"I Know They Whip the Mariners..." Mount Vernon Star is an MLB First Round Pick and an Instant Astros Legend

The Houston Astros selected Mount Vernon shortstop Xavier Neyens with the 21st overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft Sunday. The state champ immediately made friends in the Lone Star State.

MOUNT VERNON, WA — Somewhere in Houston today, an Astros fan is getting the face of a Skagit County high schooler tattooed on their arm. Probably more than one. 

Yesterday – Xavier Neyens, the 6’4”, 220-pound shortstop out of Mount Vernon High School – was selected by the Houston Astros with the 21st pick of the first round in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft Sunday. 

Soon after, Neyens appeared on a video call with Houston media. Already sporting Houston colors and an ear-to-ear grin, the 2025 3A State Champion was asked what he knew about the team that’d just used its top draft pick on him.

“I know they whip the Mariners every year in the AL West, that’s what I know most about the Astros,” Neyens quipped.

And just like that, the reigning Washington State Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year began his pro baseball career.

Neyens later confirmed he would forgo his commitment to Oregon State and join the Astros.

“I’m a dirtbag. I’m a baseball player,” Neyens said. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to win all the time.”

Neyens becomes the tenth Washington player to be selected in the first round and the first since Arizona Diamondback star Corbin Caroll went 16th overall in 2019.

 Open side slo-mo swing capture by J425.

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“He’s Got that Type of Potential”

The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote Neyens, 18, “has some of the best raw power of anyone in the high school class this year.” Law ranked Neyens No. 17 in his pre-draft ranking of the Top 100 prospects. Baseball America ranked Neyens No. 19, and MLB.com pegged him No. 25.

Astros brass said that Neyens’ unique potential caused the team to stray from a recent pattern of drafting polished, older college players.