Cincinnati Reds Make Surprising Move With Promising Prospect Kien Vu After Double-A Struggles

The Cincinnati Reds have demoted one of their ascending prospects from Double-A back down to High-A on Sunday.

Vu Back in Dayton, Kyle Henley Placed On IL

The Reds sent outfielder Kien Vu to High-A Dayton from Double-A Chattanooga after outfielder Kyle Henley was placed on the injured list. In 48 games in Double-A, Vu struggled to perform at the same level of play that he did earlier in the season while in Dayton. He slashed .173/.275/.314 with 11 extra-base hits. With Dayton, he slashed .266/.401/.504 with 12 home runs, 13 doubles, and six triples. One of his biggest highlights of this season came while in Dayton when he stole home to walk off the game.

Vu was the Reds' ninth-round pick in the 2025 MLB draft and won the Florida State League's Player of the Week in his second week with the team. While with Arizona State, he hit 25 home runs with a 1.062 OPS in his three seasons and was named an All-American in 2024.

"We like that bat and we like the athlete," Reds Director of Amateur Scouting Joe Katuska told The Enquirer's Pat Brennan. "We think he can play all three outfield spots," Katuska said. "The entire outfield for Arizona State got drafted this year. (Brandon) Compton, (Isaiah) Jackson and Vu. We liked all three of those guys. We thought there was tremendous value. We thought that Kien would go off the board faster than he ended up going off. We're pretty excited. He's definitely a guy I'd highlight there. And yeah, even in a so-called down year, he still performed and we think there's some untapped upside there and he's a guy we're excited about getting."

Henley was recently promoted to High-A after a huge season in 2025, stealing 57 bases. Henley was a 14th-round pick in 2023 out of Denmark High School in Georgia. Between both Low and High-A, Henley was batting .261 with a .713 OPS with 32 stolen bases.

DSL Reds Fall Short Of First Dominican Summer League Championship

Great American ballpar — Apr 11, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; A view of the ballpark as the sun sets after the game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The DSL Reds fell to the DSL Padres Gold team 4-2 on Saturday in the Dominican Summer League Championship finale in a deciding Game Three matchup. Some top performances from the Reds were pitcher Jose Saldana, who pitched five innings with just three hits, one earned run, no walks, and four strikeouts. The 17-year-old finished the season with a 2.05 ERA in seven starts with the DSL Reds in his first professional season.

2026 DSL All-Star Luis Avila allowed two runs and two hits in 1 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out one. The Reds' top prospect, Angel Nunez Jr., went 0-5. He was named a DSL mid-season All-Star along with Ysais Escalona and Eider Gutierrez. Nunez started his professional career out strong, going 3-for-4 with a double and a grand slam in his first game. The Reds' runs came from an Eider Gutierrez single in the top of the third and a solo home run from Jose Martinez in the ninth.

With the DSL season now complete, we can speculate on some of the prospects that may come stateside and get some work in the bridge league in the Arizona Complex League. Some names to keep an eye on include Nunez Jr., Gutierrez, Angel Salio, Jose Martinez, Jaset Martinez, Luis Avila, Ysaias Escalona, Wander De La Cruz, and Isaac Garcia, to name a few.

The Reds have a strong crop of prospects at the lowest levels of their farm system. How they continue to develop them as they advance through the upper levels will be the real test.

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