![]() The Cincinnati Reds have had eight different shortstops rank as Top 100 Prospects since 1990 – though several have been in the Top 100 multiple times. The 1990 date is also important because that’s when Baseball America had their first Top 100 list, so from a true comparison standpoint, that’s as far back as we can go when it comes to rankings. ![]() That’s just after the “Barry Larkin era” began in Cincinnati, so it should cover every true shortstop prospect since. Let’s take a look back at the Cincinnati Reds shortstop prospects going back to 1990 – among those who rated in the Top 100 Prospects at Baseball America. But that is only speaking directly to prospect rankings for the answer rather than looking at the player himself. It was a question that I had a quick answer for. A user on twitter responded with a question of “Is he the best shortstop prospect for the Reds since Barry Larkin?” And that things could get really interesting if he’s going to make contact at an elite rate. I noted in a tweet that he still had not struck out this spring, and that last August he had only struck out 10 times (in 108 trips to the plate). Garcia only got one at-bat, but he singled. On Monday afternoon Garcia came into the Reds game against the Los Angeles Dodgers as a replacement, taking over at shortstop for Alex Blandino. That’s an extreme example, of course – but that’s the opinion of someone paid by a Major League Baseball team to evaluate talent, who had someone I didn’t even consider for my own Reds Top 25 list rated ahead of Jose Garcia and Jonathan India. There’s always going to be some disagreements among scouts on who is a better prospect than who – for example, I heard a report from one scout who had seen the Daytona squad this summer who had a player that I don’t have in my Top 25 rated as the teams best prospect. Among the five major national lists – Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, and The Athletic – Jose Garcia only made two of the lists, and Tyler Stephenson only made one of them. They’re both very good, Top 100 caliber prospects in my view.īut that view didn’t always align with some of the national publications. ![]() Stephenson performed in Double-A and his track record is a little bit longer, so he got the edge for me, but it was pretty close and there wouldn’t be much argument at all if anyone wanted to flip the two of them in their own rankings. Both guys had a bit of a breakout year – though Garcia’s was more of a breakout given his 2018 season – and both guys have plenty of the tools you want to see from players at premium positions. It came down to Tyler Stephenson and Jose Garcia. This past offseason when I was creating the Cincinnati Reds Top 25 Prospect list, one of the tougher decisions for me was who to rank third and who to rank fourth on the list. The shortstop isn’t just hitting, though, he’s also shown off his defensive chops several times in his seven games played, too. Small sample size alarms aside, he’s turning some heads. 417/.400/1.250 with one walk, no strikeouts, two sacrifice flies, a stolen base, a double, and three home runs in 15 plate appearances. Jose Garcia is out to an outstanding start this spring for the Cincinnati Reds. ![]()
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