The Reds played their bonus pool fairly straightforward, taking a cut on first rounder Steele Hall before going a bit over slot on second rounder Aaron Watson, then more or less sticking close to slot value the rest of the way. They did leave their final three draft picks unsigned, all high-upside preps who were to serve as contingencies in case something went wrong with the early draftees. It's a draft class that emphasizes athleticism and explosiveness for position players, then looked more towards pitchability and durability on the pitching side.
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Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-9: SS Steele Hall, Hewitt-Trussville HS [AL]
Slot value: $6.51 million. Signing bonus: $5.75 million ($763,800 below slot value).
My rank: #15. MLB Pipeline: #12. Baseball America: #15.
The Reds have never been afraid to go prep bat in the early rounds, and lately that has meant athletes like Tyson Lewis, Sammy Stafura, and Jay Allen. That trend continues with Steele Hall in 2025, who has picked up comparisons to Phillies shortstop Trea Turner and Dodgers 2024 first rounder Kellon Lindsey. Not such a buzzy name entering his senior season at Hewitt-Trussville High School in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, he exploded out of the gate during his senior spring and kept it up all season, rocketing deep into the first round conversation and ultimately landing in the top ten. Picking at #9, the Reds got Hall for roughly the slot value of the #12 pick and diverted him from a Tennessee commitment, instead bringing him a little farther up I-75. Hall is an explosive athlete that stands out first for his plus-plus speed, placing him among the quickest players in the entire draft. While he's not huge at a listed 6', 180 pounds, he has steadily tacked on additional strength and projects to become an impact hitter as well at this point. His quick right handed swing helps him drive the ball on a line from gap to gap, while his speed turns singles into doubles into triples. As he fills out, he should flirt with home run totals in the teens and could top out at 15-20 per season at peak. There is solid bat to ball here as well that should give him plenty of opportunity to use that speed, though his swing can get choppy at times and the Reds will look to get him more consistent in that regard. Hall can be aggressive at the plate too, something pro pitchers will look to exploit. Working in his favor is age, as a July birthday made him old for the 2026 draft class but his decision to reclassify for 2025 put him on the younger side, only turning 18 just after the draft. That extra development time gives the Reds plenty to work with as they mold him into a Turner or CJ Abrams-like player in the long run. Beyond the bat, Hall is an excellent defender at shortstop with buttery smooth actions and plenty of arm strength to stick on the left side of the infield. On a team led by a toolsy young core with many former high school stars, Hall will fit right in, though it will take a few years.
2-51: RHP Aaron Watson, Trinity Christian HS [FL]
Slot value: $1.89 million. Signing bonus: $2.75 million ($858,800 above slot value).
My rank: #47. MLB Pipeline: #45. Baseball America: #64.
Using all of their savings from first rounder Steele Hall and more, the Reds gave Aaron Watson roughly the slot value for the #35 pick here at pick #51 to pry him away from a Florida commitment. Watson, who shares a name with one of my all time favorite country singers (you should really check him out), really grew on me as a prospect in 2025 despite my being lower on him early on. Big and physical at 6'5", 205 pounds, he has a broad frame capable of carrying plenty more weight and really looks the part of a durable starting pitcher. He sits in the low 90's and touches 96 at peak, not overwhelming velocity for a righty making top-40 money, and comes in with running and sinking action that will create more ground balls than whiffs at the next level. He throws a tight slider and can manipulate the shape to get the look he wants, working from two-plane to more vertical action. The changeup turns over nicely as well, giving him three big league pitches right now. Already, Watson repeats his simple, smooth delivery extremely well, helping him pour it in the strike zone and control the count much better than most of his teenage counterparts. While the strong command is par for the course for the Jacksonville native, the stuff looked a tick more explosive this spring and helped me feel more confident labeling him a potential mid-rotation starting pitcher rather than a likely back-end guy. Watson's combination of size, projection, repeatable mechanics, and command brings much less risk than most high school pitchers, overcoming what is otherwise not the flashiest profile in the bunch. Expect him to pitch in Cincinnati for a long time and eat up a lot of innings.
