Stock Up, Stock Down for Cincinnati Reds' Top 10 Prospects for Week 3

With the Cincinnati Reds dealing with some early struggles in the 2015 MLB season, some fans have started to look at minor league players to see if the organization has any players who could help the big league club.

It's still really early in the season, so it may be tough to tell how ready some of the Reds' top prospects are for a shot in The Show. Some have looked good early on, while others are still trying to get into a rhythm.

Overall, don't expect any major overreactions or underreactions to any of the prospects' starts to the season. It's tough for the club's view on the players to change this early, so unless there have been any sizzling or disastrous starts, most of the stocks have remained steady.

No. 10: OF Yorman Rodriguez

Last week (Triple-A): 6 G, 4-for-20, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, 3 K, 1 BB

There are high hopes for Yorman Rodriguez, but right now, he is having some trouble adjusting to tougher pitching.

In his first 15 games at Triple-A, Rodriguez is hitting just .184 and has only three extra-base hits. The outfielder doesn't figure to hit for average in the majors, but he is expected to have some pop in his bat. It's just not there right now.

Rodriguez got a taste of the majors last season, hitting .222 with no extra-base hits in 11 games. Add those numbers to his Triple-A numbers this year, and it's clear that he needs some more time to grow as a hitter. 

The 22-year-old has played in a total of 26 games above Double-A. To say that his stock has dropped dramatically as the result of poor numbers in such a small sample size wouldn't be fair. Every young hitter needs time to develop at his own pace. Right now, Rodriguez is just going through growing pains. 

Stock: Slightly down

No. 9: OF Aristides Aquino

Last week (Single-A): 4 G, 3-for-14, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 6 K, 0 BB

There was a lot of hype about Aristides Aquino this spring, but unfortunately, that hype is going to go away for a little bit.

Aquino is off to a slow start this season, hitting .226 with just three extra-base hits in 53 at-bats. The 21-year-old outfielder won't get a chance to improve on those numbers anytime soon.

During Friday night's game, Aquino broke his left wrist as the result of getting hit by a pitch. That means he will be out for at least a month.

Stock: Down

No. 8: RHP Nick Travieso

Last week (High-A): 2 GS, 1-1, 11.2 IP, 15 H, 7 R (6 ER), 7 K, 2 BB

Nick Travieso may not get the attention that some of the other top prospects in the Reds system get, but last season, he started to show why the club drafted him in the first round back in 2012.

The right-hander posted a 3.03 ERA in 26 starts last season, earning himself a promotion to High-A this year. So far, the results have been fairly good.

In his first start last week, Travieso did not allow a run in six innings of work. He allowed just five hits and two walks while striking out five.

Unfortunately for him, he had to face the same team five days later. Travieso gave up seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits in 5.2 innings in his second outing. He struck out just two batters in his last time out.

Travieso had allowed a total of three earned runs in 18.1 innings pitched through his first three starts of the season. He did struggle in his latest outing, but overall, he is putting up strong numbers this season.

Stock: Up

No. 7: LHP Amir Garrett

Last week (High-A): 1 GS, 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 7 K, 0 BB

Picking up where he left off last season, Amir Garrett is off to a good start in 2015.

The left-hander allowed just one earned run in six innings of work in his latest start. That comes on the heels of five innings of three-run ball in his first start of the season.

Although some young pitchers struggle with control early in their careers, that's not the case with the 22-year-old southpaw so far this season. Garrett has struck out 13 batters while walking just two in 11 innings of work.

Garrett has the stuff to get hitters out. He is currently getting his first taste of High-A ball, but if he continues to put up strong numbers, he will be moving to the next level quickly.

Stock: Up

No. 6: RHP Anthony DeSclafani

Last week (MLB): 2 GS, 1-1, 13 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 5 R (1 ER), 10 K, 3 BB

The prospect who has been turning the most heads this year has been Anthony DeSclafani.

Through his first four starts of the season, DeSclafani's 1.04 ERA is the best in the National League. That means his ERA is better than the likes of Clayton Kershaw and Johnny Cueto. That's just nuts.

DeSclafani had a mixed bag of results this past week.

In his first start of the week, he threw eight shutout innings against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers never came close to sniffing a run against the young right-hander, managing just two hits and a walk. For whatever reason, manager Bryan Price chose to yank DeSclafani even though he had just 91 pitches through eight innings. With that decision, the 25-year-old was not able to go for the first shutout of his career.

DeSclafani's latest start was pushed back one day as the result of a rainout. He wasn't as sharp as he had been through the first three starts, and neither was his defense. He allowed five runs in five innings of work against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, but just one of those runs was earned.

Right now, Cincinnati has to be thrilled with how the Mat Latos trade has turned out. While DeSclafani has burst onto the scene, Latos has struggled early on with the Miami Marlins. Although the Reds had hoped that the trade would help them for years to come, they probably didn't expect such great results so soon.

Now, it will be up to DeSclafani to prove that this hot start isn't a fluke.

Stock: Up

No. 5: RHP Nick Howard

Last week (High-A): 1 GS, 0-1, 2 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 0 K, 4 BB, 1 HBP

After a great start to the season, Nick Howard had his first hiccup of the year in his last start.

The 22-year-old right-hander was only able to get through two innings despite allowing just two hits. Four walks and a hit batter tell the story of Howard's control problems, which have become a bit of a concern early on. He has had more walks than strikeouts in every start this season.

On the plus side, Howard has been so unhittable that the walks aren't hurting him right now. He has allowed just six hits in 12 innings and has yet to surrender a long ball this season. He certainly won't be able to get away with walking hitters in the majors, but right now, he isn't getting hurt by his command problems—for the most part.

If you were going to base his stock at the moment solely on this past week, which featured two innings, you'd have to say that it's slightly down. However, considering he had been nearly unhittable through his first two starts, his stock isn't going down right now.

Stock: Steady

No. 4: RHP Michael Lorenzen

Last week (Triple-A): 1 GS, 0-1, 6 IP, 11 H (1 HR), 5 R, 7 K, 1 BB

Michael Lorenzen's last start came with a bit of extra rest, as he went more than a week without making a start. There may have been some rust involved, leading to a poor stat line.

Entering his last start, the right-hander had allowed just one run on nine hits in 13 innings. That was a very promising start for a pitcher who had made a good impression on Reds manager Bryan Price this spring.

Overall, Lorenzen is looking great this season. His control (12 strikeouts to four walks) has been excellent, and he is eating innings.

Lorenzen's performance is important right now. There was talk that he could make the big league club out of spring training, perhaps as a reliever. That didn't happen, but given the way the Reds bullpen has struggled so mightily this season, the team could be looking for internal options.

If he bounces back from his last start and once again posts strong numbers consistently, he could work his way to the majors soon.

Stock: Steady

No. 3: OF Jesse Winker

Last week (Double-A): 8 G, 7-for-30, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 8 K, 4 BB

Jesse Winker is viewed as a future cornerstone for the Reds, but like many young hitters, he is still trying to adjust to facing tougher pitching as he rises through the system.

Winker got his feet wet in Double-A last year, batting .208 with two home runs and five doubles in 21 games in Pensacola. This year, the 21-year-old is putting up similar numbers, hitting .228 with two home runs and two doubles in 16 games.

Both of those are extremely small sample sizes, so there's no reason to worry yet. The outfielder is still young and has shown plenty of ability with the bat.

Even though the season is just 16 games old, it's fair to put his stock slightly—very slightly—down right now. However, expect it to start rising as he settles in at this level.

Stock: Slightly down

No. 2: RHP Raisel Iglesias

Last week (Triple-A): 1 GS, 0-1, 4.1 IP, 8 H (2 HR), 4 R (3 ER), 1 K, 1 BB

In his first start since April 17, Raisel Iglesias got roughed up a bit. However, given that he is just starting his professional career in the United States, there's not a big reason to freak out by a less-than-stellar start.

Iglesias, even after a solid major league debut, was sent down to Triple-A earlier this season to make room for Homer Bailey. The Reds had to be hoping that he would be able to work on using all of his pitches and learn how to go deep into games. So far, the latter part hasn't happened.

Through his first three starts in the U.S., the Cuban right-hander has yet to go deeper than five innings in any game. That's a little concerning, but at the same time, it was probably expected.

There's no question that Iglesias' stuff is ready for the majors. Now, he just has to find a way to go deep into games consistently.

Given Jason Marquis' recent struggles, the Reds could be looking at calling up Iglesias at some point in the near future. That means Iglesias' next few starts will be very important.

Stock: Steady

No. 1: RHP Robert Stephenson

Last week (Double-A): 2 GS, 0-1, 11 IP, 12 H (2 HR), 9 R (7 ER), 14 K, 5 BB

Although there are several pitching prospects receiving more love than Robert Stephenson right now, the young right-hander is still the team's top prospect.

Anthony DeSclafani, Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias all appear to be more ready than Stephenson at this point. That may be a blessing in disguise for the 22-year-old pitcher. With all of those talented arms ahead of him in the system, there's not much pressure on him to be ready right now. He can take his time and develop at his own pace.

Stephenson, like Iglesias, needs to work on going deep into games. He has yet to make it out of the sixth inning through his first three starts, averaging around 90 pitches per start. The high pitch counts can be attributed to the fact that he has 21 strikeouts (and seven walks) in 16.2 innings.

Barring a slew of injuries, Stephenson probably won't be called up to the majors until September. Once he gets called up, he's going to need to show what he can do. The Reds may need him in Cincinnati next season, so Stephenson will need to continue to make progress over the next few months. 

Stock: Steady

All stats are from MLB.com and MiLB.com as of April 26.