The Cincinnati Reds are sending out two 2025 MLB Draft picks to Daytona to join the Tortugas roster. Outfielders Mason Neville and Kien Vu were both assigned to Daytona this afternoon and when they enter the game will be the club’s first players from the 2025 draft to play in a game. Malvin Valdez was transferred to the development list in Daytona and Myles Smith was promoted to Dayton to create the needed roster spots.
Mason Neville was the NCAA home run leader this season. The lefty hitter out of Oregon his 26 of them this season to go along with 16 doubles as he slugged .724 on the year. But with all of that power also came a lot of strikeouts and just a .290 average. That was a big step forward from where he had been in 2024 as he hit for a better average, walked more often, struck out significantly less, and showed more pop as a junior.
It will be interesting to see where he plays in the outfield as some teams believe he can handle center field. Right field is a good fall back plan, though, where he’s got the arm to play there and his speed is more suitable for the corner.
Cincinnati used their 4th round pick to select Neville last month. But they also selected him in the 18th round in 2022 out of high school. He went unsigned and headed off to Arkansas before transferring to Oregon for his sophomore season.
The Reds used their 9th round pick in July to take Kien Vu out of Arizona State. He had a big time 2024 season where he hit .413 and slugged .793 in what we now seem to know was a season where something was likely going on with the baseball that made it livelier than normal. In 2025 he still had a strong year, hitting .354/.458/.601.
Unlike Neville, none of his tools really stand out. But Vu does have solid tools across the board with none that are truly below-average.