With the Minor League season opening this week, here's where the Reds’ Top 30 Prospects are projected to start:

1. Chase Burns (MLB No. 25), RHP -- Dayton (High-A)
2. Rhett Lowder (MLB No. 34), RHP -- Cincinnati (MLB) -- injured list (elbow)
3. Sal Stewart (MLB No. 82), 2B/3B -- Chattanooga (Double-A)
4. Cam Collier (MLB No. 89), 3B/1B -- Injured (left thumb surgery)
5. Edwin Arroyo (MLB No. 90), SS -- Chattanooga (Double-A)
6. Chase Petty, RHP -- Louisville (Triple-A)
7. Alfredo Duno, C -- Daytona (Single-A)
8. Sammy Stafura, SS -- Daytona (Single-A)
9. Tyson Lewis, SS -- Extended spring training
10. Ricardo Cabrera, 3B/2B -- Dayton (High-A)
11. Hector Rodriguez, OF -- Chattanooga (Double-A)
12. Adam Serwinowski, LHP -- Dayton (High-A)
13. Julian Aguiar, RHP -- Cincinnati (MLB) -- injured list (Tommy John rehab)
14. Luke Holman, RHP -- Daytona (Single-A)
15. Connor Phillips, RHP -- Louisville (Triple-A) -- injured list (shoulder fatigue)
16. Sheng-En Lin, RHP/DH -- Extended spring training
17. Ty Floyd, RHP -- Daytona (Single-A)
18. Ethan O'Donnell, OF -- Chattanooga (Double-A)
19. Arnaldo Lantigua, OF -- Extended spring training
20. Luis Mey, RHP -- Louisville (Triple-A)
21. Carlos Jorge, OF/2B -- Dayton (High-A)
22. Adolfo Sanchez, OF -- Dominican Republic complex
23. Zach Maxwell, RHP -- Louisville (Triple-A)
24. Tristan Smith, LHP -- Extended spring training
25. Leo Balcazar, SS/2B -- Dayton (High-A)
26. Cole Schoenwetter, RHP -- Daytona (Single-A)
27. Peyton Stovall, 2B -- Extended spring training
28. Liberts Aponte, SS -- Dominican Republic complex
29. Tyler Callihan, 2B -- Louisville (Triple-A)
30. Luke Hayden, RHP -- Dayton (High-A)

Team to watch
While it might be tempting to send you to Dayton just to see Burns pitch while he’s there, we’ll give the nod to the next level up, Double-A Chattanooga. There are two Top 100 guys in Stewart and Arroyo on the left side of the infield there right now. A third (Collier) should join them at first base eventually, and even Burns is destined to move pretty quickly to Double-A.

Teams on MLB.TV and MiLB.TV
Triple-A Louisville
Double-A Chattanooga
High-A Dayton
Single-A Daytona

Players we could see in MLB in 2025
Petty looks very much like the kind of starting pitching prospect who could be the first one to get the call once the big league staff needs help, even though he’d made just two starts above Double-A heading into 2025 and will pitch all year at age 22. Don’t be shocked if Burns pitches his way from High-A to the big leagues, kind of like his fellow Wake Forest product Lowder did last year. If you’re looking for relief help, both Mey and Maxwell have back-end stuff that could help out if they continue to throw enough strikes.

New faces
Burns’ first pitch for Dayton will be his first official professional pitch, though he did make a good first impression during his first big league Spring Training outing. Lewis, taken in the second round after Burns, also didn’t play last summer after signing and will make his pro debut later this season. Aponte was the Reds’ big international signee when the 2025 period opened in January, getting $1.9 million to sign. He’ll kick things off in the Dominican Summer League.

On the shelf
Lowder was shelved this spring with elbow discomfort, but he’s been working off a mound back at the facility in Arizona and should be back in Cincinnati once he’s built back up. Aguiar and Phillips are upper-level arms who are out, Aguiar rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and Phillips dealing with shoulder fatigue. Stovall is back in extended spring training because of a hamstring issue and is expected to head to Dayton once he’s cleared.