Here are the Reds' 2026 Draft picks

CINCINNATI -- Although the Reds stuck to their policy of taking the best players available to them in each round of the 2026 MLB Draft on the first day, they also appeared to be drawn to prospects from the college ranks.

With their first pick at No. 18 overall, Cincinnati selected shortstop Justin Lebron out of the University of Alabama. Then their next four selections also came from the college ranks.

“Not by design, it just happened that way," Reds amateur scouting director Joe Katuska said. "We talk about the best player available at every pick there and we lined those guys up and they were the best players.”

College position players like Lebron can usually hit the ground running in the Minor Leagues once they sign. There are no concerns about innings or workloads on arms like there are for pitchers.

“It’s always a great thing when we can get our hands on them and start making the adjustments that he needs to make," Katuska said. "The more time we have with him, the more confidence we have in him being able to make those adjustments moving forward.”

Overall, the first day of the Draft went the way the Reds scouting department hoped it would.

“Every scouting department is going to tell you they crushed it, but we feel really good about what we did -- the work we did coming into it, how we had the board lined up and what ended up happening today," Katuska said. "We’re really happy with how it played out.”

Here is more about the picks the Reds made over the rest of the Draft.

ERIC BECKER, SS

• Round 2, Pick 58
• Bats/throws: L/R
• School: Virginia
• What to know: Ranked as the No. 41 Draft prospect, Becker batted .348 with a 1.048 OPS over three college seasons. Hitting is his plus tool -- over power -- and he is considered to have a solid approach, excellent bat-to-ball skills and doesn't chase much. His brother, Nick, was a 2025 second-round pick of the Mariners.
• Quote: “He’s a very well-rounded baseball player. I think people sleep on some of his tools a little bit because of how even it is across the board, but he can really hit.” -- Katuska

MULIVAI LEVU, 1B

• Round CB-B, Pick 70
• Bats/throws: L/R
• School: UCLA
• What to know: Levu had his best season in 2026, batting .340 with a 1.063 OPS and 18 homers in 59 games. His left-handed raw power is his best tool and he can hit to all fields. But he also swings at everything and needs to cut down his chase rate. Levu has other skills that show his hand-eye coordination. He's an excellent pickleball player and has experience as a flame-twirler as part of his Samoan culture.
• Quote: “He can just flat-out hit. He’s a better athlete than people give him credit for. We think he has the opportunity to play third base as well. The bat, the advancement we’ve seen from him over the last couple of years -- we just have high confidence in him as a hitter.” -- Katuska

TYNER HORN, P

• Round 3, Pick 94
• Throws: RHP
• School: Nebraska
• What to know: Began this season as a starter for the Huskers but was demoted to the bullpen. Horn was 3-3 with a 4.03 ERA in 22 games, including 12 starts. He had 87 strikeouts and 26 walks over 82 2/3 innings.
• Quote: “What we’re doing is projecting these players into the future, not just the stats that they’ve compiled or the roles that they played in for their team up to this point. It was up-and-down over the course of the year. … We saw physical ability to be a starting pitcher and are excited about him moving forward.” -- Katuska

ETHAN NORBY, P

• Round 4, Pick 122
• Throws: LHP
• School: East Carolina
• What to know: The brother of Triple-A Jacksonville infielder Connor Norby, Ethan Norby was considered to have one of the best sliders in college baseball and can give it high spin in the 79-82 mph range.
• Quote: “Norby thinks he’s better than his brother, so I bet if you ask him, he’ll tell you he could hit like his brother. Super competitive kid [who] has been a starter at ECU who has weapons to fill multiple roles in the big leagues. He’s a fun one to be around.” -- Katuska

More on the Reds' 2026 Draft:

• Alabama SS Lebron taking talents to Reds with No. 18 pick
• Reds Draft tracker

Rounds 5-10
The Reds went after several athletic players capable of playing multiple positions, which showed with their fifth-round pick, Dylan Bowen, a high school shortstop who can play around the infield. Same goes for seventh-rounder Sherman Johnson, a third baseman from North Carolina State who can play all over, and eighth-round selection Brady Neal, a left-handed-hitting catcher and corner outfielder out of Alabama. Ninth-rounder Damian Ruiz from Arkansas is a center fielder but plays all three outfield positions.

Player to watch: SS Dylan Bowen

• Round 5, Pick 154
• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: Hanover Central HS (Ind.)
• What to know: The first high schooler taken by the Reds this year, Bowen is in an interesting situation because he is nearly 19 1/2 years old and has a commitment to Oklahoma State. He is ranked as the No. 105 Draft prospect by MLB Pipeline.

“We’re confident we’ll be able to sign him," Katuska said. "Very athletic kid, up the middle player. I watched him all summer on the showcase circuit and he actually played for our scout team in the fall. He’s a kid that we know really well.”

Rounds 11-15
These rounds wound up being all about adding pitchers. Among them was 11th-rounder and right-hander Calvin Proskey out of UC Santa Barbara, who was limited to eight games after a UCL strain but did well after returning. A right-handed reliever, Brodie Purcell, spent his first two years at Southern Cal before transferring to Florida State and becoming part of a combined no-hitter in March.

The Reds also took a two-way player in Kenny Ishikawa out of Georgia (13th round) and right-handers Ray Ladd (14th round) and David Hinojosa (15th round), the latter of whom is a New York high schooler with a commitment to Vanderbilt.

Player to watch: TWP Kenny Ishikawa

• Round 13, Pick 392
• Bats/throws: L/L
• School: Georgia
• What to know: An outfielder and a pitcher, Ishikawa could be quite intriguing because the Reds are getting to let him develop as a two-way player. A native of Hawaii who moved to Japan when he was seven, the 22-year-old spent a year in college in Japan and then moved back to the U.S. to go to Seattle University before transferring to Georgia. A broken foot from being hit by a pitch limited Ishikawa's time on the mound this year.

“We saw continued progression from him," Katuska said. “We saw him really good in the fall as a pitcher and that’s what’s most intriguing about it. Anyone with the athletic ability to play a position in the SEC and also pitch, that says a lot for what their future is.”

Signing Ishikawa – who is still considered a sophomore and was also drafted by a Japanese club – isn't a lock for the Reds.

“We hope we’ll be able to get it done," Katuska said.

Rounds 16-20
Pitching also largely ruled the back portion of the 2026 Draft for Cincinnati. The lone exception is 17th-round outfielder Jack Lausch, who is a lefty-hitting outfielder out of Northwestern. Lausch started out as a quarterback for the Big Ten school but more recently moved into baseball full time.

The pick that will get outsized attention in Cincinnati was the selection of a local kid in Round 18, right-hander Matt Ponatoski out of Archbishop Moeller High School. Ponatoski was ranked No. 208 among Draft prospects by MLB Pipeline.

Player to watch: RHP Matt Ponatoski

• Round 18, Pick 542
• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: Moeller High School (OH)
• What to know: A Cincinnati-area product and a former Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year in both baseball and football, Ponatoski joined Hall of Famer Joe Mauer and football Hall of Famer Randy Moss as the only Gatorade winners in two sports during the same year. The 18-year-old – also a quarterback – has an offer to play football and baseball for the University of Kentucky.

Ponatoski pitched and played shortstop for Moeller, which has also produced Hall of Famers Barry Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr.