Bregman, Musgrove among 50 selected for Futures Game
ANAHEIM, Calif. — A week from Sunday at San Diego’s Petco Park, two of the Astros’ top prospects will play among 50 of baseball’s most touted minor leaguers.
Alex Bregman and Joe Musgrove were selected Tuesday to play in the Futures Game on July 10, which kicks off three days of MLB All-Star Game festivities. Both will play for the U.S. team managed by Trevor Hoffman, the ex-Padre who is one of the game’s all-time-great closers.
Bregman, a shortstop/ third baseman, will join Class AAA Fresno this week after participating in Tuesday night’s Texas League All-Star Game, where he went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and a single. He could debut with the Astros sometime this season.
The Astros have not yet announced Bregman’s impending promotion to Class AAA, confirmed to the Chronicle by multiple sources familiar with the decision. Last year’s No. 2 overall draft pick posted a .975 OPS with 14 home runs in 236 at-bats over 62 games in Class AA. He walked 16 times more (42) than he struck out (26).
When asked to assess Bregman’s first half, Astros director of minor league operations Allen Rowin said the former LSU star “came as advertised.”
“He stepped up to all of the hype and did a nice job both offensively and defensively,” Rowin said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “He’s got both the hit tool and the power tool on offense. And then defensively, he stepped right in and played a nice solid short.”
Musgrove began the season as a teammate of Bregman’s in Corpus Christi before earning a promotion to Class AAA. The 23-year-old righthander has a 4.72 ERA in seven starts with Fresno and a 2.98 ERA in 661⁄3 innings on the season when accounting for both levels. He hails from El Cajon, Calif., which is near San Diego, and grew up attending Padres games at Qualcomm Stadium and Petco Park.
“He got off to a great start in Double A. He picked right back up where he left off last year and then got up to Fresno,” Rowin said. “It was good to have a little adversity there and (have him) face some better competition.”
Bregman and Musgrove will be joined on the U.S. team by Milwaukee Brewers pitching prospect Josh Hader, the lefthander the Astros parted with in last July’s trade for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers. Atlanta Braves shortstop prospect Dansby Swanson, the player drafted ahead of Bregman last year, is also on the U.S. roster.
Moises Alou, a former Astro and six-time All-Star, will manage the World team, headlined by Boston Red Sox second-base prospect Yoan Moncada. Each major league organization is represented by at least one prospect.