SeatGeek Affiliate: Use code “NATISPORTS” at Checkout to receive $20 OFF ANY Tickets! The day Devin Mesoraco walked up to the Reds podium at the MLB Winter Meetings where they were selecting who would pick where in the MLB Lottery Draft he said he was going to come out a winner for the Reds. With a little LOT bit of luck, he delivered. The Cincinnati Reds selected 2nd overall in this 2024 draft, and that’s the luckiest the franchise has been in years. One thing we can say with confidence: The Cincinnati Reds Front Office has a plan, and they’ve stuck to it the last two years in the draft(s). Pitching, high upside middle infielders from prep schools, collegiate depth. They possess a WHOLE lot of it now. At last, the full Cincinnati Reds 2024 Draft Roundup and Grades. Let’s get straight into it.
Round 1, Pick 2: RHP Chase Burns
Pick Value: $9.79m – Player Signed?: SIGNED 7/18 | Nati Sports Guess: $8,650,000 | Contract Actual: $9,250,000 { $570k savings }
You’ve all probably seen my tweets, I was NOT happy that the Cincinnati Reds took Chase Burns 2nd overall, but I vehemently stated on X, and even in a few articles on here, it really didn’t matter if he signed for well below slot. He’s an elite talent if developed properly. I’m very confident he WILL end up signing well below slot, which you can see above, and I’d rate the pick an ‘A’ grade.
Chase Burns has an incredible slider that pairs well with his fastball. He also has a borderline ++ curveball thats currently rated 60 grade via MLB Pipeline. The devastating slider: easily his best pitch, a 70 grade slider, that is. There’s plenty to be excited about when it comes to Chase Burns, but the pessimistic Nati will hold his tongue for saying how he really feels about passing up on Charlie Condon here. I still deem it a mistake. It’s easy to sell yourself the pick when your guy was the #1 SP in NCAA, though. 191 K’s and 30 BBs in 100.0 IP speaks volumes to me, ESPECIALLY in a year where bats dominated, and pitching sucked. Greene, Lodolo, Abbott, Lowder, & Burns…that feeds families. I think my favorite thing about Chase is just how much the dude LOVES playing baseball.
Round 2, Pick 51: SS Tyson Lewis
Pick Value: $1.80m – Player Signed?: Unsigned | Nati Sports Guess: $2,120,000
No matter how you feel about the Cincinnati Reds and their draft, you can say one thing: they’ve stuck to their plan. They haven’t gone off course at ALL. Whether that’s good or bad will have to be answered with time. In 2023, they went high upside SP1 with their 1st pick in Rhett Lowder, then went high upside projectable arm with pick 2 in Ty Floyd, then they dropped the bombshell on their 2nd round pick and took Sammy Stafura away from his Clemson committment by utilizing the money saved from signing Rhett a few hundred thousand under slot. They’re doing the same thing here again, just without the luxury of the competitive balance pick they took Floyd with last year. This pick’s grade: A+
Tyson Lewis is what the Reds dream about – toolsy, fast, powerful, jampacked with raw talent. Oh, did I mention he’s a shortshop? There’s a lot of industry folks that don’t think he’ll stick at SS but we have Barry Louis Larkin to take him under his wing, so scratch that. How about a video of him hitting a ball to the moon, would that interest you? Ok, here you go, below. Yeah, Pipeline, that ain’t 50 grade power. That’s 55 minimum.
Round 2, CB-B Pick 71: RHP Luke Holman
Pick Value: $1.11m – Player Signed?: Unsigned | Nati Sports Guess: $1,280,000
We talked about the Reds sticking to their plan. They did it again, folks. They love their Louisiana State University RHP so much they needed another one. Luke Holman got his name back at the National Tournament for team USA last summer after transferring from Bama to LSU. Luke is a certain 1st round pick if his velocity didn’t dip as much as it did this past year, but he followed it up with the best command he’s had in his life. This dude could for sure be a #3 in most rotations, and that’s where most think his floor is. He’s a big dude at 6’4″ and command is good enough to track him to the bigs quick, especially since many think he’ll be able to sit 95-96 with some big league regiment. Pick Grade: A+
Luke Holman made his name collegiately with his + command. His fastball is a perfect setup pitch cause it’s thrown for a strike a lot of the time. Luke hit 12 batters this season because he LOVES to live on the hands, then sets hitters up with his slider. He recorded 127 K’s compared to 33 BB’s in 2024 in 91.2 IP. I’d expect Luke to debut in Daytona at some point this summer. This is a very, very solid pick. If the Reds didn’t get Sirota at 87, it’d be my favorite pick.
