Today was one of the best days of the year for any avid prospect-follower: it was the Futures Game! There was a 4+ hour rain delay in the middle of the first inning, which unfortunately cut the game down to 7 innings, but there was still some good action.
Chris Tillman, a righty on the cusp of the big leagues for the Orioles, got the start for the U.S. His command looked shaky, and he allowed a walk, 2 hits, and 2 runs. Chalk it up to nerves; it seems like every hurler that takes the mound in top of the first of the Futures Game is a bit off his game. To be fair, one of the hits was just a dribbler in front of the plate, and Tillman did flash a low-90s fastball and a 12-to-6 knee-buckler.
Rangers RHP Neftali Feliz, on the other hand, looked to be in complete control in the bottom half. (Feliz wasn't slated to start, but the rain delay wiped out Red Sox RHP Junichi Tazawa's scheduled inning.) Working exclusively from the stretch as he prepares to join the Rangers' big league bullpen, Feliz gassed up Rockies 2B Eric Young, Jr., Rays OF Desmond Jennings, and A's 1B Chris Carter. His only blemish was a 10-pitch walk to Cardinals 3B Brett Wallace. Feliz took the prize for highest radar gun reading of the day, too, reportedly touching triple digits. He had his trademark smooth motion and lightning-quick arm, but I didn't see any secondary pitches of note. (He didn't need them today.)
Rockies RHP Jhoulys Chacin was the only other World pitcher who had a stellar outing. He walked one, but he also fanned 2 and breezed through a scoreless frame. Chacin caught several batters out in front on his changeup, a plus pitch for the 21-year-old.
On the U.S. side, several pitchers looked good, and none moreso than Phillies RHP Kyle Drabek. The 2006 1st-rounder and Tommy John alum whipped through a 10-pitch second inning. He touched 96 with his fastball, tossed at least one nasty curve, and showed substantially better command and maturity than I expected.
Mat Latos, in the midst of a breakout year for the Padres, also handled an inning of work with ease. It only took the 6-foot-6 righty 8 pitches (all sinking fastballs from 94-96 mph) to retire the World in order. I wasn't all that high on Latos coming into the year, but I can't argue with his Futures Game performance or his 8-1, 1.37 (and 6.1 K-BB ratio) performance in the minors this year.
Red Sox RHP Casey Kelly, who used just 9 pitches to work through a perfect 6th inning for the U.S. team, also came as advertised. Despite being just 19 years old and a part-time shortstop, he had an easy delivery, 92-93 mph fastball, good curveball, poise, and control. (He's shaping up to be one of the very best pitching prospects in the game with the year he's had.) Kelly induced a groundout and a pair of flyouts before leaving.
Mariners OF Tyson Gillies was one of the primary offensive stars for the World, as he electrified the game with his speed. He got to first in 3.4 seconds on a drag bunt, and he also swiped a couple of bases. Jennings actually one-upped Gillies, stealing 3 on the day.
Besides that, the biggest storyline of the game was shoddy defensive play. C Tyler Flowers (White Sox) and 2B Jemile Weeks (A's) both committed throwing errors for the U.S., as did 3B Dayan Viciedo (White Sox) for the World team. All of those errors came in crucial spots and led to runs. Weeks tried to come up with a spectacular play on a grounder up the middle, but tossed it past SS Danny Espinosa (Nationals). That helped the 4-run 7th-inning outburst that led the World to victory. Chris Carter also couldn't glove a ball down the line that inning, and it resulted in a go-ahead double. It was a tough play, but the defensively-challenged Carter would've done well to at least block it up and prevent a run. That ball was tagged by pinch-hitter Rene Tosoni, earning the Twins outfielder MVP honors for the game.
Before the World comeback, U.S. backstop Jason Castro was in line for the post-game hardware. In addition to throwing out Padres speed demon Luis Durango at 3rd base, Castro smacked a go-ahead 3-run homer in the 5th inning (one of two shots in the game, along with Young's 3rd-inning shot off Cardinals RHP Francisco Samuel). Castro, the 10th overall pick last year out of Stanford, is having a solid year overall, batting .304/.383/.478, albeit in hitter-friendly conditions.
A couple other players who I was impressed with were Cubs IF Starlin Castro, Braves OF Jason Heyward, and Brewers 2B Brett Lawrie. You can also check out the box score for all the details.
And before I wrap it up, I want to express a problem I have with the Futures Game format: Why are organizations limited to only 2 participants? And related to that, why does each organization and as many different countries as possible need to be represented? We got to witness today what mess it can cause. While prospects like Buster Posey, Tim Alderson, Wade Davis, and Michael Taylor sat at home and watched, players such as Chia-Jen Lo, K.D. Kang, and Luis Perez played poorly as their organization or country's lone rep. I think it'd be great to allow deep organizations to fill more than 2 roster slots. It would just illustrate how their system is thriving. Same with the countries. Instead of having a mediocre Korean representative, the Dominican Republic or Venezuela should take up another roster spot, assuming the top available talent is from there. If 2/3 of the roster was from the D.R., that just shows how much of a hotbed it is. And if a team or a country can't muster up a competent player, then just shut them out of the game to show its current quality. Seriously, who would rather have those players in the game than Buster Posey? For the sake of having the absolute cream of the crop and not just a certain number from each team, the cap should be lifted. Other than that, this year's Futures Game was amazing yet again.
Neftali Feliz
Casey Kelly
Jason Heyward
*Photos courtesy of www.yahoo.com and www.mlb.com
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