Get to know the pitching prospects in Reds' big league camp

Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Nick Martinez and Brady Singer are locks for the Reds’ rotation to start the season. The final spot could come down to Andrew Abbott, Rhett Lowder, Graham Ashcraft and Carson Spiers with health likely playing a factor.

Behind that group is a very intriguing group of starting pitchers who represent the next wave of arms in the Reds’ farm system.

Let’s say that Abbott wins the fifth starter spot and Ashcraft goes to the bullpen. The Reds’ Triple-A rotation in that scenario could include Lowder, Spiers, Chase Petty, Connor Phillips and Jose Acuña. And Chase Burns would be starting what’s expected to be a fast rise up through the system.

“If things happen where it gets wobbly, we have more depth than we’ve ever had in the minor leagues,” pitching coach Derek Johnson said. “All of those things have to come together. We have to perform. But it’s exciting.”

Rhett Lowder is still technically a prospect. He posted a 1.17 ERA in six big league starts last season during a rocket climb up through the farm system.

“Dude, this guy has it,” said Reds catcher Austin Wynns, who split time last year between Triple-A and MLB. “The stuff is so refined for such a young age. Hopefully he heals up because the team needs.”

Wynns is a grizzled veteran who has seen a lot. The 34-year-old has played for five different teams across six big league seasons. He spent most of last year with the Louisville Bats and also appeared in a few games with the Reds.

He sees a very dynamic one-two punch of top pitching prospects between Lowder and Chase Burns, who Wynns caught in a live batting practice last week.

“(Burns) is going to be on the fast track, that’s for sure,” Wynns said. “You should have seen him in the bullpen. The first pitch (a fastball), I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Then he threw the splitter, and I was like, ‘OH MY GOSH!’” His stuff is elite. Once he keeps gaining that mature aspect and knows what he’s doing with his pitches, the sky's the limit. He’s really good.”

Burns said that Lowder gave him a piece of advice heading into spring training. “Don’t (stink),” Lowder told him.

Burns tops 100 mph with his fastball, and a big reason why the Reds drafted him with the No. 2 overall pick last year was the organization’s confidence in his slider as a big strikeout pitch. This year, he’ll go through a similar process that Lowder went through last year. Burns will learn how his stuff plays against professional hitters, improve as a game planner, develop his secondary pitches and work on sequencing.

“Knowing that I belong here, there’s a reason why they have me in big league camp,” Burns said. “I have that in the back of my mind going through my process.”

Prospect Chase Petty made 26 starts last year in Double-A before getting a late call-up to Triple-A. He really struggled early in the season before settling in and pitching with more confidence.

Last year, Petty would get sped up at times and let innings unravel. He posted a 9.56 ERA in Double-A in April before turning the page and hitting his stride. Petty, 21-years-old, sits 97-to-98 mph with his fastball and can hit 100 mph, throws five pitches and features a changeup that has developed into his best pitch.

Petty, a first-round pick by the Twins out of high school in 2021, grew during this past offseason and added some noticeable strength in the weight room.

“I’ve matured a bit,” Petty said. “I put a ton of work in during the offseason, getting in the gym, eating the right things and trying to get my body in the best shape possible. I’m really happy to show the improvements I made.”

He looks a lot older on the mound, and he looks a lot more like a pitcher when he’s out there.

“I was told that he’s like Sonny Gray and there were some similarities,” Wynns said. “I was like, Get out of here.’”

Wynns knows Gray well, and they both train in Nashville during the offseason. Ironically, Petty was the Reds’ return in the Gray trade in 2022.

“Then, I caught (Petty),” Wynns said. “Sonny Gray is more refined. Arsenal wise, it’s like, oh. It’s there. Maybe Sonny Gray needs to talk to him and help him out a bit.”

One of the more interesting stories in the farm system this year is Connor Phillips. Heading into 2023, he had a case as the team’s top pitching prospect ahead of Abbott. Phillips made his debut in September of 2023 and delivered some massive, impressive starts for a Reds team that was competing for a playoff spot.

Phillips’ 2024 season in Triple-A went so poorly that at one point during the summer, the organization reassigned him to Rookie Ball for a chance to reset and get his mind right.

“It wasn’t good,” Phillips said. “A lot of it was trying to get my lower body back really under me. Getting my arm path a little bit cleaner. It was super dirty. It was causing really bad fastballs. It wasn’t me. The shape wasn’t me. The confidence wasn’t me. There was one outing during the season where I got beat around the yard. In the next one, I didn’t want to get beat around the yard again. So let’s pitch to the corners. That’s not me.”

Phillips returned to Triple-A down the stretch and pitched fine, and he was also solid in the Arizona Fall League. He had a lost year in 2024, but he still has a very big arm and is just 23 years old.

“I’ve got to bounce back,” Phillips said. “I’ve got to prove myself again. I understand that. I’ve got to go out there and compete some more.”

To get there, Phillips is “making things simple again.” For example, he’s exclusively pitching out of the stretch.

“He says his confidence and what he wants to do on the mound is more simple,” Wynns said. “He’s not trying new things or tinkering. He has one focal point, and he’s going to execute the focal point. This is a big comeback year for him. I’m excited for him, and he’s excited to show he’s not 2024 Phillips.”

Prospect Jose Acuña doesn’t have the velocity or the swing and miss stuff of some of these other pitchers, but he earned his way into big league camp by attacking the strike zone. He posted a 3.69 ERA in the minors last year and split his time between Double-A and Triple-A before finishing in the fall league. Last year, he was not ranked by MLB Pipeline as a top-30 prospect in the organization.

“I felt really good about what my numbers were last year, but this season I have other goals to make,” Acuna said via interpreter Jorge Merlos. “One of them is to get to the big league team. My objective is to get ahead of guys and attack them early in the counts.”

Zach Maxwell and Luis Mey are the two relief pitching prospects in camp. They both have massive fastballs, and Mey has been clocked at 103 mph. Last week, in a live BP, Maxwell got Matt McLain to swing at a high fastball when Maxwell was actually throwing a low breaking ball. They both have to throw more strikes to take the next step.

“You see guys in the Minor Leagues where maybe their numbers don’t blow you away,” Francona said. “Maybe they’re not commanding yet like they need to to pitch here. As they learn to do that, when it clicks, all of a sudden you’re looking at guys who can pitch toward the back of the game. I’d put both of those guys in that category.”

Prospect Lyon Richardson, who showed a few flashes in the big leagues for the Reds in 2023 before taking a step back in 2024, is now giving it a go as a full-time reliever. He has a chance to lean more into his fastball velocity as well as his best pitch, which is his changeup. He has to do a better job of attacking hitters and throwing strikes.