CINCINNATI — The 2025 MLB Draft was this past weekend, and the Reds made 20 selections across Sunday and Monday. There were 20 rounds total in the Draft and 615 total selections across all 30 Major League Baseball clubs.
Cincinnati selected 12 pitchers and eight position players. Led by shortstop Steele Hall, let’s look at each of the Reds 20 draft picks, what scouts say about each player, and what they are going to bring to the Reds organization.
Round 1, Pick 9: Steele Hall – Shortstop, Hewitt-Trussville HS (AL) 6-foot-0, 180 lbs.
Hall is the first high school middle infielder from Alabama to go in the first round since 1971. He may only be 17 years old, but Hall brings a lot of upside to the Reds organization.
A Tennessee commit, Hall put on 15-20 pounds of strength during his third year of high school. The Reds drafted him as a shortstop, and scouts say he can stay at the position with good actions, range to both sides, and the ability to make throws from a variety of angles.
At the plate, the right-handed hitter is a bit of a free swinger who struggles to recognize secondary pitches. He still has room to add more strength and should become at least an average hitter with 15-homer pop, and perhaps more, if he can moderate his approach.
This is a player who reclassified to the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft last November, and the Reds may benefit heavily from Hall’s decision.
Round 2, Pick 51: Aaron Watson – Right-Handed Pitcher, Trinity Christian Academy (FL) 6-foot-5, 205 lbs.
A Florida commit, the big thing scouts say about Watson is that he has a really good feel for pitching. Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver once described pitching as the game within the game, so the fact that scouts are saying this about Watson is a positive sign.
A hard-thrower in the 90s with his fastball, Watson also has the slider, breaking ball, and changeup in his pitching repertoire. Scouts say he can command all three offerings in the zone, repeating his delivery well despite his size.
Overall, scouts say that Watson has a pretty high floor, and it’s not difficult to imagine a higher ceiling as he adds strength to that frame.
Round 3, Pick 83: Mason Morris – Right-Hander Pitcher, Ole Miss; 6-foot-4, 225 lbs.
Morris has played college baseball for three seasons at Ole Miss, where he was primarily a reliever. After puncturing his liver in an outfield collision during his senior year of high school in 2022, the right-hander battled control and command throughout his first two seasons with the Rebels.
But what drove scouts to Morris is his power arm, and he currently throws 95-97 miles per hour with a peak of 99 on his fastball. Scouts add that Morris’s frame will be able to handle a heavier workload if he converts to a starter professionally, with his best pitch a cutter he throws in the low-90s and a slider that tops out in the upper 80s.
Throwing strikes is the key for Morris, but he is an intriguing draft pick who could handle a lot of innings when he gets to the Major League level.
Round 4, Pick 114: Mason Neville – Outfielder, Oregon; 6-foot-3, 210 lbs.
Neville is actually a former Reds draft pick back in 2022, when the organization drafted him in the 18th round. He chose to go to Arkansas before transferring to Oregon before the 2024 season.
At Oregon, scouts say Neville showed his raw power and considerable swing-and-miss and that he made some very goodsteps forward this spring, catapulting him back up onto the early-round Draft radar. It’s a testament to his overall athleticism and offensive potential from the left side of the plate, reminding some of his high school days of a young Cody Bellinger.
This is a player who tied for the NCAA lead with 26 home runs this past season, a culmination of Neville’s ability to drive the ball gap-to-gap with plenty of pull power. He primarily played center field this season, and Neville has above-average speed, a good eye, and a strong arm to bring to the Reds organization.
Round 5, Pick 145: Eli Pitts – Outfielder, North Atlanta HS (GA); 6-foot-1, 185 lbs.
Pitts is verbally committed to South Carolina, and his latest scouting report describes him as having a strong athletic build with some physical projection remaining. He is listed as an outfielder and middle infielder on Perfect Game USA, but his primary position is in the outfield.
On defense, Pitts is athletic with a strong arm that is also accurate. His profile portrays him as a center fielder.
At the plate, Pitts is a right-handed hitter with an easy, tension-free swing, and he hits the ball best to left-center field. Pitts lives at the barrel of the bat and has always been a high-performance hitter.
