Six players from the Reds’ Minor League affiliates joined kids from the Reds’ Nike RBI program to work with them on fielding and hitting drills at the P&G Cincinnati Reds MLB Youth Academy.
On Wednesday, Bernard Moon, Anthony Stephan, Kyle Henley, Carlos Sanchez, Arnaldo Lantigua and Esmith Pineda, who all played for Single-A Daytona or High-A Dayton in 2025, opened the evening with stretching before breaking off into groups to work with kids from the Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities program.
It was all the players’ first time at the Reds Youth Academy. For Stephan, the importance of his visit to the academy was not lost on him.
“It’s pretty cool because we were once in these kids' shoes, and I know how much I looked up to guys that I grew up with that I knew were going to college to play or somewhere professionally,” Stephan said. “I know as a young kid you look up to these guys as role models. It's cool to be that for these kids and have an opportunity to teach them something. We’re not coaches by any means, but something we could say to them could have a lasting impact that they take for the rest of their lives and end up being successful baseball players themselves.”
While Henley and Moon worked on fielding, Lantigua, Sanchez, Pineda and Stephan took to the batting cages and threw pitches. The exercises allowed the pros to work closely with the youth and offer constructive tips.
Being able to coach and give suggestions to the young players on the mechanics of baseball wasn’t the only thing being focused on. For Moon, he believed it was important to talk about the mental aspects of the game.
“Growing up, they always talk about how baseball is so mental,” Moon said. “I feel like one of the more important things that we could do as professionals is kind of preach to these guys how mental this game can be. Growing up you may have a lot more success, but just kind of relaying to the kids how much more challenging the game may be. I feel like that's the big part. That's just as big as going on the field and hitting five home runs in one game: 'How do you handle yourself when things aren't going your way?'”
With the different age groups cycling through the fielding and hitting stations, everyone got a chance to work with the different players and hone different skills.
For some of the prospects, not only was it their first visit to the Academy, but it was also their first trip to the Queen City.
“This is my first time in Cincinnati, so being able to come here and see what the community is like and its baseball culture here, I think it’s pretty cool,” Henley said. “To give back and just give any information I can to help is a cool opportunity and experience.”