Reds Top Prospect Catching Fire After Difficult Start to Season

Alfredo Duno struggled early on to start the season with the Dayton Dragons. The Reds' number-one prospect slashed .213/.362/.347 with six extra-base hits, 12 RBIs, and 24 strikeouts in 75 at-bats. The 20-year-old is coming off an impressive 2025 campaign that saw him win the Florida State League's Most Valuable Player Award, leading the league in nearly every offensive category. He slashed .287/.430/.518 with 18 home runs, 81 RBIs, and 32 doubles.

He is Beginning to Heat Up

Now that the calendar has flipped over to May, Duno's bat has started to catch fire. In 26 at-bats this month, he's slashing .462/.576/.692 with four extra-base hits, seven walks, and just two strikeouts. He is starting to look like the player he was all of last season, which earned him the number-one prospect ranking in the organization. One of the few question marks about Duno's game has been his ability behind the plate. Everyone knows he can hit, but can he call a good game and move around to block pitches in the dirt? Reds' pitcher Rhett Lowder talked about his catching ability during the Arizona Fall League last season.

“He was awesome,” Lowder told Jonathan Mayo during the Arizona Fall League. “He was very responsive to everything I had to say and it seemed like he took great mental notes of anything that I like to do, and then he gave some feedback. Just a really big target too, which is awesome.”

Duno skipped the Arizona Complex League when he made his United States debut in 2024. He didn't start catching full-time until 2024, before a fractured rib caused his season to end in May. 2025 was his first full season as a catcher. He’s only played 1,084 innings behind the plate to this point; that's 125 games. His progression in one month's span is eye-catching, and should he keep this up, he should rise through the organization in the coming years.

The Current State of Reds Catching Depth

Tyler Stephenson is the Reds' current everyday catcher, and his potential final season with the club has not been good. He's batting just .192 with a .582 OPS, and this has been a trend over the last few seasons. His average and OPS have dipped in each of the last three seasons, as well as his defensive production. That leaves the question of: who is next in line for the catcher position in 2027 and beyond?

PJ Higgins is the only catcher currently on the 40-man roster and has played at the Major League level this season. The 33-year-old has played in just 89 big league games, with 74 coming with the Chicago Cubs in 2022. While he could be a stopgap for Duno to come up in two years, his fit seems unlikely.

Will Banfield made his big league debut for the Reds in 2025, but was designated for assignment over the offseason. He went 1-10 with the Reds and is a career .226 hitter over eight minor league seasons. The 26-year-old also isn't known as the best defender behind the plate.

Dayne Leonard skipped High-A and Double-A after playing in Low-A Daytona in 2025. The 26-year-old was signed out of the Independent League and played college ball at Virginia Tech and West Virginia. He was a great offensive hitter with Major League potential. In Triple-A, he's slashing .400/.483/.440 in limited action.

Some other catchers in the system that are worth noting are: Michael Trautwein, Cade Hunter, Ryan McCrystal, and Jacob Friend.

McCrystal was recently promoted to Double-A at the beginning of May. He was the Dayton Dragons' Co-Hitter of the Month for April and has performed at every level since being drafted in 2024. He has a 19 percent strikeout rate this season with a 52 percent swing percentage. McCrystal is still just a 23-year-old, and the Reds may be fast-tracking him through the organization. He played in just 42 games in High-A between 2025 and 2026; that pace puts him in Triple-A before the end of this season and is a long shot to make the team out of Spring Training next season.

Jacob Friend is also 23 years old and was selected four rounds ahead of McCrystal in 2024. Friend is more of an athlete, playing the outfield as well as catching. Friend has a 40 percent swing percentage and is dominating Low-A pitching so far in 2026. He's slashing .333/.440/.657 with 19 extra-base hits, including six home runs.

Duno is clearly the future at the catcher position, but the Reds need to figure out what the short-term future of the position is if this is Stephenson's final season with the team.

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