2016 Draft Report Card: Cincinnati Reds

BEST PURE HITTER: 3B Nick Senzel (1) hit .354 in the Southeastern Conference last spring while walking nearly twice as often as he struck out. He is an advanced hitter with excellent plate coverage and rarely gets caught off balance in his swing. Senzel projects as a plus hitter. OF T.J. Freidl (NDFA) hit .401 at Nevada last spring and impressed with USA Baseball this summer with a table-setting approach.

BEST POWER HITTER: It will likely take a while for OF Taylor Trammell (1s) to get to his plus raw power, but he has the frame and developing strength to end up as a 20-25 home run hitter. Senzel hits more doubles than home runs right now, but he can be expected to turn some of those doubles to the gap into home runs as he physically matures. C Chris Okey (2) has potentially average power as well.

FASTEST RUNNER: Trammell is a 6.45-6.5 runner over 60 yards, which grades out as a 70 runner on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. He would likely nip Friedl by a nose in a head-to-head race, but Friedl also grades out as a 70 runner.

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Senzel has above-average side-to-side range at third base, but it is his plus arm with plus accuracy that stands out most and makes him a potentially plus defender at third. Senzel is comfortable throwing from many different arm angles.

BEST FASTBALL: RHP Ryan Hendrix (5) was inconsistent this spring and in his pro debut, but the reliever can sit 96-99 mph in his outings and touched 100 mph at Texas A&M. Long-term, RHP Nick Hanson (3) could end up with the best fastball of this draft class. He sits 92-93 mph and will touch 96 right now.

BEST SECONDARY PITCH: At his best, Hendrix will pitch with a 70 curveball to go with his 70 fastball. Hendrix’s curveball is hard with an excellent spin rate, but he doesn’t command it as consistently as he needs to. LHP Jesse Adams (14) has an above-average changeup.

BEST PRO DEBUT: After a slow start, Senzel hit .305/.398/.514 between Rookie-level Billings and low Class A Dayton with 34 extra-base hits and 18 steals in 68 games. Trammell handled an aggressive assignment to Billings by hitting .303/.374/.421 with 24 steals.

BEST ATHLETE: Trammell was a running back/safety in high school who has size and speed.

MOST INTRIGUING BACKGROUND: Friedl received the largest bonus ever paid to a nondrafted free agent eligible for the draft. He somehow was overlooked by many teams as being draft eligible, while the ones who did have him turned in did not draft him, allowing the Reds to land a speedy
center fielder with on-base skills.

CLOSEST TO THE MAJORS: Senzel should begin next year in high Class A and could reach Cincinnati by the end of 2017. Hendrix could move quickly as a two-pitch reliever.

BEST LATE-ROUND PICK: RHP Joel Kuhnel (11) is a hard-throwing power arm with a lively 92-95 mph fastball and a hard slider.

THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY: C Cooper Johnson (28) impressed scouts with his receiving and his plus arm. He enrolled at Mississippi.