Switch-hitting catcher soars up Reds' prospect rankings after 2026 breakout

Success on the international market is determined in the long run and comes in many shapes, sizes and swing paths. No one would have rushed to claim the Reds the kings of the scene in 2018 when they signed a 16-year-old Elly De La Cruz for $65,000. But they’ve also enjoyed an unparalleled run near the top of signing classes as the only organization to land a top six player in three of the past four cycles.

Switch-hitting catcher Jirvin Morillo fits neither of those boxes to a tee, having been a $420,000 signee back in January 2024. But he is the latest in a lineage of talented Venezuelan backstops to make his presence felt across the Minors and he has rocketed up the Reds’ rankings in kind -- now No. 8 on the club’s refreshed list.

After spending two solid years in the Dominican Summer League, Morillo got the bump to the Arizona Complex League this summer -- and dominated. Slashing .321/.449/.652, the 19-year-old tied for the circuit lead with 13 homers and ranked near the top in almost every offensive category.

Morillo’s success in his first taste of stateside ball earned him a bump to Single-A Daytona, where he collected full-season hit and steal No. 1 on Wednesday night.

That jump to the Arizona Complex League meant that Morillo -- who ran a 21.3 percent walk rate in the DSL -- would see more strikes. His first-pitch strike rate spiked by more than 14 percent this year but the teenager actually responded by posting a career-low swing percentage. So how has he enjoyed one of the most impressive campaigns of any hitter in Rookie ball? When Morillo is swinging, he’s aiming to hit the ball in the air -- and hitting it very far.

Across his 235 plate appearances in Arizona, Morillo put 38.6 percent of his balls in play in the air, a modest number. But 26.5 percent carried over the wall, tied for the top mark among all Reds Minor Leaguers this season. Dating back to 2007, that’s the fifth-highest HR/FB percentage for any qualified hitter in the system.

The first glimpse that many Reds fans got of his approach came on March 19, when in his unofficial stateside debut, Morillo hammered a two-run double off the left-center-field fence in the club’s Spring Breakout victory over the Giants. There aren’t many 19-year-olds taking a 96 mph sinker 388 feet to the opposite field at 103 mph off the bat.

While Statcast data wasn’t available for every game during the Arizona Complex League regular season, it still provided a glimpse into what Morillo offers. He put 13 balls in play north of 105 mph, a mark that just seven Reds have reached in the big leagues in all of 2026. (Entering play Wednesday, Morillo had more in his limited time than regulars Tyler Stephenson, Matt McLain and Spencer Steer.)

Nine of those batted-ball events ended in a hit for Morillo, with five going for extra bases. His 31 extra-base hits ranked second on the ACL circuit, while his .332 ISO bested all qualified players.

Morillo isn’t viewed as a surefire catcher in the long term, but he’s certainly made a case in 2026 for sticking at the premium spot. He totaled six sub-2-second pop times in the ACL and ripped off an 89.3 mph throw on a stolen-base attempt on June 17, a mark that only five Major League catchers have exceeded this season. (Only Chuckie Robinson, on Sept. 4, 2022, has made a faster throw among Reds catchers at the big league level since 2015.)

After hosing 36.9 percent of opposing basestealers in the notoriously run-happy DSL last year, that number dipped slightly to 32.1 this year but still remains impressive. Also working in Morillo’s favor is that the club’s top prospect, Alfredo Duno (MLB No. 23), is two levels ahead of him with Double-A Chattanooga -- the pair of international signees are the only current members of the Reds’ Top 30 list who ply their trade behind the dish.

It’s a definitive youth movement near the top of Cincinnati’s rankings with eight of their top 11 prospects currently in A ball or lower. After funneling (and graduating) position players Sal Stewart and Edwin Arroyo and pitchers Rhett Lowder and Chase Petty up to the big leagues, the club is enjoying a new wave that will only be bolstered when 2026 Draftees join the fray after MLB Pipeline updates its rankings after the Trade Deadline.