Now for those of you don’t know who he is, I want you to pay attention because you just stumbled upon the next big MLB star.

AJ Reed is going to be one of 2016’s breakout prospects. There are a plethora of factors that lead me to believe this, but first let you give you some background information…

AJ Reed began his career as a left-handed hitter and ace pitcher at University of Kentucky. Yeah, you read that right. And as dynamic duel pitcher/hitter, he didn’t wait long to become a star. Reed became the 1st Consensus First-Team Freshman All-American in Kentucky’s baseball history. Now that’s a bit of tongue twister, but it goes to show that he immediately made an impact.

Now I could list a bunch of his college stats and explain why he was amazing, but frankly I don’t think that’d sell you on him. Instead, let me just list out his accolades that he won in 2014, when he lead the nation in HRs (23) and hit .351:

Golden Spikes Award Dick Howser Trophy Baseball America College Player of the Year Baseball America First-Team All American SEC Player of the Year SEC Male Athlete of the Year ABCA National Player of the Year John Olerud Trophy

Now why do these matter? Well, I’m going to list in reverse order the Golden Spikes Award winners:

Kris Bryant Mike Zunino Trevor Bauer Bryce Harper Stephen Strasburg Buster Posey David Price Tim Lincecum

It’s the company you keep. And Reed has kept AMAZING company (especially if we consider this FanGraphs article that compares him to Babe Ruth)

AJ Reed destroyed college as a pitcher and a hitter. He should have been a first round pick, but he fell to the Astros in the 2nd round because of worry about his build (he weighed in at 285 last spring training) and about him switching full-time to hitting.

His first year in pro ball he hit .289 with 12 HRs and 54 RBIs. Not bad. Pretty solid for a kid coming right out of college as a hitter/pitcher.

Then in A+ ball, Reed broke out. He hit .346 with 23 HRs and 81 RBIs in 82 games. His ISO was .292 and his BB/K was .81. Amazing numbers that should sling-shot him into prime prospect discussion right?

Well, no. Experts believed that most the power was from his home stadium of Lancaster as well as the hitter-friendly California League. Most figured AA would show what he really was….

…Then he hit .332 with 11 HRs and 46 RBIs. His ISO only dropped to .239, showing that on top of his ability to hit the ball and get on base, he had legit power. Overall, he finished the year with .340 BA, 34 HRs, and 127 RBIs in just 135 games.

In the end, he ended up winning (more award listing imminent):

2015 Baseball America Minor League All-Star BA 2015 Best Batting Prospect (Coaches’ Vote) BA 2015 Best Power Prospect (Coaches’ Vote) BA 2015 Best Strike-Zone Judgement (Coaches’ Vote) MiLB Joe Bauman Home Run Award 2015 Mid-Season All-Star 2015 Post-Season All-Star 2015 Rookie of the Year 2015 Most Valuable Player MiLB Staff Choice for Best Offensive Player

As you can see, it was another great year of accolades and dominance. That’s what I like to call a trend.

So why is AJ Reed going to break out this year. Well I can think of three reasons:

He’s shown that he has massive power, just look at his HRs, RBIs, and ISO. He’s shown that he has an ability to get on base and take pitches, just look at his AVG, K%, and BB% He has an opportunity. The Astros need a 1st baseman and have already given Reed a big league invite.

He has the tools and the opportunity. There are things he’s struggled with and needs to work on, such as hitting vs lefties, but based off how he’s handled his competition the last two years, I for one am not going to doubt him.

– Prospect Pete