Haughton Native Selected by Reds in MLB Draft

It's always exciting to see people from the Shreveport-Bossier area succeed at the highest levels. Whether we're talking about Dak Prescott or Terry Bradshaw or Evelyn Ashford or Tre White, it's always cool to see one of us succeed and win. And the great thing about our area, for whatever reasons, we seemingly produce TONS of professional athletes.

The latest local to end up going pro is Haughton Native and baseball standout Peyton Stovall. Stovall was a Haughton High graduate and went on to play college ball for the University of Arkansas.

Peyton Stovall Drafted in 2024 MLB Draft

It's been quite the adventure for Peyton. Back in 2021, after being a High School All-American, he was expected to be a 1st round draft pick. However, he opted to withdrawal his name from the draft and attend the University of Arkansas.

I would imagine that Stovall was hoping to go from a late first round draft pick to an early one. Unfortunately, he had some injury issues and didn't live up to the expectations he set for himself. He had a good Freshman year and got some post season honors. His sophomore year was cut short by injury. This year, his junior year, was also shortened by injury. However, despite missing 12 games, he still put together a really solid season and was named 3rd team All-American and 2nd Team All-SEC.

So, he didn't have a bad college career by any stretch. He just had a bit of bad luck. And whether it was the injuries, the amount of talent in this specific draft or some other reason that scared organizations off, he dropped from being a projected late first 1st round pick to getting selected in the 4th round. He ultimately was selected 117th overall by the Cincinnati Reds.

What Does the Future Hold For Peyton Stovall?

There's good news/bad news here. The bad news: the drop in draft position from 2021 to 2024 cost Peyton a LOT of money. A first round draft pick in 2021 got no less than 2 million dollars. According to MLB.com, Peyton's approximate slotted signing bonus is about $618k. So, that's quite a drop in the funds department.

The Good News: He got drafted by a team that's starting to assemble a lot of high quality young talent. In some of the early 2021 Mock Drafts before he withdrew his name, he was projected to go to the Dodgers or A's. The Dodgers have the tendency to use their prospects as trading chips - so, if he got drafted there, there's no telling where he would have ended up. If he got drafted by the A's, he would have ended up on a team in flux and turmoil. At the moment, nobody seems to perform well in Oakland.

Going to the Reds isn't the worst thing to ever happen. The future of Jonathan India is unknown - there's been rumors swirling that the Reds are looking to move on. Plus, regardless of whether or not they're a playoff team, the seemingly produce stars, even if they ultimately end up in other uniforms. So, if he can continue to work hard and can stay healthy, he could end up being the starting Second Baseman for the Reds in a few years.

Peyton could end up being a very good hitter in the MLB. According to some experts (see the video above), they are projecting he could bat .270 or so with 15 home runs a year. To put that in perspective, let's compare those projections to another local baseball star - Todd Walker.

Walker had a long MLB career, playing for 7 MLB teams over 12 years (including the Cincinnati Reds). Todd's 162 game average (basically what he average per season of his career) - .289 with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs.

So, Peyton's projections are pretty close to Todd's actual career numbers. Todd never made an All-Star team or won an MVP, but he was a really good player that always had a job and made a lot of money. If you have a career where you reach 10+ years of service time, that's pretty darn good.

Only time will tell what kind of career he has. But, there's one thing we know for sure - Peyton is going to put in the work to try and succeed.