San Diego Padres: You Cannot Miss The MLB Futures Game

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MIAMI, FL – JULY 09: Members of the U.S. Team celebrate after defeating World Team 7 to 6 during the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Marlins Park on July 9, 2017 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

The 2018 MLB Futures Game will take place on Sunday, July 15th at 4 pm ET at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Three representatives from the San Diego Padres will take the field.

For those of you like myself, the MLB Futures Game is one of the most exciting baseball games of the entire year. Not only do we get to watch three outstanding young prospects from the San Diego Padres system, Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Urias, and Buddy Reed, but we get to watch some of the most explosive and exciting prospects in all of baseball.

I watch a lot of minor league baseball and few things in sports give me more joy than visiting a minor league ballpark. When you’re in the clubhouses and you get to know these minor leaguers, you can’t help but pull for them, even more. There’s a lot of hope in the air, the hope of one day making it to the stage we all wanted to walk on when we are 12 years old, suiting up for our next little league game.

Unfortunately, it’s another experience that Major League Baseball fails at promoting. How many fans on the east coast have had the opportunity to see a player like Fernando Tatis, Jr? I doubt very many Californians have turned on a Bowie Baysox (Maryland) game to watch Baltimore Orioles’ prospect, Ryan Mountcastle. These are just two men who will play on Sunday afternoon, both of whom figure to be critical pieces of their respective franchises, moving forward.

The expansion of MiLB.TV is a nice touch but most teams at the lower levels haven’t taken advantage of broadcasting their games and often times the feed quality is almost too poor to watch. The fascination with prospects is higher than it has ever been and Major League Baseball needs to take advantage of this. At least there’s the Futures Game, to give each and every player a brief shot of making their name well known, among those who aren’t MiLB obsessed.

San Diego Padres feature three young stars.

Here are the complete rosters for both the US and World teams, a format that adds just a little bit more excitement to the game. Players get a chance to represent their country on a major league baseball stage for the world to see.

Unlike the Major League Baseball All-Star game, our beloved San Diego Padres will feature three players. Buddy Reed will represent Team USA after hitting .324 with 21 doubles, seven triples, and 12 home runs in 79 games with the Lake Elsinore Storm (A+). He also chipped in an unbelievable 33 stolen bases. Reed was promoted to AA San Antonio, just recently.

There’s also two of the biggest prospects in baseball, Tatis and Urias. Tatis is hitting .289 with 15 home runs and a .359 OBP with the San Antonio Missions. Meanwhile, Urias is reaching base in nearly 40% of his plate appearances for the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas, as the call for him to be promoted to San Diego intensifies among fans.

Padres fans are familiar with these three guys, however, there will be a plethora of unique talent on the field at Nationals Park that baseball fans will be impressed with. Let’s take a look at four intriguing names to watch in this year’s game.

MIAMI, FL – JULY 09: The World Team stands for the National Anthem prior to the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game against the U.S. Team at Marlins Park on July 9, 2017 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Outside of the San Diego Padres trio of prospects, there are a few very intriguing names on both the USA and World rosters.

Every single prospect on these rosters is worth the price of admission or a few hours of your time on a Sunday afternoon. I’m not going to go through each prospect and I’m sure I will miss discussing a few future MLB All-Stars, however, I want to highlight a few prospects that aren’t under the national spotlight, yet.

For Team USA, keep an eye on Bo Bichette (Toronto) and Carter Kieboom (Washington). Bichette (son of Dante Bichette) hit .362 with 41 doubles, 14 home runs, and a .423 OBP in 2017, between full-season A-ball and High-A. Now playing Double-A ball in New Hampshire, Bichette has 23 doubles and has already set career-highs in triples (5) and stolen bases (26). He’s becoming more of a complete player and will be an exciting player to watch in Toronto, alongside Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

Kieboom will be the local superstar of the afternoon. The Nationals’ prospect has hit .305 since his promotion to AA Harrisburg (20 games). The 20-year-old shortstop can hit for power and average and has been given a 55 FV grade by many prospect evaluators. These words from his Manager perfectly sum up his playing style.

.@HbgSenators manager Matthew LeCroy on Futures Game SS Carter Kieboom: "He's shown me a level of maturity for his age (20). His work before the game, his at-bats: He doesn't waver. He has a really good approach at the plate. He can make an adjustment during an at-bat." #Nats
— Lacy Lusk (@LacyLuskBA) July 9, 2018

As for the World roster, there are a few high-risk prospects who bring an elite tool to the table that is worth watching. Take Seuly Matias, for example.

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Matias is just 19 years old, playing for the Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League (Kansas City Royals). Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Matias has 26 home runs under his belt this season. However, he’s hitting just .213 with a .293 OBP and a 36% strikeout rate.

Fangraphs ranks Matias as the top prospect in the Royals’ system, giving him a 50 FV, 70 raw power grade, and a 70-grade arm. According to their data, over 25% of his batted balls were hit at 105 mph or harder.

The last name I want to throw out there is Minnesota Twins prospect, LHP Lewis Thorpe. Thorpe, out of Melbourne, Australia, is currently with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League (AA). He’s made 17 starts and has 106 strikeouts in 84 innings of work. In his 283 career minor league innings, Thorpe has 341 strikeouts, a 3.24 ERA, and has allowed 253 hits.

Thorpe missed the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons after falling victim to Tommy John surgery and then contracting mono, which halted his rehab/comeback attempt in 2016. The 11th-ranked prospect within the Twins’ organization could find himself in the major league rotation next year.

Starting Lineups announced

U.S. Team starting lineup
1. CF: Jo Adell, Angels
2. SS: Bo Bichette, Blue Jays
3. 2B: Brendan Rodgers, Rockies
4. 1B: Nate Lowe, Rays
5. DH: Keston Hiura, Brewers
6. RF: Alex Kirilloff, Twins
7. C: Danny Jansen, Blue Jays
8. LF: Kyle Lewis, Mariners
9. 3B: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pirates

U.S. Team starting pitcher
RHP: Mitch Keller, Pirates

World Team starting lineup
1. CF: Luis Alexander Basabe (Venezuela), White Sox
2. SS: Fernando Tatis Jr. (D.R.), Padres
3. LF: Yusniel Diaz (Cuba), Dodgers
4. DH: Seuly Matias (D.R.), Royals
5. 1B: Yordan Alvarez (Cuba), Astros
6. 2B: Luis Urias (Mexico), Padres
7. RF: Jesus Sanchez (D.R.), Rays
8. C: Miguel Amaya (Panama), Cubs
9. 3B: Dawel Lugo (D.R.), Tigers

World Team starting pitcher
LHP: Jesus Luzardo (Venezuela), A’s

Next: San Diego Padres Strikeout Kings

This year’s Futures Game will take place Sunday (July 15th) at 1 pm EST at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. You can watch the game on MLB Network or online at MLB.com.

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The 2018 MLB Futures Game will take place on Sunday, July 15th at 4 pm ET at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Three representatives from the San Diego Padres will take the field.

San Diego Padres feature three young stars.

Outside of the San Diego Padres trio of prospects, there are a few very intriguing names on both the USA and World rosters.

More from Friars on Base

Starting Lineups announced

Schedule