Let’s head immediately to the Land of the Endless Strip Mall where Cincinnati Reds top prospect Alfredo Duno has been plying his trade for the Peoria Javelinas in Arizona Fall League play.
For much of the
AFL season, Duno had been somewhat quiet. Rhett Lowder’s much anticipated return to health (and to a competitive mound) stole plenty of initial headlines, as did the way that Cam Collier – himself rounding back into form after thumb surgery – was knocking the snot out of the ball. Duno, still just 19, hadn’t really had a breakout moment just yet despite having been one of the two or three best hitters in all of minor league baseball during the 2025 regular season (while also being a catcher).
That changed dramatically this week. As Jesse Borek of MLB.com noted, Duno smashed a trio of homers last night in the AFL playoffs that travelled a combined 1,290 feet. And the fine folks from Baseball America have the videos.
This one soared some 453 feet, and it wasn’t even the longest one he hit last night.
Speaking of which Baseball America just revealed their updated list of the Top 10 prospects in the Reds system ($), though there’s some good insight into who and what they like about the system before the paywall, too.
Doug Gray at Reds Minor Leagues has also been counting down his list of the top prospects in the Reds system, and today he got to spots #1 through #5. Head over and check out his detailed breakdown of the entire Top 25, from former 4th round draftee Mason Neville (#25) all the way to the top (Duno, duh doy).
Duno and the Peoria Javelinas will play in the AFL championship game today (Friday) at 3:30 PM ET against the Surprise Saguaros, and that’s streamable on MLB.com.
At the big league level, the Reds named Oscar Marin their new bullpen coach as part of a larger shakeup in their coaching staff. Marin, a 17 year vet of coaching ball, comes to the Reds after having spent the last six years with the Pittsburgh Pirates as their pitching coach. He’ll be the bullpen coach replacing Matt Tracy, who moved up the later to be the team’s assistant pitching coach after former assistant pitching coach Simon Mathews was hired by the Washington Nationals to be their pitching coach.
Apparently seven teams have inquired about Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte, and I’m willing to guess the Cincinnati Reds are not one of them.
The Toronto Blue Jays, fresh off a World Series where they definitely didn’t lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers and actually won, are reportedly targeting ‘high-leverage’ relievers. That’s fun for the Reds since, well, that’s what the Reds are in need of, too, and Toronto is a) better and b) has more money than the Reds at the moment.
That’s about it for today!