3-83: RHP Mason Morris, Mississippi
Slot value: $964,800. Signing bonus: $897,500 ($67,300 below slot value).
My rank: #108. MLB Pipeline: #117. Baseball America: #99.
The first collegian drafted by Cincinnati this year, Mason Morris brings an established track record and a big arm. He didn't pitch much as a freshman at Ole Miss back in 2023, then struggled to a 6.99 ERA as a more oft-used sophomore reliever in 2024. Returning to the Rebel bullpen in 2025, he took a big step forward and put up a career-best 3.29 ERA alongside a sharp 34.1% strikeout rate, establishing himself as one of the best relief prospects in the country and one that many think can transition to starting. His big fastball sits in the mid 90's and touches 99 in short stints, avoiding barrels with heavy cutting action that really plays when he cuts off the velocity a tick down to the low 90's. His hard, upper 80's slider is a power downer pitch that misses bats, and all together hitters are geared up for high velocity moving away from righties and boring in on lefties. Listed at 6'4", 225 pounds, he is big and physical like the above Aaron Watson if a bit more physically developed, and while his in-zone command itself is fringy, he has pounded the zone in 2025 and shows average control. Combined with the ability to manipulate his fastball into a cutter and his cutter into a slider, Morris' frame and arm strength point to a potential future in the rotation. In fact, he averaged nearly three innings per relief appearance out of the Ole Miss bullpen in 2025 and threw as many as five against Tennessee in April (and absolutely dominated, striking out 8/18 batters faced). In order to start in pro baseball, he'll need to find a changeup so that not everything is going in one direction, though that's something the Reds likely feel is very doable. If the Tupelo native can continue attacking the strike zone in addition to adding that changeup, he does have a chance to make things happen in the rotation. If not, he is no stranger to getting big outs late in games and his power right arm can flirt with triple digits with that dastardly cutter in his pocket.
4-114: OF Mason Neville, Oregon
Slot value: $667,700. Signing bonus: $697,500 ($29,800 above slot value).
My rank: #43. MLB Pipeline: #35. Baseball America: #59.
This one is a surprise, to say the least. Not just that Mason Neville – who appeared throughout the 30's in many mid-season mock drafts – lasted into the fourth round, but that the Reds barely had to go over slot to get him there. Neville had been a highly touted prospect out of the Las Vegas high school ranks in 2022 and arrived on Arkansas' campus with plenty of fanfare, but barely played as a freshman and transferred to Oregon after just one season. He clubbed sixteen home runs in his first season in green and yellow then exploded for 26 in 2025, tying Wright State's Boston Smith (now a National) for the NCAA Division I lead. The home run barrage catapulted him into the fringe of the first round conversation, though he did go a little cold at the end of the season and went homer-less in his final seven games despite never doing that more than four games in a row throughout the season. Neville, unsurprisingly, has huge power. He taps his plus raw power extremely consistently in games with a clean, leveraged left handed swing that finds him creating his best contact at optimal angles. That kind of optimized swing helps guys with fringy raw power play up for surprisingly average juice, but when someone with Neville's plus power does it, it means potential 30-homer seasons in the big leagues. While he has struggled with contact throughout his college career, he stepped forward in that regard in 2025 and now looks to have fringy contact skills. He's an extremely patient hitter that walked in 18.9% of his plate appearances in 2025, though the pure bat to ball remains a bit behind and teams were likely worried about pro pitchers attacking him with quality stuff in the zone going forward. Meanwhile, he is also a strong defender out in the grass, covering plenty of ground with above average speed and even better instincts in center field. With a strong arm to boot, he has every chance to stick in center or become a plus defender in right field. He profiles as a potential middle of the order bat who can support low batting averages by drawing his share of walks and crushing 25+ home runs annually at peak. The contact is a concern, though, and his career will likely only go as far as his in-zone contact takes him.
