Prospect Heat Check: Cincinnati Reds
With each level of Minor League Baseball in full swing, let's take a look at who's hot and who's not within the Reds' farm system.
If you asked for my personal opinion, there is nothing a sports fan loves more than potential.
Your favorite team wins a championship, and one of the first thoughts to cross your mind is probably, “Look at everyone we have coming back. We can win it all again next year, too!”
I won’t fault anyone for that thought process, as I fall victim to it as well.
The promise of potential is as evident as ever when it comes to talking prospects in baseball. If you are in search for more prospect talk, check out Aram Leighton and Jack McMullen on The Call Up.
The goal of a “prospect heat check” is to check in on who’s hot and who’s not across the organization, and that is exactly what we are doing today for the Cincinnati Reds.
I will be highlighting the hitters and pitchers who are currently on a hot streak, or in this case off to a great start to the season. Some of those prospects may be notable names, and some of them may not be. For the players who are off to a rough start, I will only highlight the notable prospects.
Without further ado, let’s get to it.
Stats and rankings taken prior to play on April 16.
Hot Hitters
Ivan Johnson – OF – Louisville Bats (AAA)
Johnson is off to a hot start in 2025. The 2019 fourth-round selection is slashing .400/.467/.675, good enough for a 1.142 OPS. The 26-year-old has already hit three home runs and drove in 11 runs through the first 12 games of the season.
Johnson has appeared in all three outfield spots in this young season, though he is primarily going to play a corner. With the rough start to the season for the outfielders on the big-league club, Johnson could certainly get a shot this year to make his big-league debut.
Tyler Callihan – 2B/OF – Louisville Bats (AAA)
Taken just one round before Johnson in the 2019 draft, Callihan appears to be in a similar spot to Johnson when discussing Reds minor league bats who could make their big-league debut this season.
Through 15 games this season, Callihan is slashing .328/.406/.557, giving him a 164 wRC+. With three home runs, three doubles, and a triple, the 24-year-old has been an extra base-hit machine to begin the year.
Sal Stewart – IF – Chattanooga Lookouts (AA)
Just Baseball’s No. 4 prospect in the Reds organization, Stewart has been a stud to open 2025. Slashing .343/.425/.629, the Westminster Christian product is raising the possibility that he makes his way to Cincinnati late in the year.
Through nine games, Stewart already has 12 total hits with six of those being for extra bases. After splitting time between second and third base in 2024, Stewart has strictly been playing the hot corner, which is his path to playing time at the big-league level.
Hot Pitchers
Luis Mey – RP – Louisville Bats (AAA)
The young flamethrower has been off to a solid start out of the bullpen for the Bats this season, as he has thrown to a 1.93 ERA across his first five appearances. Across those five appearances, Mey has struck out six and allowed an opponent batting average of just .125.
Mey has the chance to be an important piece for the big-league club, as the bullpen we see here in April could certainly look different come August and September. If Mey can keep the walks down, he certainly could be a factor.
José Acuña – SP – Chattanooga Lookouts (AA)
Acuña was one of two pieces acquired from the Mets in the Tyler Naquin trade back in 2022. The righty so far this season has thrown 10 innings across two starts. In those two starts, he has allowed just one earned run.
Acuña was great in Double-A in 2024 before a rough ending to the season in Triple-A. If he continues with this level of production, we should see him back in Louisville relatively quickly.
Arij Fransen – RP – Chattanooga Lookouts (AA)
Fransen, a 2019 signee out of the Netherlands, was a multi-inning relief guy in 2024 and is continuing that role in 2025. Fransen has made three appearances so far, throwing 8.2 innings while allowing just one earned run and striking out 13 batters.
As the multi-inning relief role becomes more and more important for major league teams, Fransen is establishing himself as a guy within the organization who can excel in that role.
Adam Serwinowski – SP – Dayton Dragons (A+)
Serwinowski is a deceptive and funky lefty who, coming off of a solid 2024, looks great to begin to the 2025 season. Coming into the year as the 14th-best prospect in the Reds’ system, Serwinowski has yet to allow a single run across two starts.
Along with giving up just four hits in seven innings, Serwinowski has struck out nine batters. He’s a guy I am really intrigued by, and things are certainly going well for the 20-year-old out of the gate.
Chase Burns – SP – Dayton Dragons (A+)
The second-overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, Burns has certainly looked the part to begin his pro career.
The No. 1 prospect in the organization to begin the year and the No. 35 overall prospect in all of baseball, Burns has been striking out everybody through two starts. In just under eight innings of work, Burns has struck out 13 batters while only walking three. Having allowed just one earned run and with opponents hitting just .115 against him to open the year, Burns could be on the move to Chattanooga quickly.
Luke Holman – SP – Daytona Tortugas (A)
The 2024 Competitive Balance Round-B selection for the Cincinnati Reds, Holman is hitting the ground running in 2025.
The No. 11 prospect in the Reds’ system has made two starts and has allowed just one run and two hits across nine total innings of work. Being a high draft pick out of college, Holman and his 1.00 ERA should not be in Daytona much longer.
Notable Cold Prospects
Chase Petty – SP – Louisville Bats (AAA)
The former first-round pick had a good end to 2024 and was looking to build off of that in 2025. It looked like that was going to be the case after Petty put together a really good spring training, but the No. 68 overall prospect has struggled out of the gate.
Petty has made three starts and has a 5.11 ERA. But, looking deeper, Petty should be fine. His current numbers are skewed from a bad first start that resulted in him giving up six earned runs in less than four innings of work.
In the two starts since then, Petty has allowed just one earned run. All in all, Petty has already shaken off the cold start, I just wanted to provide some context to his numbers. If injuries start to plague the starting rotation in Cincinnati, Petty will be ready to jump in.
Cole Schoenwetter – SP – Daytona Tortugas (A)
A fourth-round pick out of high school in 2023, the Reds gave Schoenwetter second-round money to pry him away from his UC Santa Barbara commitment. Unfortunately, the results have been a bit disappointing so far for Schoenwetter.
It normally isn’t wise to raise questions after just two outings (one start), as the 20-year-old has a 4.91 ERA. But, Schoenwetter is coming off of a year where he threw to a 6.54 ERA across just over 52 innings of work. Six walks in 7.1 innings to open the 2025 season is not what the Reds were hoping for.
Hopefully we will look back and be able to call it first game jitters. Schoenwetter will need to clean up the control if he wants to live up to the hype coming out of the draft.
I understand these are small samples, but that is going to be the norm when doing a heat check. So far to start the season, the Reds are probably pretty happy with the performances of their top prospects.
Again, if you are like me and love all things prospects related, checkout The Call Up with Aram Leighton and Jack McMullen. You will be able to find the two of them breaking down everything you need to know in regard to prospects, including a breakdown of the Reds’ top 15 prospects on Spotify and Apple Podcast.
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