No. 21 pick Neyens hopes to help Astros keep wreaking AL West havoc

HOUSTON -- Growing up on a farm about an hour north of Seattle, Xavier Neyens cheered for the Mariners and is very aware of how the Astros have dominated the American League West division in the last decade.

“I know they whip the Mariners every year in the AL West, so that’s what I know most about the Astros,” he said. “I've been to quite a few Mariners-Astros games. I watched a bit of it on TV, but I just know they always run the West.”

Neyens, taken by Houston with the No. 21 overall pick in Sunday’s MLB Draft out of Mount Vernon (Wash.) high school, hopes to one day add to the Mariners’ misery as a member of the Astros. He’s a 6-foot-4 shortstop who has an advanced approach at the plate, big-time power potential from the left side and a strong arm.

“I'm a dirtbag; I'm a baseball player,” Neyens said. “I'm going to do whatever it takes to win all the time. … I’ve always been an elite hitter from the left side, and in the past year or so I’ve added quite a bit of strength and I've worked on some bat-path stuff, so I'm able to hit the ball in the air a little bit more. That's kind of where my power comes into play.”

In the third round (95th overall), the Astros took 6-foot-6 LSU outfielder Ethan Frey, who was one of the biggest power threats on the Tigers’ College World Series championship club. The Astros anticipate they’re going to sign him and will start him off in the outfield.

“We think he’s got a chance to be a decent outfielder,” Astros scouting director Cam Pendino said. “He actually worked out for us at Daikin [Park] about 10 days ago or so, and he’s a better athlete than [he's] given credit for. We’re going to give him every chance to roam around there in the outfield."

MLB Pipeline’s No. 25 prospect and the 10th-best high school position player, Neyens features some of the best raw power of any hitter in this Draft, especially among high school players. MLB Pipeline gives Neyens a 65 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale, one of the top power grades in this year’s Draft class.

Neyens, who said he plans to forgo his commitment to Oregon State and sign with the Astros, compares his offensive game to Bryce Harper of the Phillies and his defensive game to Corey Seager of the Rangers, who’s also a bigger shortstop.

Pendino said the club scouted Neyens extensively since last summer and saw him a ton this spring. Pendino, senior scouting director Deric Ladnier, assistant general manager Charles Cook and West Coast crosschecker Jamie Lehman traveled to the Pacific Northwest to see Neyens in support of scout Tim Costic.

Neyens also came to Daikin Park for a pre-Draft workout a few weeks ago, where he hit in front of general manager Dana Brown.

“He put on a show,” Pendino said. “He did his thing. It was pretty impressive what he was able to do, and we were fired up to get him.”

Neyens led his high school team to a state title this season, hitting .456 with eight home runs, 10 doubles, 27 RBIs and 49 runs scored in 28 games. There are some swing-and-miss concerns with Neyens, but Pipeline cites an “outstanding approach” that helped lead him to hit with power to all fields as a high schooler, which is where he’s improved the most.

“Just being able to hammer those offspeed pitches that are left up in the zone, that are mistakes, hammer them out to left-center field, right-center field, wherever it is, and just really capitalize on those mistakes that are left in the zone,” Neyens said.

The Astros plan to give him every opportunity to play shortstop because of his strong arm -- he was throwing 95 mph off the mound as a pitcher -- and fluid field actions. Neyens played mostly shortstop in high school and said he’s most comfortable there.

“We see that as a strong potential there, but if not, third base would be an obvious fallback, and we think he could be a really, really good third baseman because of the actions in the arm,” Pendino said. “We’re giving him every chance to stick at shortstop until he proves us wrong. We think he is a shortstop, and we’re excited about that.”

Here is a deeper look at the other pick the Astros made on Day 1 of the Draft:

Ethan Frey, OF

• Bats/throws: R/R
• School: LSU
• Calling Card: Frey has a championship DNA, winning consecutive Class 2A Louisiana state high school titles and then two College World Series titles in three years at LSU. He’s built to hit for power, with a strong right-handed stroke and the ability to drive the ball out of the park. Frey also shows patience at the plate with good arm strength.
• Quote: “This dude has some big-boy juice. We think he recognizes spin. We think that he shows real signs of a burgeoning approach at the plate. We think he’s got a chance to hit for average and for power. Listen, he was raking for the national champion Tigers, and we think he’s a guy on the upswing … that he would have continued to produce at a very high level in the SEC.” -- Pendino