The Reds keep quietly checking boxes on their 2026 draft class, and the latest is a fun one. Cincinnati has a deal in place with East Carolina's Ethan Norby, the club's 4th-round pick at 122nd overall, and they didn't have to squeeze him much to get it done.
Jim Callis broke down the signing bonus, slot value and what makes Norby's arsenal stand out.
$630,000 against a $632,500 slot is about as vanilla as bonus negotiations get -- no dramatic underslot savings to redistribute elsewhere in the class, just a clean signing for a guy who profiles as one of the more polished arms outside the top 3 rounds. Norby was the 2026 Preseason American Conference Pitcher of the Year and set ECU's single-season strikeout record with 131 punchouts this spring, his second straight year over 100.
What actually gets scouts talking is the pitch mix. Callis flagged the slider as one of the best in the entire draft class, and reports have it sitting in the high 70s to low 80s with sharp, deceptive movement that misses bats at a rate scouts don't see much from college relievers-turned-starters. Pair that with a fastball that touches 95 out of a low release slot, and you've got the blueprint for a bullpen fast-track if the changeup doesn't come along.
Norby spent 3 years in the Pirates rotation, starting in relief as a freshman before working into the weekend rotation and picking up 5 All-American nods along the way. That kind of track record at a mid-major power conference program is exactly why a team like the Reds, who've leaned into pitching depth and shape data in recent drafts, were fine paying full slot instead of trying to leverage him down.
Cincinnati has now signed 13 of its 21 total picks from this draft, with the signing deadline looming July 27. Norby joins a class Reds fans have been buzzing about since Day 1, and if the slider translates the way scouts think it will, he could move quickly through a system that's shown it isn't afraid to fast-track relief-profile arms with a true out pitch.