The Cincinnati Reds captured the attention of the baseball world this past summer for several weeks, in large part because of their rookie influx headlined by former No. 1 overall prospect Elly De La Cruz.

Along with De La Cruz, rookies such as Matt McLain, Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Andrew Abbott impressed mightily in their debut campaigns at Great American Ballpark, while former top prospects Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo took strides in their development as big leaguers.

Despite graduating droves of talent to a young big league roster over the last several years, excellent drafting and big ticket International free agent signings have restocked this farm system for Nick Krall and the rest of the Reds front office.

Note: Players graduate from prospect status after 100 plate appearances or 30 innings pitched at the MLB level.

Lowder made his closing argument as the second best college arm in the 2023 draft by going toe-to-toe with Paul Skenes in a winner-take-all semifinal game in Omaha. He may not have frontline stuff, but Lowder has a good arsenal with a great feel to pitch.

Arsenal

While his fastball may lag behind his high-quality secondaries, the pre-draft concerns around Lowder’s fastball appear to be a bit overblown. He sits 93-95 MPH with his heater, occasionally touching 97 MPH with some arm side run. He may not overpower hitters with it, but still picks up some whiff and plenty of ground balls.

Lowder has an excellent feel for his secondaries, with both his slider and changeup flashing plus. He spots both consistently, landing them for strike around 70% of the time. His slider is his most consistent pitch, mixing it in 40% of the time his junior season with success against both lefties and righties. It features plenty of sweep from his three quarters release point.