8. Vladimir Gutierrez, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 9/18/1995 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: high-A Daytona Tortugas
2017 Stats: 19 GS, 103 IP, 4.46 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 4.4% BB, 21.7% K
Info: Following in the recent push from the Cincinnati Reds to pursue high-end Cuban arms, they signed Gutierrez in August of 2016 for $4.75 million. He made his pro debut in 2017.
Gutierrez jumped straight to high-A and had a solid season before showing some obvious wear and tear in August, not surprising due to his primary role in Cuba being out of the bullpen.
Gutierrez’s stuff might end up playing best out of the bullpen, with a fastball that sits low 90s but can touch 97-98 in short bursts with excellent movement on the pitch. His change is a fringe-plus pitch with excellent arm deception that gets plenty of weak swings from hitters from both sides of the plate.
His breaking stuff needs some work to define better as he has a sharp-breaking slider and a hard curve that can blend together, and getting more distinct movement would allow both pitches to play up more. With his current pitch mix, he could benefit from something like a cutter instead of the slider if that helped him to get a distinction.
His future role for the Cincinnati Reds will be determined strongly on how Gutierrez can handle the workload of the rotation as well as how well he can develop his breaking stuff. He’ll get a shot to work on both in the upper minors in 2018, starting likely in AA.
7. Jose Siri, OF
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 7/22/1995 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: low-A Dayton Dragons
2017 Stats: .293/.341/.530, 552 PA, 24 HR, 46 SB, 33/130 BB/K
Info: When Siri was originally signed by the Cincinnati Reds out of the Dominican Republic in 2012 as a high-ceiling outfielder with a ton of gap between what he could be and what he currently was as he still needed to fill into his frame.
Siri (has) a rare blend of power and speed not just in the Reds system, but within the game in general
Siri finally tapped into all of his raw tools in his second go round at the Midwest League. As he’s filled into his 6’2″ frame, he’s developed above-average raw power. That pairs with top-of-the-scale speed that gives Siri a rare blend of power and speed not just in the Reds system, but within the game in general.
Defensively, Siri is a legit center fielder with excellent speed to cover any misreads off the bat, but he’s worked on his instincts to be able to make great jumps.
Due to his slow development, Siri is behind the age curve, and he will be 23 in 2018, likely spending most of the season between high-A and AA. He’s likely not going to be a factor with the Cincinnati Reds plans until at least 2020.
Next: #5 and #6