Round 6, Pick 174: Braden Osbolt – Right-Handed Pitcher, Kennesaw State; 6-foot-3, 205 lbs.
Osbolt pitched for Kennesaw State this past season, his third season with the program. He only pitched in four games in the Spring of this year, throwing 17 innings with 13 strikeouts against just three walks.
In his first two seasons, Osbolt went 7-4 with a combined 137 innings, where he had 95 strikeouts. He pitched a complete game in 2023, a year after he was named the 3A State Player of the Year in Georgia. Osbolt was part of a state championship team in 2022 with Pike County High School.
Round 7, Pick 204: Justin Henschel – Right-Handed Pitcher, Florida Gulf Coast; 6-foot-3, 195 lbs.
A three-year member of the Florida Gulf Coast program, Henschel pitched in three games this past Spring with a 0.00 ERA in 12 innings pitched. He also struck out 13 batters and allowed just eight hits, with season-highs of five innings and nine strikeouts.
Henschel was a member of the ASUN All-Tournament Team in 2024, where he held the highest scoring team in the country, Austin Peay, to three runs on nine hits in a complete game victory. He also pitched a team-high 61 1/3 innings.
Round 8, Pick 234: Kyle McCoy – Left-Handed Pitcher, Maryland; 6-foot-6, 205 lbs.
McCoy has been with the Maryland program for three seasons, but he missed the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery. He overcame that to have a solid Spring this year, throwing six+ innings in 10 of his 14 starts. That durability earned him All-Big Ten honors.
Scouts say McCoy’s best offerings are two different slider shapes, using a harder, bullet slider (up to 87 mph), as well as a gyro ball to miss bats at a 43 percent rate, per Synergy. They say his repertoire comes from a funky three-quarters arm slot, coming across his body with his delivery to add deception. That does allow his stuff to play up at times, and he manages to repeat well and throw a ton of strikes.
Round 9, Pick 264: Kien Vu – Outfielder, Arizona State; 5-foot-11, 185 lbs.
Hailing from one of the best programs in the country at Arizona State, Vu had an excellent Spring this year with a .354 average, 10 home runs, and 35 RBIs. He also had a .458 on-base percentage and 25 walks against just 39 strikeouts.
Vu’s best season was his sophomore season in 2024, where he hit a whopping .413 and slugged .793 with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs. In Pac12 play, he increased his batting average to .418 and slugging percentage to .916. Both led the conference.
If he can progress through the Reds farm system quickly, he can make an impact with his ability to hit for average and power. His power is also not home-run-or-bust power, either.
Round 10, Pick 294: Ty Doucette – First Baseman, Rutgers; 6-foot-2, 205 lbs.
Like Vu, Doucette is coming off a really strong Spring at Rutgers, where he hit .350 with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs. Just as impressive, he drew 33 walks against just 37 strikeouts. That tells you he has good plate discipline, hence his 12-game hitting streak to end the season.
Doucette fit right in as soon as he got to Rutgers, hitting .321 as a Freshman to rank fourth on the team. He was also second on the team with nine home runs and 49 RBIs.
Originally from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Doucette played for the Canadian Junior National Team and also played hockey growing up. His father, Darren, was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1992 and played three years in the organization with seven years total.
Round 11, Pick 324: Jake Brink – Right-Handed Pitcher, College of Charleston; 6-foot-2, 200 lbs.
A three-year member at the College of Charleston, Brink is coming off a Spring where he threw a career-best 93 innings. He went 6-6 with a 3.58 ERA and 82 strikeouts. He ranked third in the Colonial Athletic Association in innings pitched and second with three complete games. Two of those complete games were shutouts, the first Cougars pitcher withmultiple complete-game shutouts since 2006.
Brink was an All-CAA Second Team member in 2024, going 8-3 with a 3.69 ERA and 62 strikeouts.
Round 12, Pick 354: Carson Latimer – Right-Handed Pitcher, Sacramento State; 6-foot-3, 205 lbs.
Latimer went 2-3 with a 6.14 ERA in 2025 with Sacramento State. He pitched 36 2/3 innings with 28 strikeouts. His 2025 season came after two seasons at Cloud County Community College, marking a big leap to Division I this past Spring.
Before college, Latimer was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team in 2022.
