The Reds don’t have to look far to see why the MLB Draft matters so much to their organization. Their 2026 roster is packed with players they drafted, developed and eventually trusted to carry real weight at the big league level.
That pipeline runs through the rotation, where Chase Burns, Andrew Abbott and Hunter Greene are all All-Stars, with Nick Lodolo also in the mix. It shows up in the bullpen too, with Rhett Lowder having moved from starter and injured relievers Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft on the staff. And it’s all over the lineup card, from All-Star and National League Rookie of the Year contender Sal Stewart to Tyler Stephenson, Matt McLain and injured outfielder Blake Dunn.
The common thread is simple: Cincinnati built them.
“Absolutely. This is where we have to be good - international acquisitions, through the Draft, player development," Reds amateur scouting director Joe Katuska said.
"That’s our opportunity to put a winning team on the field at the big league level. We know how important it is, the work that we do, to try to reach our goals as an organization.”
That’s the backdrop as the 2026 Draft begins Saturday, with the Reds making their first pick at No. 18 after last year’s postseason run pushed them down the board. They’ll follow that selection with picks at No. 58, 70, 94 and 122 on Day 1.
Their bonus pool comes in at $10,758,500, including $4,695,500 tied to the No. 18 pick.
Katuska said the Reds will need to cast a wider net than they have in recent years to find the right fit at the top of the draft.
“We definitely have to scout a wider crop of players for the first pick than we have for the past couple of cycles," Katuska said.
The club’s recent draft history gives that approach some real weight. Burns, taken No. 2 overall in 2024, and Greene, the No. 2 pick in 2017, are both examples of Cincinnati landing premium talent early.
Last year’s top selection was Steele Hall, the shortstop taken No. 9 overall as a reclassified high school player at 17 years old. Hall signed for a $5.75 million bonus and is now ranked No. 52 overall by MLB Pipeline.
He’s with the ACL Reds, where his speed stands out, along with his range and arm strength, while his right-handed bat has taken steps forward in the early part of his development.
The Reds also got a notable rise from a later pick in 2025. Kien Vu, a ninth-round selection at No. 264 overall, has already outperformed expectations.
The left-handed hitting outfielder was recently promoted to Double-A Chattanooga after showing enough to move up from High-A Dayton. He has 12 homers and 26 stolen bases overall.
As for this year’s class, Katuska described the top portion as deep but tightly packed, with little to separate the players in the middle of the first round.
"It feels like a very flat class from maybe the No. 10 pick to the No. 40 pick," he said. "So there’s a lot of players that we’ll have to talk about and have productive conversations about how to really line them up and understand what direction we want to go when Day 1 comes around.”
The Reds have leaned more heavily toward college players in recent drafts, with 14 of their 20 picks in 2025 coming from the college ranks. That can bring more flexibility because bonuses are often lower than they are for high school players with college leverage.
Still, the guiding principle hasn’t changed. Cincinnati says it will keep taking the best player available above everything else, and Katuska said the organization is committed to refining that process without drifting from what it believes works.
“I think we’ve stayed very true to our process and what we believe works at the Major League level," Katuska said. "I think we’ve had some notable successes coming through, but at the same time, areas where we need to get better. It’s something we’re always pushing forward, trying to adjust the process and making sure that we’re valuing the right things as we go through it to make sure we get the best players possible.”
In Other News...
Reds Fans Can See Where This Former Core Piece Is Headed
Matt McLains season has reached the point where the Reds are making quieter but telling decisions around him. During a recent game against the Phillies, Terry Francona turned to Ivan Johnson in a late spot instead of sticking with McLain, another sign that Cincinnati is trying to squeeze more offense out of a lineup that has not gotten enough from one of its former core pieces.
McLain has already been moved down in the batting order, and the numbers have only deepened the concern about where this is headed. For a club that has fallen from a fast start into last place in the NL Central, every at-bat matters, and the Reds now have to weigh whether a reset is the best way to get McLain back on track before the seasons next roster decisions start to pile up. [Read more 🡒]
Francona Just Sent A Clear Message About Ellys Role
Terry Francona has made the early call on where Elly De La Cruz belongs, and for now it keeps the Reds most electric player right where he has been setting the tone. De La Cruz has been giving Cincinnati plenty to like at the top of the order, with a recent stretch that included hits, walks and stolen bases, the kind of production that can change the feel of an inning before the rest of the lineup even steps in.
Franconas stance matters because the Reds are still sorting out how best to maximize an offense that leans heavily on De La Cruz to spark it. The managers view is that moving him would not improve the lineup as a whole, which leaves Cincinnati with a clear message about how it plans to attack games for now and a strong hint about who it expects to carry the load when the bats get rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Fans Wont Believe Which Core Starter Just Entered Trade Buzz
The Reds rotation has been one of the more stable parts of the roster, but the trade deadline always has a way of turning stability into speculation. MLB insider Jon Morosi raised eyebrows by floating the idea that Cincinnati could listen on Andrew Abbott, a left-hander who has become a familiar part of the staff and still fits neatly into the clubs long-term plans. Even if the notion feels far-fetched, it is the kind of rumor that forces a front office to think about how much pitching depth it really wants to protect.
There are other names in the mix if the Reds decide to explore the market, and Nick Lodolo has quietly made himself harder to ignore with the way he has thrown the ball lately. Brady Singer also stands out as the cleaner deadline fit because of his contract situation, while the return of Hunter Greene has already tightened the rotation picture and pushed other arms into different roles. For Cincinnati, the real question is not whether it has pitching to talk about, but which arm it would be willing to move if the right deal comes along. [Read more 🡒]