No. 4 prospect Collier powering up, rises in rankings

May 19th, 2024

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LOS ANGELES -- When MLB Pipeline revealed its revised Top 100 prospects list on Tuesday, some players in the Reds organization fluctuated rather significantly.

One of the changes brought a return to the Top 100 for High-A Dayton third baseman , who checked in at No. 94. He also jumped from No. 7 in the organization to No. 4.

Ranked No. 69 overall in 2023, Collier fell out of the Top 100 heading into '24.

Collier, 19 and the son of ex-Major Leaguer Lou Collier, was selected with the No. 18 overall pick by the Reds in the 2022 Draft out of Chipola Junior College, following an early graduation from high school.

Collier's first full professional season in 2023 saw the lefty hitter bat .246 with a .705 OPS and six home runs in 111 games for Single-A Daytona as he sometimes struggled to get lift on the ball with his swing.

Amid adjustments in the offseason and in Spring Training, Collier has put his potential into performance with Dayton and has tapped into the raw power scouts liked before the Draft. He entered Sunday batting .246 with a .754 OPS, eight homers and 30 RBIs. On Friday, during a 5-2 Dragons win over Great Lakes, he hit an opposite-field homer to left-center field.

Other Reds prospects dropped in the updated rankings. Third baseman Noelvi Marte, who is serving an 80-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs, fell from No. 18 overall to No. 29 and from No. 1 to No. 2 in the organization.

At Triple-A Louisville, right-handed starter Connor Phillips dropped from No. 62 to outside the Top 100. Likewise for Double-A Chattanooga right-hander Chase Petty, who fell from No. 87. Both pitchers have had trouble locating in the strike zone early this season.

Elsewhere in the Reds farm system:

Triple-A Louisville

Before he was recalled by Cincinnati on Friday for his second big league stint of the season, right-handed pitcher was the International League's Pitcher of the Week for May 6-12.

Spiers, who is not ranked by MLB Pipeline, went 2-0 with one unearned run and eight hits allowed over 12 innings. He walked three and struck out 15. In eight games with Triple-A Louisville, including seven starts, he has a 2.43 ERA and 1.11 WHIP.

Double-A Chattanooga

Second baseman was named as the Southern League's Player of the Week for May 7-12. In seven games last week, Callihan batted .429 (9-for-21) with two homers, two doubles, five RBIs and five runs scored and had three multi-hit games.

Single-A Daytona

The teenaged combo of shortstop/third baseman and catcher is developing nicely this season. Cabrera, a 19-year-old who is ranked No. 9 in the organization, had two hits and two walks in five plate appearances and scored two runs during Friday's 12-6 loss to Clearwater. In 31 games overall entering Sunday, he has hit .265 with a .782 OPS, three homers and 12 RBIs.

Duno, 18, is ranked No. 10 in the organization and is batting .270 with an .822 OPS, three homers and 15 RBIs in 28 games. In his last seven games entering Sunday, he is batting .360.