Former Cincinnati Reds First Round Draft Pick Showing Promise in 2025

The 12th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft belonged to the Cincinnati Reds. They selected outfielder Austin Hendrick out of West Allegheny High School in Pennsylvania. Hendrick was the ninth best player in the draft according to Baseball America and 13th by MLB.com. It's 2025, and he is still in Double-A Chattanooga. What happened?

Hendrick was a 2020 high school graduate. The COVID-19 pandemic would wipe his senior season at West Allegheny High School, so essentially the Reds drafted him based on his play through his Junior season. Not only did he miss his Senior season, but he would not have a first season of pro ball until 2021. He would have some notable accomplishments in 2019, with one being the winner of the 2019 Under Armour Home Run Derby at Wrigley Field.

Five years later, and we are finally seeing improvement in the now 24-year-old prospect. His batting average is 47 points higher than his previous season high. His strikeouts are on pace for a career low, and his OPS of .805 is also a career best. The youngster has experienced significant improvement overall in 2025, slashing .268/.342/.476.

It will be interesting to see what the Reds do with him as he's still relatively young. Do they keep him in Chattanooga this season and move him up to Triple-A next year? Or, is there a path for him to reach the Triple-A team this season? Whatever happens, it is nice to see progression in a player who was once highly rated coming into the draft in 2020.