Reds Reportedly Calling Up Top Prospect Before Brewers Series

The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly about to promote one of the most exciting young players left in their farm system.

Mike Rodriguez reported Thursday that the club is calling up outfielder Carlos Jorge, and Cincinnati will select his contract from Triple-A Louisville and needs to clear a spot on a full 40-man roster to do it.

The move was still not official as of Friday afternoon, with no announcement from the team and nothing on the league's transaction log, but once it goes through the 22-year-old will be in the majors for the first time in his career.

Jorge has hit .308 with a .376 on-base percentage, eight home runs and 33 stolen bases in 88 games between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville this season, and he was caught stealing only five times.

The average sat at .330 at Chattanooga before the bump to Louisville.

MLB Pipeline ranks him the No. 16 prospect in the system, which looks light for a left-handed hitter with this mix of contact and speed, and the Reds left him unprotected in last year's Rule 5 draft without losing him.

He has played center field in 68 games this year while seeing time at all three outfield spots, and he signed out of the Dominican Republic as an infielder, playing second base as recently as this season, so Terry Francona will have options for where to use him.

Rosters expanded to 28 on September 1, and the front office held onto its veterans at the deadline instead of selling, so the last month of the season doubles as a look at the young players who will be part of the next good Reds team.

A debut now gives Jorge a head start on winning a job next spring instead of fighting for one cold in March, and it tells everyone else in the system that big years at Chattanooga and Louisville get rewarded with real chances.

Cincinnati sits at 67-73 and six and a half games out of the last wild card spot, so the call-up is about the future more than the race.

The present still offers a real test, because the Brewers arrive tonight at Great American Ball Park with the best record in the National League at 87-54, and Rhett Lowder gets the ball against Shane Drohan.

The Reds beat the Padres 7-3 on Wednesday in their last game before an off day, and this group has shown it can hang with good teams in stretches, including a seven-run ninth inning against the Giants in late August, even if Terry Francona was answering for a shutout loss to those same Giants earlier that week.

A weekend against Milwaukee will not change what this season has been, but a lineup with Jorge's speed in it gives September a reason to matter in Cincinnati, and if the paperwork lands in time, his first big league game could come in front of the home crowd this weekend before the club heads to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers on Monday.