Round 3, Pick 87: OF Mike Sirota
Pick Value: $865.80k – Player Signed?: Signed 7/19 | Nati Sports Guess: $980,000
Contract Actual: $863,000 { $2,000 savings }
Another one of the picks that Brad Meador, Nick Krall, & Joe Katuska celebrate regularly. How the hell did Mike Sirota fall to 87 over bad luck, and a little bit of a slide in mechanics? Well, we’re glad he did! Mike had certain first round evaluations up and down baseball, some thought he’d go top 20, but then he started very, very slow in 2024. This was a series of luck, good scouting, and fate to get him here. If you read my draft post on here a few weeks ago, you’d of seen that I wanted Mike Sirota at 71. Getting him at 87 is that much sweeter. Pick Grade: A+
Mike Sirota is a top 15 bat in this draft for me. I don’t think he’s near his potential yet, either. He’s fast as shit, great outfielder, and he’s shown to be VERY comfortable with wood. A whole lot to like about that last sentence. MLB Pipeline has him graded at 45 power which makes little sense considering he mashed 18 HR’s in ’23 slugging .678 with an 1.149 OPS. In ’24, he had a .986 OPS, but started slow as mentioned. He had 19 steals both in ’23, and ’24. Perhaps what’s the best part to Sirota for me is his built in discipline which should carry him through the lower levels of professional baseball relatively easy. He never had an OBP below .411, even as a true freshman. I’m very excited to have him in the Reds organization, especially since my favorite publication, Baseball America, had him as a top 10 pick coming into the year.
Round 4, Pick 117: INF Peyton Stovall
Pick Value: $618.80k – Player Signed?: YES – 7/21/24 | Nati Sports Guess: $438,000 | Contract Actual: $625,000 { $-7,000 savings }
Peyton Stovall is a very interesting pick here. There’s a lot to like, but a whole lot to dislike, too. It’s likely Peyton signs under slot value, and I think even though he was a top 100 player, he’ll sign well under slot. In fact, I may even be overshooting here with my $438k prediction. Peyton has played 1B/2B through his collegiate career with Arkansas & wasn’t up until last year that he played 2B. Pick Grade: B+
Peyton Stovall is known more for his IQ than his abilities. He’s a smart dude that makes few mistakes but he’s about as “raw” of a hitter as some of the HS guys taken in this draft and he isn’t known for his defense, either. He hit 9 HRs in ’24 but that feels pretty light for a guy that had first round grades everywhere out of HS in 2021 and a reguarly player in the SEC. Only tallied 21 XBH. This pick is definitely shooting for the stars and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. He is known to have one of the sweeter left handed strokes there is in this draft, and his bat to ball skills could carry him to the big leagues at some point if he puts it all together. Position wise, sure feels like he’ll stick to the right side of the infield because he’s not extremely athletic. As the video below states, he’s been hurt quite a bit, which could’ve altered some of his play and overall slashes.
Round 5, Pick 150: LHP Tristan Smith
Pick Value: $448.70k – Player Signed?: Unsigned | Nati Sports Guess: $425,000
Whole lot to like about Tristian Smith. He’s pitched in some big moments and is a big time lefty, which the Reds love. He has 3 55+ grade pitches: Fastball, Slider, & Changeup, but frequently has no idea where they’re going. Command is bad. If the Cincinnati Reds can help Tristan replicate his delivery and start throwing more strikes, they’ll end up striking gold in the 5th round of this draft. He has a very unique arm slot that I think with some biomechanic training and an MLB regiment, he could figure out and throw more strikes at the end of the day. There’s some good film on Tristan suggesting there’s a profile there to have him make the big leagues one day, likely as a reliever. Pick Grade: A
Rounding It All Up
I only wanted to highlight our first 5 picks, but I also want to make sure everyone knows our full draft, so I’m going to list out every single pick and you can use this article to figure out if everyone has signed or not. This will be updated DAILY as soon as signings begin to occur. Usually all the Ps & Qs take place in late July.
| Round – Pick | Player Name | Position | Value of Pick | Did Player Sign? |
| 5 – 150 | Tristan Smith | P | $448,700 | |
| 6 – 179 | Jacob Friend | C | $345,100 | YES – $ |
| 7 – 209 | Myles Smith | OF | $270,000 | YES – $247,500 |
| 8 – 239 | Luke Hayden | P | $217,400 | YES – $197,500 |
| 9 – 269 | Ryan McCrystal | C | $193,600 | YES – |
| 10 – 299 | Yanuel Casiano | C | $182,200 | YES – |
| 11 – 329 | Edgar Colon | P | $150,000 | |
| 12 – 359 | Will Cannon | P | $150,000 | |
| 13 – 389 | Anthony Stephan | OF | $150,000 | YES – |
| 14 – 419 | Adrian Areizaga | SS | $150,000 | |
| 15 – 449 | Jordan Little | P | $150,000 | YES – |
| 16 – 479 | Jimmy Romano | P | $150,000 | YES – |
| 17 – 509 | Trent Hodgon | P | $150,000 | |
| 18 – 539 | Jalen Hairston | 3B | $150,000 | |
| 19 – 569 | Owen Pote | P | $150,000 | |
| 20 – 599 | Mason Russell | P | $150,000 |
We would appreciate your support greatly! Rock the BEST Reds Community there is! SALE TODAY!
Nati Sports T-shirt
Rock the biggest Cincinnati Reds fandom community at Great American Ballpark! These shirts are lightweight, meaning perfect for the summer at the ballpark. Nati Sports is a brand started in 2018 that currently has the most active Cincinnati Reds and Cincinnati Bengals fans in it. The unisex soft-style t-shirt puts a new spin on casual […]
