The Cincinnati Reds promoted outfield prospect Jay Allen II from Double-A Chattanooga to Triple-A Louisville.
Allen was batting .280 with 15 home runs, 17 stolen bases and an OPS of .857 in 377 plate appearances in his second season for the Lookouts.
Allen has cut down on his strikeouts over the past three seasons. He hit just .154 with 40 strikeouts in 105 plate appearances for High-A Dayton during an injury-plagued 2023 season.
What to know about Jay Frederick Allen II:
Allen was a first-round pick of the Reds in the 2021 draft.
The Reds selected Allen 30th overall, with a compensatory pick they received after losing free agent Trevor Bauer.
Allen's signing bonus was $2,397,500.
The Reds selected infielder Matt McLain earlier in the first round (17th overall).
Chase Petty, selected 26th overall by the Minnesota
Twins in that draft, was traded to the Reds in the Sonny Gray deal in 2022.
The Reds drafted pitcher Andrew Abbott in the second round in 2021.
Allen was a three-sport star in high school in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Allen, like Petty, had committed to play baseball for the Florida Gators. Allen batted .357 in 28 games during his senior year at John Carroll Catholic High School.
A star quarterback who threw 29 touchdown passes as a senior, he had offers to play football at Air Force, Coastal Carolina, East Tennessee State, Eastern Kentucky, FIU, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Grambling State, Marshall and Youngstown State.
Allen also scored more than 1,000 points in basketball.
"(Baseball) was the safest choice for my body," Allen told milb.com. "I felt I could really be something if I applied my full-time effort into just baseball without the wear and tear of getting hurt in football."
Allen ranks 29th among MLB Pipeline's top Reds prospects.
"Still only 23 years old, Allen's premium athleticism might finally be turning into performance," MLB Pipeline wrote of Allen. "Allen still has plenty of speed to make him a threat to steal, and he has shown the ability to handle all three outfield spots capably."
With the Dragons in 2022, Jay broke the all-time Dayton franchise record for most stolen bases in a single game with five.
Allen turns 24 in November.
"I'm big on thinking," Allen told The Enquirer in 2022. "This game is very hard, and that's really attractive. It's not (only) physical, it's mental."
"The way we run with this as hitters, that gives me a little more confidence and gets me excited to do this," Allen added.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who is Jay Allen II? Reds promote OF prospect to Triple-A Louisville
