The Cincinnati Reds made Chase Burns the highest pitcher selected in the 2024 MLB Draft last summer, using the 2 overall pick to pluck the righty from Wake Forest has a heater that reaches triple digits and an absolutely devastating slider, a combination that fueled him to the top of the strikeout leaderboard among all Division 1 college arms last year.  So, it's not at all surprising to see him immediately vaulted to the top of the Cincinnati farm system rankings, something echoed by Eric Longenhagen in the latest update to FanGraphs' Top 100 overall prospect checks in at 28 overall with a 55 FV grade, though Reds catching prospect Alfredo Duno ranking right behind him at spot 29 comes as something of an eye-opener.  The two are joined on Longenhagen's Top 100 by fellow Reds prospects Chase Petty and Rhett Lowder in an overall strong showing from the things get interesting is when you compare Longenhagen's list to the ZiPS Top 100 list dropped at FanGraphs by Dan Szymborski and his supercomputer earlier on Tuesday.  The Reds have only two prospects on the ZiPS list Jace Jung Jersey. and Burns is not one of made specific note of Burns after unveiling this year's list, noting that the lack of any pitching in the professional ranks after being drafted last year dings Burns in the eyes of ZiPS projections as college-only stats simply do not translate well in the algorithm.  That said, Rhett Lowder checked in at 74 on last year's ZiPS Top 100 despite having not pitched at all as a pro just is joined by only Edwin Arroyo this time around after the Reds had six prospects make the ZiPS Top 100 last year.  Each of Chase Petty, Carlos Jorge, Sal Stewart, and Noelvi Marte dropped off, while Arroyo fell all the way to 92 from spot 33 in you're an optimist, you can look at this pair of lists and say that each of Burns, Duno, Petty, Lowder, and Arroyo are considered Top 100 overall prospects by at least one corner of the FanGraphs crew Dillon Dingler Jersey.  If you're a skeptic - and who among we Reds fans isn't at least a bit anymore - you can see that there's certainly a divided opinion on several of the prospects in whom the Reds have invested heavily in the last few now, let us parade around knowing that someone well-qualified out there has Alfredo Duno as a Top 30 overall prospect in all of baseball and gloat accordingly.

Last edited by Barlow (Aug 01 5:24 PM)