The Daytona Tortugas turned a rough first half into something worth celebrating on Sunday, locking down a playoff spot by winning the second half of the Florida State League East division.
That push has been fueled by a handful of young Reds prospects who have made the Low-A roster a real bright spot in a system Baseball America ranks 28th in Major League Baseball. Jalen Hairston has been one of the biggest success stories.
The Reds’ 18th-round pick in 2024 hit his way into one of the best seasons in the league, posting a .326/.430/.547 line with 19 doubles, seven home runs and 38 RBI. After his promotion from the Arizona Complex League in June, he settled into the leadoff role and kept producing.
Sherman Johnson, a 2026 seventh-round pick, has wasted no time making an impression either. He is batting .344 with an .838 OPS through his first nine games in the organization.
The Tortugas offense has also leaned on Steele Hall, Mulivai Levu, Ichiro Cano, Rafael Torres, Drew Davies and Anielson Buten. Hall and catcher Jirvin Morillo were moved up when the ACL season ended, and Morillo has made one of the biggest jumps in the Reds’ prospect rankings on MLB Pipeline.
He started the year as the club’s 24th-ranked prospect and has climbed all the way to ninth, giving Cincinnati two catchers in its top 10. Hall’s bat has shown more pop too; across the ACL and Low-A, the 19-year-old finished with 11 home runs, 24 doubles, two triples and 30 stolen bases.
The Tortugas still have games left to finish the regular season, but the postseason is already set. Their playoff opener comes Tuesday, September 8, when they host the Jupiter Hammerheads.
Back at the big-league level, the Reds just picked up a notable road series win, taking two of three from the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley after a 7-5 victory powered by four home runs from Cincinnati hitters. The schedule turns right back around Tuesday with a home series against the San Diego Padres, who are 1/2 game behind the final Wild Card spot.
And from there, the road gets brutal. Cincinnati’s closing stretch includes Milwaukee at home, then a trip to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers, another stop in Milwaukee, a four-game home series with the Dodgers, a three-game set against the Cubs to close the final homestand, and then a last road swing through Atlanta and Toronto. Every opponent left is either sitting atop its division, leading the Wild Card, or within one game of a playoff berth.
The Reds are still not mathematically out of the race, though they sit 7 1/2 games back in the Wild Card. It would take something special, but they do have a shot to do the unthinkable over the toughest run of their season.
In Other News...
Elly De La Cruz Exit Just Raised The Stakes For The Reds
Elly De La Cruzs night ended early against the Chicago Cubs after he left with tightness in his left quad, a development the Reds did not need in the middle of a game that already carried plenty of attention. Ivan Johnson took over for him in the seventh inning, giving Cincinnati an immediate look at how it would handle the rest of the matchup without one of its most dynamic players on the field.
Terry Francona is expected to have more to say after the game, and for the Reds, the real concern now is whether this is just a short-term hiccup or something that lingers. De La Cruz has become too central to what Cincinnati does to treat any lower-body issue lightly, so even a precautionary exit will be watched closely once the postgame update arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Elly De La Cruz Just Put Cincinnatis Stretch Run In Doubt
Elly De La Cruz leaving Tuesdays game against the Cubs with an apparent left quad injury was the kind of development the Reds could not afford at this point in the season. The team confirmed the injury on social media, and it comes with the September schedule tightening around them and a run of playoff-contending opponents looming.
For Cincinnati, the concern is bigger than one night out of the lineup. De La Cruz has now dealt with the same quad issue in back-to-back seasons, and he has already missed time this year with a hamstring injury, so every new setback adds another layer of uncertainty to the stretch run. The Reds have been trying to keep pace in a crowded race, and losing their most dynamic player would make an already difficult closing month even more complicated. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Deadline Fallout Just Took Another Brutal Turn
The Reds trade deadline shuffle already looked like a mixed bag, and it has only gotten messier in the days since. Cincinnati moved Nathaniel Lowe to the Guardians and Caleb Ferguson to the Cardinals, hoping to reshape the roster for the stretch run, but the early returns have not done the club many favors.
Fergusons rough stay in St. Louis ended with his release, underscoring how quickly a deadline move can turn from useful depth to a dead end. Around the same time, Carson Spiers began a rehab assignment as he works his way back from injury, while former draft pick Hunter Hollan was released from the organization, adding another reminder that the Reds are still sorting through the fallout of a deadline built on uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]