Carlos Jorge has forced his way back into the conversation, and the Reds can’t afford to let that momentum sit in Double-A forever.
The 22-year-old outfielder entered 2026 with plenty of baggage attached to his name. He had slid down the organizational pecking order after spending more than two seasons stuck at High-A, and with Rule 5 Draft eligibility coming in December, the clock was very much ticking. For a player who had once been viewed as one of Cincinnati’s more intriguing young pieces, the path forward looked murky.
But Jorge has flipped the script in Chattanooga.
After opening the year with Double-A Lookouts, he’s hit .338/.413/.465 with six home runs and 22 steals, a line that earned him recognition from Baseball America as one of the biggest risers in the Reds’ farm system alongside Edwin Arroyo. That kind of production is hard to ignore, especially for a player whose stock had cratered after last season’s .251/.342/.355 showing pushed him out of MLB Pipeline’s top 30 in the system.
Now he’s back up to No. 16, and climbing.
What makes the turnaround more interesting is that it doesn’t look like a fluke. Baseball America noted that Jorge has adjusted his offensive approach, saying, "Jorge is sacrificing some home run output in favor of a more up-the-middle approach. The result has been improved contact rates and the best batting average and on-base percentage of his full-season career."
That tradeoff has actually made him more productive, not less. Jorge has already matched last year’s six home runs in half the time, even though his isolated power has dipped from .175 in 2024 to .127 this season. The bigger gain has come in the strikeout department, where he’s cut his rate from 31.1% last year to 18.8% now.
That matters for a player listed at 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, especially one who had been trying too hard to muscle everything out of the park. He hit 12 home runs in 2024, but that came with a .220/.291/.394 line that reflected how often the swing-and-miss got in the way.
So the question for Cincinnati isn’t whether Jorge has gotten hot. He has. The question is what the organization learns next.
The Reds need to push him to Louisville and see if this version of Jorge holds up against tougher competition. If he keeps hitting, then the picture gets a lot clearer: he belongs on the 40-man roster, and the club can start thinking about how he fits into the big league plan in 2027.
If the wheels come off, the decision gets a lot harder. It wouldn’t have to be the end of the line, but a real stumble could be enough for the Reds to leave him exposed when the Rule 5 Draft arrives.
In Other News...
Reds Are Quietly Watching An Old Mets Trade Turn Into A Heist
A 2022 trade that barely registered at the time is looking a lot more meaningful now, at least from Cincinnatis side. The deal sent Tyler Naquin and Phillip Diehl to the Mets, and the Reds have spent the last few years watching the return they got in that swap develop in a way that makes the transaction look far more productive than anyone expected.
The timing only adds to the contrast. While Cincinnatis side of the ledger has seen real progress in the minors, New York has been fighting through a rough season and a rotation that has struggled to hold up under the weight of disappointment. For the Reds, it is the kind of old front-office move that can quietly gain value over time, especially when the team on the other end is sliding and the prospects are moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Reach A Breaking Point With No More Time To Waste
The halfway point arrived with Cincinnati still stuck below where it expected to be, and that has turned every June discussion into a July pressure test. At 39-44 and last in the NL Central, the Reds are trying to climb back into a muddled race while also sorting through the familiar tensions of a team that has underperformed its preseason hopes. Nick Krall has made clear the club needs to improve if it wants to stay in the conversation, and the calendar is already pushing the front office toward the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
There is at least some hope on the roster side. Elly De La Cruz, Emilio Pagn and Hunter Greene are all working their way back from injuries, and the rotation has started to stabilize after a shaky stretch. But the offense remains the real drag, leaving Cincinnati with too many games in which the pitching gives it a chance and the lineup fails to cash it in. If the Reds are going to change the tone of this season, it will have to happen soon, because the margin for error is shrinking with every series. [Read more 🡒]