5-145: OF Eli Pitts, North Atlanta HS [GA]
Slot value: $493,900. Signing bonus: $572,500 ($78,600 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #209.
Eli Pitts brings the Reds a lot of upside for what is effectively only a slight over slot bonus here in the fifth round. Atlanta is always one of the top places to find amateur talent and Pitts is yet another example of that, leading the city as one of the ATL's better prospects for years now. Previously committed to South Carolina, he flipped late to South Florida but it's all moot now that he's heading north to Cincinnati. I love Pitts' operation in the box, exploding through the zone with a combination of bat speed and tremendous leverage in his right handed swing that should help him get to above average or better power down the line. He's still fairly skinny at a listed 6'1", 185 pounds, and added weight will go a long way to creating a real impact hitter. His approach and pure bat to ball are a bit behind, but especially as he gets stronger his power will come so naturally and with such ease that he can ease up a little bit to find the barrel more often. Pitts is also a plus runner with a shot to play center field, making his power look even more enticing just as with Mason Neville above. How far he goes will depend on the development of his hit tool, but if it clicks he could be the next exciting young star in Cincinnati.
8-234: LHP Kyle McCoy, Maryland
Slot value: $235,200. Signing bonus: $232,700 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #197. Baseball America: #214.
For the eighth round, Kyle McCoy brings the Reds a nice combination of performance and projection. McCoy was basically a born a Big Ten starting pitcher, arriving on Maryland's campus in the fall of 2022 practically ready to step right into the role. He made a dozen starts as a true freshman in 2023 and looked poised and confident doing so, even if the results were so-so. He missed the 2024 season with Tommy John surgery, then returned with a vengeance in 2025 by cutting his ERA by two and a half runs and significantly improving both his strikeout and walk rates across fourteen starts. The stuff is not overwhelming, beginning with a low 90's fastball that peaks around 95 with average movement. He can manipulate the shape on his slider depending on the situation and gets good finish on the pitch, while his changeup works well off his fastball to keep hitters off balance. While the stuff is average, everything plays up because he really, really knows how to deploy it. The New Jersey native works all of his pitches in and out effectively, helping him both keep the walks down (impressive 5.7% walk rate in 2025) and put each pitch in its best position to succeed. That said, he ran just a 19.4% strikeout rate in 2025 and relied much more heavily on weak contact than on the K's, leading to questions over how he will perform against more advanced bats. Fortunately, the 6'6" lefty is as projectable as they come at 21 years old. If the Reds can tick his fastball closer to the mid 90's and bring one of his secondaries forward a tick, he has the feel for pitching to become a #4 or #5 starter. Additionally, McCoy has some drop in his delivery combined with a low three quarters slot to make for a slightly tougher at bat. Cincinnati will work to fill him out a bit more and get him to their big league rotation quickly.
9-264: OF Kien Vu, Arizona State
Slot value: $205,500. Signing bonus: $172,500 ($32,000 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #273.
In scooping up Kien Vu, the Reds picked up one of the best performers on the West Coast. Over the past two seasons at Arizona State, he has hit a combined .381/.476/.680 with 24 home runs and 33 stolen bases over 97 games, including leading the Pac-12 with a .413 batting average in 2024. Undersized at 5'11", Vu packs a punch for his size and has created many fans for himself. Setting up with a high handset and the bat pointed down his back, he rocks it into place before the pitch and fires through the zone with impressive twitch to create average power despite the size. The overall hit tool is average as well with a tendency to chase that can get him into trouble, though he has righted the ship a bit and dropped his strikeout rate from 24.2% in his huge sophomore season to 18.1% as a junior. So long as he can continue generating impact with wood bats, he has a chance to flirt with 15 home runs per season while hitting for a decent average, though he did struggle in a brief thirteen game Cape Cod League stint in 2024. Vu is also a solid outfield defender with average speed but better instincts and a solid arm that will help him play any outfield position. He probably won't win any Gold Gloves, but the Reds will be able to use him where they need him whether that's in an everyday role if he hits or in a fourth outfielder role if he reaches his median projection.
