Cincinnati Reds prospect Cam Collier got off to a blazing hot start to begin his MLB career. The talented infielder who’s shown flashes at both first and third base in the club’s minor league system is hoping to regain that power that made him the 18th overall pick in 2022 MLB Draft.

The former Chipola Junior College Indians star was taken that high for one and one thing only and that’s his bat. Collier began his career with a bang; in fact he even hammered 20 homers with the High-A Dayton Dragons in 2024. So why the drastic change at the plate as it pertains to his power?

Collier Battled Lingering Injuries

One of the main reasons for Collier’s sudden dip in power numbers in his third season was injuries to his thumb and wrist. Collier hit only four homers last season following surgery to repair a torn UCL in left thumb. When asked about overcoming injuries and getting back to being the hitter that he’s been known to be Collier said this.

“I’ve tried to not think about it too much,” replied Collier, whom the Reds drafted 18th overall in 2022 out of Chipola College. “This year, I wanted to really get back to being a hitter. I wanted to have consistent good at-bats, and while that didn’t produce as many homers, it produced a lot more base hits. I was happy with that.”

The stat sheet reflects some of his targeted strides. After batting .248 with a 25.0% strikeout rate in 2024, Collier improved to .279 with an only-incrementally-higher 26.3% K-rate against a higher level of competition. Moreover, the exit velocities he produced when he squared up the baseball were impressive — which remained the case in the desert. At 113.1 mph, Collier had the hardest-hit ball in the Fall Stars Game.

Collier Takes It All In Stride

Collier understands that hitting home runs come and go, and he just wants to become more consistent at the plate as a whole.

“Hey, that’s baseball,” Collier said, who could have brought up, but didn’t, the hand/wrist issues that hampered him throughout 2025. (A torn thumb ligament in spring training required surgery and resulted in his not playing for a full-season affiliate until early May.) “Sometimes they won’t go out of the park, but if I’m putting good swings on the ball, good things are going to happen. I know that [home runs] will come in time.”

Reds Brass Know Why They Drafted Collier

GM Brad Meador recently spoke on Collier and what made him a guy team brass was and is still so high on.

“When we drafted him, we thought he was just a good, pure hitter,” Meador told me during last month’s GM Meetings. “He was a young hitter, obviously, who we thought would grow into his power. I still feel that he has a chance to be a really good hitter, foul pole to foul pole. I think he is at his best when he is just focused on being a hitter. We’ll let the power come.”

“He had a hand injury at the end of spring training and missed the early part of part of the year, so we wanted him to get those extra at-bats,” Meador said. “But he is also learning a new position. That’s another part of it.”

“They kind of traveled together from affiliate to affiliate, so we started moving both of them,” Meador explained. “Sal was going from third to second, and Cam from third to first, so along with third base they could each have another position. We’ve done that with a few other guys over the last 5-10 years. Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain came up as shortstops and were going to be reaching the big leagues around the same time, so we wanted them have at least a couple of positions that they were familiar with. When we feel that someone’s bat is ready, we don’t want to have to introduce him to a new position.”

Collier Finding His Power 

This season Collier is showing some of that unique pop at the plate with six homers, and while he and team brass would like to see his batting average (.229) increase he’s beginning to look like himself. He’s also driven in 29 runs and possesses a .724 OPS. In his minor league career Collier is batting .256 with 38 homers and 223 RBI.