Oregon centerfielder Mason Neville has been an enormous breakout star in 2025 and has positioned himself as a potential top-two round pick in July. Some scouts have first round grades on the Duck.
It hasn’t always been this easy for Neville. A native of Henderson, Nevada, Neville attended Basic High School where he was a highly touted prospect. He ranked as my No. 112 prospect in the 2022 Draft right behind Chandler Simpson, Caden Dana and Alan Roden; three big leaugers with favorable future outlooks. Neville was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 18th round (No. 543 overall) of the 2022 MLB Draft but chose to pursue college baseball. After initially commiting to the University of Arizona, he switched to Arkansas after Arizona’s coach Jay Johnson left for LSU.
Neville’s freshman season at Arkansas in 2023 was a challenging one. He played in 19 games with seven starts, slashing .111/.250/.148 with two RBI. It wasn’t the production or playing time he was looking for so Neville transferred to Oregon for the 2024 season.
Neville played in 56 of Oregon’s 60 games last season, starting 36 (17 in right field, 16 in left field, 3 in center field). He batted .268, going 40-for-149 with 16 home runs, 43 RBI, 36 runs scored, five doubles, three triples, and eight stolen bases. He drew 26 free passes (25 walks, 1 hit-by-pitch). His 16 home runs tied for fourth on Oregon’s single-season home run list, two shy of the school record of 18. He already broke the school record this season after hitting his 19th on Sunday.
B5 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭@masonneville_ took the lead right back with a three-run moonshot. #GoDucks
UCLA 4
Oregon 6 pic.twitter.com/ehxHp5O6BN— Oregon Duck Baseball (@OregonBaseball) April 20, 2025
Despite encouraging numbers as a sophomore, Neville had much to prove entering his draft-eligible 2025 campaign. A 34-percent overall whiff rate pointed to a bigger picture. Neville was an easy out for pitchers that could *pitch*. He swung through nearly half of the breaking balls he offered at in 2024. He swung through 65 percent of the elevated fastballs he offered at. Further concerning, Neville had a whiff rate of 23 percent on any pitch he offered at inside of the strike zone. He was get-able if the stuff was good enough. But 2025 has proven Neville was merely getting his feet wet. He was adjusting to college pitching after not seeing enough of it in Fayetteville.
Just about every part of Neville’s game has improved in 2025. His overall whiff rate is down to 24 percent and his chase rate is down two percent to 17 percent as well. While he’s still swinging through 29 percent of the sliders he’s seen, it’s a stark deparature from the 52 percent of sliders he swung through as a sophomore. More impressively, and importantly, his whiff rate on pitches in the strike zone is just 13 percent; down from the 23 percent mark that had scouts worried last year. Neville actually isn’t hitting the ball quite as hard as he did in 2024, but it’s a worthwhile sacrifice for a guy still in the upper-tier of batted-ball data of college bats in the country.
It’s all led to gangbusters production. Neville is slashing .338/.475/.835 line with 19 homers and more walks than strikeouts this season.
Neville still has a bit to prove down the stretch. There is platoon risk on this one, a trend he’d like to buck as July approaches. A 35 percent overall whiff rate against lefties and a 55 percent whiff rate on lefty-lefty breaking balls does leave something to be desired when projecting out a full-time regular at the next level.
A 6-foot-3-inch, 200 pound centerfielder with the chops to stick there as a pro, Neville checks a lot of boxes scouts are looking for from an old school perspective. If he surges down the stretch and makes consistent contact as the season wraps, Neville has a shot to hear his name called inside of the top 40 picks. It’s extremely unlikely Neville falls out of the top 100 picks as things currently stand.
- MLB Draft Profile: Mason Neville - April 21, 2025
- 2025 MLB Draft: Top 400 Prospects - April 17, 2025
- A CRUCIAL benchmark for college hitters - April 2, 2025
