The CINCINNATI REDS are on the verge of making a run at the central divison title for years to come.
The Reds are loaded with young talent at every postion. Jay Bruce leads the brigade with a host of prospects set to join him in Cincy in the near future.
Bruce is a five-tool outfielder that has set the baseball world on fire with possibly the best start ever for a rookie. The sweet swinging lefty from Texas looks to be the anchor of the outfield.
Adam Dunn is a free swinging lefty who has 50-home run potential every year and mans the left corner of the outfield.
Brandon Phillips is a gold glove second baseman with outstanding offensive skills that is always a 30-home run, 30-steals potential every season, scouting reports say that he's good, very good.
Joey Votto is a sweet swinging first baseman who as a rookie has gained the respect of the rest of the national league. Votto also has 30-homer potential and might be moved to the outfield from first because of his athleticism.
Edwin Encarnacion is a third baseman that also has 30-home run potential but needs to get more consistent on defense. Encarnacion makes the all-star play on defense and then blotches the routine one. He has the skills to be an above average MLB third baseman.
The pitching staff has plenty of young arms to bolster a winning record. Edison Volquez, a right handed starter, and likely starter for the national league in the all star game has ace, written all over him.
Volquez owns a fastball that reaches 98 mph and a change up that hits 68 to 74 mph that dips like a screwball. One word to describe Edison is nasty.
Johnny Cueto is another promising rookie that has a 97 mph fastball with a curve ball and change-up as well. Cueto has the bulldog mentality that former Red Tom Browning displayed.
Homer Bailey is widely regarded as a No. 1 starter if he can master command of his pitches and consistently throw strikes. Bailey is in Triple-A Louisville and working on a change-up to go with a mid-nineties fastball.
The reds have plenty of offensive power in the minors including: Juan Francisco—Juan is another bright light in the farm system and another example of the importance of international scouting in the modern game.
Juan is also working at High-A Sarasota, where he has posted a respectable line of .283/.301/.476/.777 in a pitcher friendly park.
Francisco has substantial power and is a very good athlete, capable of 40-home run potential in the majors. One thing I failed to mention is he is a shortstop—scary.
Cincinnati spent three million dollars on another gangly 16-year-old, 6-6 outfielder Juan Duran.
The Reds think Juan Duran, a skinny kid that already has 400-foot power to all fields, would have been a middle first-round draft pick, even at age 16, Reds director of Latin American scouting Tony Arias said.
Drew Stubbs, yet another outfielder in the minor league system, is a 6'5" center fielder with all the tools to be a success in the majors.
The future is bright in Cincy.
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