Former Reds First Round Draft Pick Finding Success in Double-A Chattanooga

It's still early in the season, but former Cincinnati Reds first-round draft pick Austin Hendrick could be turning a corner in Double-A Chattanooga.

After having a good, not great season a year ago with Chattanooga, he's off to a huge start with the Lookouts in 2026.

Through the first nine games of the season, Hendrick is slashing .371/.405/.600 with four extra-base hits and his strikeout rate is currently under 30% for the first time in his career. His contact percentage is up to 73% this year, which is eight percent higher than he's had in any season of his career.

It's Been a Grind for Hendrick

Jul 23, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; General view of Cincinnati Reds hat during the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

The Reds selected Hendrick with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of West Allegheny High School, which was the draft during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a deal to shorten the draft to five rounds.

Hendrick has a solid rookie season in 2021 with the Tortugas, slashing .211/.380/.388 with 23 extra-base hits in 63 games, but 37.6% strikeout rate was concerning. In 2022, Hendruck played in 110 games with the Tortugas and the High-A Dayton Dragons and had an OPS of .739 with 42 extra-base hits, including 21 home runs and 16 stolen bases, but again his strikeout rate was a concern. It rose to nearly 40% when he was promoted to Dayton.

Then, things seem to come crashing down for Hendrick. In 2023, Hendrick slashed just .204/.271/.335 with 32 extra-base hits and 19 stolen bases. His strikeout rate continued to be above 35%. In 2024, the struggled got worse, where he played in 121 games for Double-A Chattanooga, slashing .188/.243/.531 with 22 extra-base hits and 14 stolen bases. In his first season with the Lookouts, his strikeout rate sat at 36.5%.

Then in 2025, he finally started to turn the corner. In 93 games with Chattanooga, he slashed .246/.322/.422 with 27 extra-base hits and six stolen bases. His strikeout rate was still higher than you'd like to see it, but it was cut down by 4% to 32.5%.

Hendrick is Still Young

It's easy to forget that Hendrick is still just 24 years old. If he can continue to lower his strikeout rate and continue to build on the first nine games of the season, there is still hope we will see Hendrick make the big leagues at some point in his career.

His teammates seem to love Hendrick.

"He is the greatest human being ever," prospect Trevor Kuncl told the Red Hot Reds podcast. "He is the nicest dude, you just want nothing but success for him."

Regardless if Hendrick ever makes it to the big leagues or not, it's been nice to see him finally have some success in Double-A Chattanooga.