Edwin Arroyo? Rece Hinds? Rhett Lowder? How low can Cincinnati Reds go to reach the stars

GOODYEAR, Arizona — The best looking hitter for the Cincinnati Reds this spring is Edwin Arroyo. The Double-A shortstop looks even better in the field.

“Every highlight is him, seems like,” one Reds staffer said.

Arroyo, 20, doesn’t know what that means exactly for his big-league ETA. But he knows what he watched from the minors last year:

Matt McLain called up May 15. Elly De La Cruz called up June 5. Christian Encarnacion-Strand on June 17, Noelvi Marte on Aug. 19. None had played at a higher level than Double-A at this point last year; Marte opened the 2023 season at Double-A.

Is Arroyo that guy this year?

“I feel ready for it,” Arroyo said. “I’ve just got to do my thing out there on the field, and they will see I can.”

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Even manager David Bell seems to like Arroyo’s vision.

So where would he play?

“Oh, I don’t know,” Bell said.

Said Elly De La Cruz, the top shortstop on the Reds’ depth chart now: “You asking me? I don’t know. Ask the manager.”

Bell: “You always find a spot for good players. That’s just the way the game has always been.”

In other words, if anyone thought this youth movement the Reds put into warp speed last year might have run its course with an MLB-high 16 debuts, they should think again. And think Arroyo. And outfielders Jacob Hurtubise and Rece Hinds. And pitcher Chase Petty and even pitcher Rhett Lowder — who hasn’t thrown a regular-season pitch as a professional since being drafted seventh overall last year.

“I think I can provide help to this team pretty quick,” Lowder said.

The Reds expect to win this year, and they spent $108 million on free agents over the winter to add big-league reliability and playoff experience to a roster that for all its young talent had precious little of either.

All those debuts last year pushed infielders Jonathan India and Spencer Steer into the team’s already crowded outfield mix this year.

And the Reds don’t plan to stop pushing.

The youth-driven process continues into this year, even with the expectations and even after all those 2023 rookies look to establish their big-league feet under them this year, Bell said.

“It has to play itself out, right?” Bell said. “What I do know is if there’s a good player that can help a major league team and from a development standpoint they’re ready to do that, you figure that out at that time.

“That’s what player development is,” he said. “And then that’s what you do at the major league level, is put the best team on the field with the guys that are ready to do that. We’ll figure that out whenever that time comes.”

That figuring has already begun at least theoretically behind the scenes when it comes to Arroyo.

A top-100 prospect acquired from the Seattle Mariners in the 2022 Luis Castillo trade, Arroyo is considered the best shortstop in the Reds’ organization by many in baseball, inside and outside the organization.

“At 20 years old, it would be totally unfair to say he doesn’t have to continue to grow and get better. But he’s doing his part,” said Bell, who lauded not only Arroyo’s exceptional fielding but his surprising pop for his slight-looking build.

“He has strong forearms and hands,” Bell said. “He has a good approach. He can hit a fastball for sure. He knows what he’s doing. He’s really intelligent, a smart player — really what you want in a middle infielder.”

All of it’s been on display during an eye-popping start to the spring.

“He’s doing everything he can to show that’s he’s ready to (claim a spot), Bell said. “Now in his mind. That’s perfect.”

Arroyo doesn’t sound like he’s taking anything for granted. But he does seem to be operating with that fast-track, single-minded purpose as he prepares to open the season back at Double-A Chattanooga with an eye on Triple-A and a big-league chance.

“I feel like you’ve got to own that chance by doing your job,” Arroyo said. “But I feel like for sure like I can make it here a little quicker.”

What he saw last year suggested that much.

And teammates in camp see it, too.

“We practice a lot together, and he’s so good,” De La Cruz said. “And he works a lot.”

It’s not lost on Arroyo that the club thinks enough of him to have him in his first big-league camp this spring. And what that means for making impressions now that stick in management’s minds later.

“I will for sure work for it. But I feel like I can have a chance,” Arroyo said. “They are the ones that make decisions. I’ve just got to go out there and do my thing, and I will for sure get the opportunity.”

And if De La Cruz is at short, and McLain’s at second, and so on?

“Man, wherever they need me, honestly,” Arroyo said. “I will play wherever. If I’m up there, I’m up there. It’s not the same as the minors, for sure. I’ll be ready for whatever.”

So will the Reds, also for sure. Because that wave of young talent that came through last year has another wave behind it. And the Reds plan to ride it as far as they can.

“I feel like this team will be really good this year,” Arroyo said. “And I bet next year it will be even better.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Cincinnati Reds, Edwin Arroyo believe youth movement just starting