Today, more than ever, is the perfect time to detail just how important it is for all 30 MLB clubs – even the big spenders – to nail their early picks each summer in the MLB Draft.
Just last night, the Cincinnati Reds took to the national stage in Wrigley Field under the lights of Sunday Night Baseball and took it to the Chicago Cubs for the second time in three days, taking home a 7-5 victory and claiming the series win. Former #2 overall pick Chase Burns was on the mound for 5.2 excellent innings to pick up his 15th win of the year, and National League Rookie of the Year frontrunner Sal Stewart – also a former 1st round pick of the Reds – homered for the third straight game to fuel the process.
For the Reds, they’ve made an incredible emphasis on growing their organization through the draft. It’s the most obvious way to pluck players directly from the amateur levels, obviously, but it also is the easiest way to build a team cheaply and efficiently, something their frugal ownership group holds firm to as much as any other club in the game.
The results on the field are not great, once again. That said, it’s a long list of their former 1st round picks who are doing a ton of the heavy lifting on the current roster, including Tyler Stephenson, who homered last night, too. There’s Rhett Lowder, Nick Lodolo, and Matt McLain all doing their best, while former 2nd round pick Andrew Abbott has become a rotation cog (and a past All Star). Hunter Greene’s absence obviously looms large, another former 1st rounder of the Reds who emerged as the club’s co-ace when healthy.
Getting the most out of top draft picks is about as important as anything the franchise does on a daily basis. So, it’s worth checking in as the 2026 season winds down on some of their more recent 1st picks who aren’t yet in the big leagues, and breaking down where they stand heading into the winter.
Justin Lebron (18th pick of the 2026 MLB Draft)
Lebron hit the ground running with 6 homers through his first 15 games with High-A Dayton, and to date he’s hitting .288/.342/.589 in 79 PA with the Dragons. A very solid start at a level more advanced than many new draftees are sent to as their first stop after being drafted, and the best of his tools – power, speed, arm strength – have already been showing through with aplomb.
Steele Hall (9th pick of the 2025 MLB Draft)
Hall reclassified to be draft-eligible in 2025, though the newly minted 19 year old was originally part of the 2026 class. He’s young, in other words, and taking that into consideration will be a must for at least another year or two. He raked in Arizona Complex League play (.288/.387/.518 in 270 PA) but has had a bit of a rougher go of it with Class-A Daytona in the hell-on-hitters that is the Florida State League (.225/.382/.338 in 102 PA). Still, the elite walk rate and plate discipline are there and the defense at short still appears to be top class, and I’d say it’s been an overall pretty solid first pro season for Hall so far.
Ty Floyd (38th pick of the 2023 MLB Draft)
It’s been a brutal beginning to a pro career for Floyd, who shined at LSU before the Reds took him in 2023. Multiple arm surgeries, elbow and shoulder problems, what have you had limited him to just 27.2 IP as a pro prior to 2026, though he did pitch to a 3.09 ERA (1.16 WHIP) with 37/18 K/BB in 32.0 IP this season between Arizona and Dayton before another injury shelved him in late July. The stuff is and always has been there; the question remains whether the arm ever will be enough to let it matter.
Cam Collier (18th pick of the 2022 MLB Draft)
A wrist injury in spring training of 2025 set Collier’s swing back, and he lost so much of the power he’d long possessed during an up and down season last year. The hope was that 2026 would see the old stroke return, and instead it’s been almost the exact opposite. He’s hitting just .214/.291/.379 with 138 K in 123 G for Chattanooga, though he has 17 homers in what’s become almost a feast/famine approach instead of three-true-outcomes. In 197 PA since the start of July he’s hit just .201/.249/.337. Still just 21 years old, there’s ample time for him to correct some things, but 2026 has not been a year for him to remember.
Jay Allen (30th pick of the 2021 MLB Draft)
It’s been a slow climb for Allen, who’ll turn 24 in November, but he’s still climbing. He’s hit 15 homers so far this year – a new career high far beyond the 10 he hit back in 2024 – as he’s finally finding ways to elevate the ball. He hit a rock solid .280/.374/.483 in 377 PA with Chattanooga (with all 15 of those bombs) before a promotion to AAA Louisville, and despite us all being well aware of the potent offensive environment in International League play he’s slumped to just .170/.254/.226 there through 59 PA. A small sample, still, but at least he found sustained success at AA before.
Mat Nelson (35th pick of the 2021 MLB Draft)
Nelson, a former catcher from Florida State University, has logged 8 PA with the Lake Country DockHounds of the independent American Association in 2026 after exiting the Reds system following a brutal 2025 stint with Chattanooga.
Austin Hendrick (12th pick of the 2020 MLB Draft)
Despite most folks (me included) having written him off due to extreme swing and miss problems, Hendrick actually came out of the gate strong in 2026. He hit .308/.372/.513 with 4 homers and 4 doubles through his first 22 games with AA Chattanooga, and even earned a promotion up to AAA Louisville on May 19th. He even hit the ground running there, too, going 8 for 25 with a pair of homers in his first 7 games before the wheels fell off – he hit just .159/.254/.256 with 53 K over his next 186 PA – and he was sent back to AA Chattanooga amid an outfield numbers game. He’s gone just 5 for 33 since being back with the Lookouts, and now at 25 years old appears to be on the outs of the organization altogether.
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