Round 13, Pick 384: Brady Afthim – Right-Handed Pitcher, UConn; 6-foot-0, 211 lbs.
Afthim is coming to the Reds organization as a highly accomplished pitcher. His 92 appearances at UConn are the second-most in program history, and Afthim holds the record for lowest batting average against in program history at .211
This past Spring, Afthim struck out 53 batters in 22 appearances with opponents hitting just .217 against him, while saving nine games and winning two.
He was First-Team All-Big East in 2024 and Second-Team All-Big East in 2025.
Before UConn, Afthim was a star at Windham High School in Windham, Maine. He won the Maine Gatorade and USA Today Player of the Year awards, and he was also Mr. Baseball in Maine in 2021.
Round 14, Pick 414: Bryce Archie – Right-Handed Pitcher, South Florida; 6-foot-3, 212 lbs.
You may know Archie for taking over as South Florida’s starting quarterback in football this past season. This past Spring, Archie appeared in 15 games with three starts. He went 3-1 with a 3.25 ERA, pitching 44 1/3 innings with 36 strikeouts and just 16 walks.
On the gridiron, Archie started the final eight games for the Bulls and went 5-3 with a win in the Hawai’i Bowl. He completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 1,914 yards, nine touchdowns, and 10 interceptions while also rushing 68 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Archie played two total seasons with the Bulls football program.
Round 15, Pick 444: Andrew Shaffner – Right-Handed Pitcher, NC State; 6-foot-2, 180 lbs.
A three-year member of the NC State program, Shaffner is coming off a season where he led the Wolf Pack with seven saves. In holding opponents to a .237 batting average, Shaffner went 4-1 with a 3.13 ERA, 39 strikeouts, and 37 1/3 innings pitched.
In high school, Shaffner shone at the plate in hitting .545 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs as a senior. On the mound that season, Shaffner went 6-0 with a 0.16 ERA, three saves, 94 strikeouts, and 45 innings pitched.
Round 16, Pick 474: Maison Martinez – Right-Handed Pitcher, Florida State; 6-foot-2, 246 lbs.
A member of the Seminoles program this past Spring, Martinez held his own pitching in the always-daunting ACC. Martinez went 1-2 with a 5.55 ERA, throwing 24 1/3 innings with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks.
Round 17, Pick 504: Dylan King – Catcher, Central Florida; 6-foot-2, 205 lbs.
King is coming off a strong 2025 season with Central Florida, where he hit .326 with nine home runs and 34 RBIs. In addition, King was second on the Knights in slugging (.652), on-base percentage (.442), and OPS (1.094).
He made 40 starts behind the plate in 43 games played overall, earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. During the season, King reached base in 11 straight games and had a 10-game hitting streak. He also had 10 multi-RBI games and nine multi-hit contests.
His father, Brad King, was also a catcher for Central Florida in the mid-90s and was drafted in the 17th round of the 1996 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs and went on to play 10 years of professional baseball.
Round 18, Pick 534: Ethan Moore – Shortstop, Oak Park and River Forest High School (IL); 6-foot-0, 190 lbs.
This is a really strong description from scouts on the kind of hitter Moore is and can become: Moore features a compact swing and smacks line drives all over the field, stroking the ball with more authority from the left side of the plate. His combination of hitting ability, bat speed, and strength should produce 15-20 homers annually once he adds some more loft to his stroke. He has the aptitude to work counts and hit the ball where it’s pitched.
Scouts also praise his intelligence and competitiveness. Keep your eye on Moore as he progresses through the Reds farm system.
Round 19, Pick 564: Myles Upchurch – Right-Handed Pitcher, St. Albans HS (D.C.); 6-foot-3, 215 lbs.
Upchurch is already throwing his fastball in the low-to-mid-90s, and he has also hit 95-96 miles per hour. Scouts say his strength and athleticism should be assets going forward.
Myles’s father, David, played defensive tackle at West Virginia and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Steelers.
Round 20, Pick 594: Leamsi Montanez – Catcher, Leadership Christian Academy (Puerto Rico); 6-foot-0, 190 lbs.
Montanez has a strong, athletic build with solid arm strength. His hands are loose and fast, turns the barrel over well for consistent hard pull side contact, has some lift to his swing with plenty of power potential.
