Reds gamble on 17-year-old shortstop Steele Hall with first-round pick

New York Times

10 hours ago

The way the Cincinnati Reds' amateur scouting department saw it, Steele Hall could've ended up being the top pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, so they took him in 2025 instead.
Hall, a shortstop out of Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.), was selected ninth by the Reds in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft on Sunday. Hall won't turn 18 until July 24, but last year while on a recruiting visit to the University of Tennessee, the Volunteers' staff suggested he could reclassify and go to college a year early. After putting on about 15 pounds of muscle, Hall will instead skip playing college baseball to start his professional career.
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'When we project these players, we're talking about what they are at the big-league level,' said Joe Katuska, the Reds' director of amateur scouting. 'Obviously, a younger kid, we're not surprised to see significant gains year after year with them, and that's what we saw over the course of the year every time we saw him.'
The slot value for the No. 9 pick in this year's draft is $6,513,800. Hall is expected to sign for an amount slightly less than the value of the position.
Thirteen high school shortstops were taken among 43 first-round picks, including seven of the first 14 and 11 of the first 24. A pair of Oklahoma high school shortstops were taken in the first four picks, with the Washington Nationals selecting Eli Willits with the first pick and Ethan Holliday falling to the Colorado Rockies at No. 4.
Bryce Harper is the best-known case of a player reclassifying and being drafted early. In 2022, the Reds selected infielder Cam Collier 18th overall after Collier reclassified to be eligible for that year's draft. Cameron, still just 20, is currently in Double A, where he's hitting .293/.426/.354 after starting the season on the injured list following thumb surgery. Collier was the MVP of the 2024 Futures Game.
Hall said he wasn't sure about following in the footsteps of Collier and Harper when the idea of reclassifying was first presented to him, but as more people brought it up, he and his family began to consider it.
'We did a pros and cons list to it, really. What are the benefits and what are the negatives to do or not do it?' Hall said Sunday night. 'Me and my parents gathered a ton of information, and we really didn't find any negatives to it. … So I said, 'Let's do it. Let's put all the cards in one deck and let's go. Let's roll.''
University of Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello was part of the draft broadcast team on MLB Network on Sunday. When the Reds took Hall, who signed with the Volunteers in November, Vitello said he was initially recruited for his defense. Since November, though, he's become a more complete player.
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'He started having a little more arm strength come along, the speed became a factor, then the hit tool,' Vitello said on the broadcast.
Hall is maybe the fastest player in this draft, with Katuska describing him as a 'top of the scale runner.'
'We think he's a shortstop, he has power, he can hit, he can really throw,' Katuska said. 'It's a five-tool package that we think we've got there. We're very excited about him.'
The 17-year-old also showed that he has a bit of confidence when asked if he thought he could beat current Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz in a footrace.
'I think so, yeah,' Hall said. 'I think I could.'
That response probably didn't surprise the Reds.
'He likes to compete. Kind of mild-mannered off the field, but once you get him between the lines, he's fiery,' Katuska said. 'He likes to go. He's a guy that we think is going to fit in really well with the group that we have, and things that we've been prioritizing from a makeup standpoint, is that in between the white lines, he wants to show you how good he is.'
Because of his speed, Hall's been compared to Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner.
'I think it's hard to put those sort of expectations on a player, you're talking about a guy who signed a $300 million contract at the big-league level, but that was the comp that got brought up in our room with our group,' Katuska said. 'That type of player that is ultra-athletic, can run, can throw, can play defense and provides value with the bat, as well as a leadoff type of guy. That's how we saw Steele and what ultimately led us to be comfortable with the pick.'
Hall said he's patterned his game after a different shortstop who cashed in as part of the 2023 free-agent class, Dansby Swanson of the Chicago Cubs.
'I always liked the way he fielded and his bat was there at the Braves,' Hall said. 'But I really liked the way he carried himself, too.'
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Elsewhere in the draft, the Reds selected 6-foot-5 right-hander Aaron Watson of Trinity Christian Academy (Fla.) with their second pick, the 51st in the draft. Watson is committed to the University of Florida.
Katuska said Watson, who has seen his fastball hit 96 mph, played on a team with three other SEC signees and played good competition in the Jacksonville area.
'We all know what sort of baseball they play at the high school level in Florida,' Katuska said. 'Especially some of the private schools around the Jacksonville area. We saw him dominate all year.'
In the third round with the 83rd pick, the Reds selected right-hander Mason Morris from the University of Mississippi. Morris, who stands 6-4, was the top-rated high school shortstop in Mississippi before moving to the mound. Morris mostly pitched out of the bullpen for the Rebels.
'We think it's a starting pitching profile,' Katuska said. 'He has the size, athleticism, delivery and the pitch mix to do that. He was lengthened out significantly in the bullpen. He maintained his stuff and really got better over the course of the season. Fastball-cutter-slider-splitter mix from him. There's a lot of untapped upside.'
The first three rounds of the draft were held Sunday. The event concludes Monday with rounds 4-20.