Reds prospect Graham building on breakout campaign in Arizona Fall League

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Carter Graham was a two-time first-team All-Pac-12 selection during his tenure at Stanford, earning second and third team All-American honors from multiple outlets. But despite that, the former two-sport athlete -- who also excelled on the basketball court -- admitted that he didn’t have much of an approach at the plate entering pro ball when the Reds popped him in the eighth round of the 2023 Draft.

That all changed this year.

Through his first 779 plate appearances in the Minors, spanning parts of three years, Graham ran a .228 average and .669 OPS. He was floundering and wasn’t really on the radar for the Reds’ Top 30 Prospects list. But he returned to High-A Dayton to begin 2026, reuniting him with hitting coach Troy Gingrich, who previously spent two decades in the Nationals’ system.

The results were immediate. Graham destroyed Midwest League pitching, going on to win Player of the Month honors in June, slashing .322/.450/.614 over 66 games before it was apparent he was ready for the challenge of Double-A.

“Early in my career, I was just a multi-sport athlete who rolled out to the baseball field and just swung at everything I could,” said Graham from Fall League Media Day earlier this month. “This year, Troy really taught me an approach. He changed my career for sure, so I gotta give him a lot of credit.”

That first foray into the upper Minors is often a big leap for hitters, but it was one that Graham rolled through seamlessly, including homering in his Double-A Chattanooga debut on June 30. Now slotted in as the Reds’ No. 22 prospect, he has embarked on an additional six-week run with the Peoria Javelinas in the Fall League, looking to keep the good times rolling.

“To be honest, I just didn't change anything,” said Graham of his promotion. “I had this process and this approach that I had and I worked on with Troy and built throughout my first two or three months in Dayton, and when I knew I was getting called up, my only focus was to go out there and do the same thing that I was doing -- have fun with my teammates, laugh in the locker room, get to know my coaches and my buddies, figure out what their story is. I feel like that allows me to spend less time trying to figure out the nuances of the baseball game and gives me more time to just play freely.”

All told, playing freely led to Graham leading the Reds farm system in homers (29), RBIs (93), extra-base hits (61) and total bases (256) en route to being named the organization’s offensive prospect of the year by MLB Pipeline. His 151 wRC+ was third-best among the 66 Minor Leaguers who accrued at least 550 plate appearances this season.

In addition to his offensive contributions, Graham was a man of many gloves. He made 60.6 percent of his defensive starts at first base, but he also made at least 18 appearances at both third base and left field, the two positions he focused upon during his early Fall League tenure.

“It can be difficult for sure,” said Graham. “I think that if you prepare the right way and you focus on your pregame preparation … I would feel a little more confident, a little more prepared. But I think that just also being an athlete, being able to move different positions and being able to help the team win and get different guys in the lineup on a daily basis, I feel like that's a great attribute.”

That Swiss Army knife utility player type often doesn’t come with the power potential that Graham displayed in 2026. But that athletic background makes it work. He’ll be Rule 5 Draft-eligible this offseason heading into his age-25 campaign.

After years of flying under the radar, Graham is firmly on it now.

“I felt like my first two years was a lot of trial and error of learning the player that I am and what allows me to be successful on a nightly basis,” said Graham. “And then this year, I felt like the trial and error kind of ended and I started to understand the player that I am and what I'm capable of and started refining those skills as opposed to trying to find out who I was. And I think that allowed me to have a lot more consistent success.”

Other Reds hitters in the AFL:

Carlos Sanchez, 3B/SS/OF (No. 14): Despite appearing in 127 regular-season games, the Reds tabbed Sanchez for the Fall League ahead of a 40-man roster decision this offseason. The 21-year-old is coming off a career year in which he slugged 16 homers and stole 23 bags across two levels, including his first push up to Double-A. After seeing time at third base and center field previously, he manned shortstop almost exclusively this season, and his above-average arm strength makes him an asset at the premium position.

Yerlin Confidan, OF: Confidan looked like an early scouting success story when the Reds landed him for $200,000 out of the Dominican Republic in July 2019. He skipped over the Dominican Summer League and won Arizona Complex League MVP in his stateside debut in ‘21 and earned some Elly De La Cruz comps with his raw tools. The years since have provided glimpses of those tantalizing tools but also haven’t seen him post an OPS above .762. He pushed into the upper Minors for the first time this summer and slugged a career-high 15 homers across 126 games between Dayton and Chattanooga, while also ripping multiple balls at 105+ mph off the bat in the first two weeks of the AFL.

Reds pitchers in the AFL:

Luke Holman, RHP (No. 23): A veritable blank slate, Holman has tossed just 15 2/3 innings across parts of two Minor League seasons due to Tommy John surgery. Taken with the Reds’ Competitive Balance Round B pick (No. 71 overall) in the 2024 Draft, the 6-foot-4 righty was one of the best hurlers on the ‘23 Team USA Collegiate National Team and starred at both Alabama and LSU during his college days. His fastball has sat around 92-94 mph during the Fall League but it has stood out with its average of 18 inches of induced vertical break, a near-elite mark. He’s also worked with an 84-86 mph slider, low-80s changeup and mid-to-upper-70s curveball, which, when healthy, helps him pound the zone and keep batters off the barrel. More >>

Cody Adcock, RHP: After pitching one year apiece for Ole Miss, Crowder College (Mo.) and Arkansas, the Reds popped Adcock in the 13th round of the 2023 Draft and have sent him out exclusively as a reliever. He struck out 86 batters across 62 2/3 innings, while the opposition hit just .167 against him across his time with Dayton and Chattanooga, the lowest mark among all Cincinnati Minor Leaguers who accrued at least 60 innings. His sinking fastball has sat 96-97 mph in the Fall League, and he has a mid-80s slider that can be a weapon when he lands it consistently for strikes.

Victor Diaz, RHP: Only one Reds Minor Leaguer (min. 60 innings) posted a higher K/9 this season than Adcock -- Diaz (12.5), who racked up 84 punchouts in 60 1/3 frames. An undrafted free agent out of Seminole State JC in Florida in August 2024, the 23-year-old pushed up to the upper Minors during his second pro campaign. He operates with a 95-96 mph heater, upper-80s changeup and 85-87 mph slider/cutter hybrid that helped him hold opposing batters to a .224 average through his 37 appearances between Dayton and Chattanooga.

Trent Hodgdon, RHP: Another high-octane arm, Hodgdon spent one year in the bullpen at West Virginia and two in the same role for South Carolina Upstate before Cincinnati nabbed him in the 17th round of the 2024 Draft. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder racked up 75 K’s across 52 innings out of the Dayton bullpen, with his 11 saves tying him for 14th-most across the Minors (second in the Reds’ system). He gets down the mound well and operates with a 93-94 mph fastball, upper-80s cutter and upper-70s curveball but will need to trim his walk rate (8.0 career BB/9) as he moves up the ladder.

Jose Montero, RHP: One of just two Reds Minor Leaguers to toss 100+ innings each of the past two years, Montero has moved steadily through the system since signing in November 2022 out of Venezuela. The 23-year-old posted a 4.26 ERA between Dayton and Chattanooga in both a starter and multi-inning relief capacity. His 93-94 mph sinker and mid-80s changeup and slider delivered reverse splits (.223 average vs. LHB, .257 vs. RHB) across two levels.