Checking in on Reds' notable farm prospects

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospect rankings is constantly evolving during the season as players reach the Majors and graduate off of the list.

Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Andrew Abbott and Christian Encarnacion-Strand are among Reds prospects who are, or have been, in the Top 100 during 2023. The latest to join the group is Triple-A Louisville starting pitcher Connor Phillips at No. 98.

Phillips, 22, is 3-2 with a 2.92 ERA in 20 starts combined at Double-A Chattanooga and Louisville this season. The right-hander was part of the March 14, 2022, trade from the Mariners for Eugenio Suárez and Jesse Winker. It was the same deal that also brought Jake Fraley, Brandon Williamson and Justin Dunn from Seattle.

Since his promotion to Louisville, Phillips is 1-0 with a 1.95 ERA in six starts. In 27 2/3 innings, he has 32 strikeouts but also 19 walks. One concern would be that his walks-per-nine innings rate has jumped from 3.8 to 6.2 since the promotion.

The Southern League was experimenting with a tackier baseball during the first half, so there's been an adjustment period for pitchers to readapt to regular balls.

However, there have been superb moments for Phillips. On July 21 vs. Columbus, he recorded 11 strikeouts with only three hits and two walks over seven scoreless innings.

Here's a roundup of some other happenings around the Reds' player development system:

Triple-A Louisville
Center fielder Michael Siani (Reds' No. 18 prospect) notched his 20th stolen base of the season on Thursday against Omaha. Siani, who leads the club with 21 steals, is the first Bats player with 20 stolen bases since 2019, when Christian Colon swiped 28 bases and Brian O'Grady took 20.

Double-A Chattanooga
Outfielder Blake Dunn (No. 29) continued his upward trajectory for the organization. On Thursday, he was named the Southern League's Player of the Month for July.

Dunn batted .446/.528/.699 last month while leading the league in batting average (.446), on-base percentage (.528), runs (25), hits (37) and steals (17). On July 23 at Birmingham, the 24-year-old had a five-hit game.

The Reds selected Dunn in the 15th round of the 2021 Draft out of Western Michigan University. In 92 games combined for High-A Dayton and Chattanooga, he is batting .322/.429/.501 with 14 homers and 60 RBIs.

High-A Dayton
Shortstop Edwin Arroyo, who is ranked No. 2 in the organization and No. 23 overall, continued a torrid stretch with a home run and a triple during Dayton's loss to Beloit on Friday.

Arroyo, 19, is batting .325 with 13 steals over 23 games since July 7. After a slow start to the season, he's slashing .249/.322/.419 with 10 homers, 45 RBIs and 24 stolen bases in 90 games overall.

Single-A Daytona
Third baseman Sal Stewart (No. 7 prospect) is 5-for-14 in five games this month with two doubles, three RBIs, eight walks and only two strikeouts. He's slashing .314/.427/.554 with nine homers in 49 games since June 1.

Cincinnati selected Stewart with a first-round compensation pick, No. 32 overall, in the 2022 Draft.

Arizona Complex League
Shortstop Ricardo Cabrera (No. 9 prospect) is batting .340 with a 1.008 OPS, two homers, 15 RBIs and 15 stolen bases through 29 games this season.