6-foot-0 and 160 pounds, and that even feels like a bit of an exaggeration. To his credit, though, he hit seven home runs in the DSL as a 17-year-old while showing more power than expected, and if this aspect of his game develops to match what’s already known, the Reds could find themselves a gem.
It will be interesting to see if the Reds push him up to the Arizona Combine in 2026 or give him another year in the DSL considering he just turned 18 in November.
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Luke Holman, RHP (23 years old)
2025 Overview: ER, 2 H, 10 K, 4 BB vs. Daytona Tortugas (Class A Florida State League) in 9.0 IP
advantage: Two additional break distances (slider, curve)
shortcoming: His fastball isn’t very fast, clocking in at 91-94 mph
On June 1, 2024, Luke Holman threw 109 pitches in LSU’s 6-2 loss to North Carolina in which he posted 4 ER in 6.2 IP with 7 H, 11 K, and a single. Since then, he has thrown just 9.0 IP total on the mound.
Holman, a 2024 second-round pick out of Cincinnati who sat out the remainder of 2024 after being drafted, finished his calendar year with 91.2 IP, 2.75 ERA ball, including a stellar 0.98 WHIP and 127/33 K/BB. When his 2025 season started at Daytona, all signs looked promising in his first race, only for an elbow issue that he subsequently sat out, requiring Tommy John surgery, and we haven’t seen him since.
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His fastball had previously gone 91-94 (and hit 96) and had two wicked breaking balls, which he used as outside pitches. If he returns to his previous form (or even better!) in 2026, he’ll still be positioned as a back-end starter who should be able to move quickly through Cincinnati’s system after dominating SEC play first at Alabama and later at LSU.
Mason Morris, RHP (22 years old)
2025 Overview: 9.00 ERA, 7/1 K/BB in 4.0 IP, Class A Daytona Tortugas; 3.29 ERA, 78/31 K/BB in Mississippi State, 54.2 IP
advantage: Fastball capable of reaching 100 mph; four-tone mix
shortcoming: lack of experience
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Mason Morris committed to Mississippi State as a corner infielder in 2023, and the 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander only recently became a full-time pitcher before the Reds drafted him with a third-round pick in 2025. He has a strong shot, though, and has a 100-mph heater, cutter, and a pair of other breaking balls who look capable as well.
But the question is how Cincinnati plans to use him.
Morris only made two appearances as a pro after being drafted, and the Reds seemed interested in seeing if he could develop into a starting pitcher. However, this is something he’s never really done before, and he’ll be 23 in August 2026. So, we’ll see how long the Reds keep him on that path, because if they’re just going to keep him in the bullpen, there’s no reason he shouldn’t break out of the minors quickly in the short term and provide them with legitimate relief at the major league level.
Julian Aguiar, RHP (25)
2025 Overview: no pitches
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advantage: Four-seam fastball capable of 100 mph; five pitchers with a pair of breaking balls and possible changeup
shortcoming: Missed all of 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery; 2024 MLB debut, IP 31.2 (22 ER, 8 HR)
Julian Aguiar was drafted in the 12th round out of Cypress College in 2021 before quietly rising through the Reds’ ranks, working his way up from AA Chattanooga to AAA before joining the Reds during the 2024 season. Unfortunately, his brief stay there resulted in him needing Tommy John surgery and he missed all of 2025 while rehabbing.
He has a lot of potential on at least three balls and can still keep batsmen off balance with the other two. His 360/93 career K/BB and 346.1 IP in the minor leagues suggest he has good strikeout prowess and the ability to stop hitters from getting free passes, and if his command returns as quickly as it did after his surgery, he should be able to knock out major league hitters as early as Opening Day. My best guess, though, is that he’ll enter the rotation at AAA Louisville, first re-establishing himself as a starter, and he won’t actually turn 25 until June.
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Mason Neville, OF (22 years old)
2025 Overview: .247/.333/.442 with 1 HR, 2 SB in 90 PA with Class-A Daytona Tortugas (Florida State League); .290/.429/.724 with 26 HR, 9 SB, 280 PA with Oregon State
advantage: 60-level power, potential plus arm, acceleration, baserunning; has a chance to stay in CF, but will still show up as a solid RF if moved to corner; led Division I with 26 HR last season at Oregon State
shortcoming: His game featured a lot of swing and miss at times, including a 34.4 percent miss rate in a brief sample at Daytona.
The Reds clearly like Neville, as they drafted him in the 18th round out of high school in 2022, only to see him initially attend the University of Arkansas. After transferring to Oregon State in 2025 and beating out anyone else, the Reds returned to him in the fourth round of the most recent draft.
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Neville’s ability is incredible and his left-handed swing generates tremendous power upon contact. Although he has a tendency to swing and miss, he’s good at drawing walks and has the athleticism and speed to be a legitimate CF.
His small sample size vs. Ks at Daytona has some red flags, but it’s so small that it’s hard to have much certainty. For example, he hit .298/.365/.526 in his first 17 games, but went 2-for-20 with 9 Ks in his final 6 games – this could and probably is all small sample noise.
Big tool, Neville. He will likely be a steal in the 2025 draft.