One of the endearing aspects of HomeTrust Park is the ample ground and shrubbery beyond the outfield fences. When a home run is sent into orbit, it gives off the illusion that it’ll travel deep into the North Carolina scenery.
While Xavier Neyens' first home roundtripper for High-A Asheville didn’t travel forever, it certainly made a bid for it. The Astros’ No. 2 prospect turned and burned on a center-cut heater -- sending it 478 feet at 110 mph off the bat per the ballpark’s Trackman device -- during the club’s 16-12 loss to Greenville in Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader.
In addition to his home run prowess, MLB’s No. 4 third-base prospect also drew three walks for the Tourists. His 88 free passes this year rank second in all of the Minors behind only the Kane Kepley (CHC No. 5), a fellow 2025 draftee.
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It’s been a banner debut season for Neyens, whom the Astros selected with the No. 21 pick in last year’s Draft. He is one of just seven ranked prospects in the game with a 65-grade or higher power tool, but Single-A doesn’t always provide opportunities to tap into that pop with erratic young pitchers perpetually on a quest to find the strike zone.
But Neyens has adjusted. After striking out 30 times across 83 plate appearances in April, his strikeout rate slowly dipped and his walk rate began to climb. Across his final 15 outings for Single-A Fayetteville, he collected 27 walks (to just 15 punchouts) and posted a .563 on-base percentage. It helped that when hurlers did come in the zone, the 19-year-old pummeled the ball with nine of his 11 hits in that span going for extra bases (including six homers).
At the time of his departure from the Carolina League, Neyens ranked in the top five in on-base percentage (.449), OPS (.911) and homers (14).
COMPLETE ASTROS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Coming out of the All-Star break and off an All-Star Futures Game appearance, it was time for MLB’s No. 83 prospect to get a new test: High-A. After starting 2-for-18 with eight punchouts across his first five games for Asheville, Neyens has settled in with six hits (three extra-base hits) and five RBIs in his past five outings.
“The power production, we're going to put that up against any player in the Minor Leagues,” Sam Niedorf, Houston’s director of player development, told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart earlier this month. “We have huge confidence in this player's ability to continue the progress through the system and maintain the same level of output on the power production standpoint that we've seen all year. I think to say he's exceeded expectations might be light. He's done more than that.”
Entering the night, Neyens led all qualified stateside Astros Minor Leaguers with a 145 wRC+. His penchant for line drives (27.4 percent rate, sixth in the org) and ability to park his fly balls over the fence (34.1 percent rate) play anywhere, but should particularly flourish as he gets into some hitter-friendly environs in the South Atlantic League.