Farmers Only – Is Austin Hendrick figuring it out?

CHATTANOOGA, TN - JULY 08: Austin Hendrick #12 of the Chattanooga Lookouts stands in the batters box during the game between the Rocket City Trash Pandas and the Chattanooga Lookouts at AT&T Field on Tuesday, July 8, 2025 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Photo by Maddalena LoRae/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images) The first week of the year featuring action from all four minor league affiliates of the Cincinnati Reds is in the books, and Farmers Only is here to highlight the best of said action. We’ll start with the AA Chattanooga Lookouts, seeing as that squad won each of their first three games of the season and sits undefeated at the time of writing this.

And helping lead that charge so far is none other than Austin “Fox in the” Hendrick , the 1st round pick of the Reds back in 2020 about whom we’ve almost completely forgotten. He’s always flashed elite power potential, but the lack of consistent contact and strike zone awareness has dogged him since being selected out of high school in the Pittsburgh area. He’s still somehow just 24 years old, however, and he’s begun the year 6 for 12 with a homer and 5 runs driven in for the Lookouts.

Maybe, just maybe, he’s figuring things out a little bit (and we’ll ignore the 4/0 K/BB so far for the time being). Leo “Shuffle” Balcazar has also been red hot for Chattanooga out of the gates after being added to the team’s 40-man roster this winter. He went 5 for 11 with a homer, a double, and a walk to begin the season.

Chattanooga begins a big six-game road trip in Birmingham on Tuesday. Alfredo Duno is off to a hot start over in Dayton as the High-A Dragons split their first two games of the year only to have Sunday’s contest rained out. Duno has begun the season 2 for 7 with a pair of doubles and as many walks (2) as Ks (2) so far, while the perennially overlooked Carlos Sanchez has begun the year 3 for 8 with a double, walk, and stolen base.