Cincinnati Reds Prospect Sheng-En Lin Dominates in Latest Start

The Daytona Tortugas have won two games in a row with their 14-0 victory on Sunday. Pitching prospect Sheng-En Lin was dominant in his second start of the season, earning his first professional win.

Linsanity

Sheng-En Lin tossed five no-hit innings on Sunday versus the Lakeland Flying Tigers, the Detroit Tigers' Single-A affiliate. His final line for the game was five innings, two walks, and five strikeouts. This is a great sign considering his last outing, in which he did not make it out of the second inning, allowing two earned runs on four walks. Just 27 of his 53 pitches were for strikes. On Sunday, 41 of his 73 pitches were for strikes.

When the Reds signed Lin in 2023, the plan was to ease him into a two-way player role. He debuted that season in the Arizona Complex League and slashed .214/.371/.286 with one extra-base hit and three RBIs. He struck out 16 times in 28 at-bats. He spent the next two seasons in the Complex League in 2024 and 2025. He hit fairly well in 2024, posting a 112 wRC+ with 11 extra-base hits, including his first professional home run. But last season, he had just a 77 wRC+ with just seven extra-base hits and struck out 26 1/2 percent of the time.

The Reds transitioned Lin away from a two-way role at the end of last season once he was promoted to Single-A in Daytona, where he pitched exclusively for the first time in his professional career. In 15 games in the Complex League, he posted a 3.06 ERA in 47 innings with 61 strikeouts and just 15 walks. Once he reached Single-A, he had two more starts, pitching 6 1/3 innings with a 2.84 ERA. He walked six with nine strikeouts.

Box Score Recap

The Tortugas had a lot of offense on Sunday, scoring a season-high 14 runs and their first game in double digits. Sheng-En Lin was not the only dominant pitcher on Sunday, either. Deivi Villafana tossed three scoreless innings with one hit allowed and three strikeouts. Griffin Greene followed Villafana with a perfect ninth.

On the offensive side, the Tortugas lit up the Flying Tigers' pitching. Their first two pitchers did not pitch a full inning. Alistair Tanner could not escape the first inning after walking four Tortuga batters. After a Kyle Henley strikeout, Bernard Moon and Tyson Lewis walked. Arnaldo Lantigua singled to bring home Moon. Later, 2025 fourth-round pick Mason Neville walked with the bases loaded to give Daytona a 2-0 lead. Dylan King walked next to make the score 3-0.

In the second inning, after a Tyson Lewis walk, the Tortugas pulled off a double-steal. Lewis stole second, and Kyle Henley stole home. Daytona scored three more in the third, one in the fourth, three in the seventh, and three in the eighth.

Reds fourth-ranked prospect Tyson Lewis went 2-3 with three walks, a run scored, a double, an RBI, and a stolen base. Mason Neville went 3-4 with three RBIs, a walk, a double, and a run scored. Dylan King went 2-3 with two runs, two RBIs, and a walk. Drew Davies was 1-3, Arnaldo Lantigua was 2-6, and Rafael Torres was 2-5 with two runs scored and a walk.

On Deck

After an off-day on Monday, Daytona returns home to Jackie Robinson Ballpark to take on the St. Lucie Mets. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.