Sizing up Futures Game’s stars,
2015 Nos. 1-2 picks on U.S. team; Reyes to pitch for World
The top two picks in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft, several exciting young pitchers and a highly regarded Cuban import are scheduled to participate in the 2016 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on July 10 at Petco Park in San Diego.
Here’s how some of the participants have fared through the first half of the season:
TEAM USA
Dansby Swanson, SS, Atlanta Braves: The jump from the Class A Carolina League to the AA Southern League has been an uneven experience. The top overall pick in the 2015 draft hit .333 through 21 Carolina League games, prompting a promotion. The better pitching at the AA level, however, slowed Swanson’s ascent for much of June, but he hit .417 (15-for-36) over the final nine games of the month to push his average back to .267 heading into July.
Alex Bregman, SS, Houston Astros: The second overall pick in 2015 had a much easier time with Class AA, hitting .297 with 14 homers and 46 RBI through 62 Texas League games. That led to a promotion to the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, where he went 4-for-5 with three RBI and five runs in his debut for Fresno. Bregman was tops in the Texas League with a .415 onbase percentage, due in large part to his 42 walks. He also struck out only 26 times in 236 at-bats, giving him a league-leading 10.96 plate appearances-to-strikeout ratio. Bregman has played in a handful of games at third base, leading to speculation that he, not Carlos Correa, might be switching positions when he reaches the majors.
Austin Meadows, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates: Meadows authored a 26-game hitting streak this season, though 24 of those games were in the Class AA Eastern League, where he hit .311 for Altoona (Pa.). He has had a much rougher time with Indianapolis of the Class AAA International League (.239 batting average through 12 games), quieting the talk that he was on an express track to Pittsburgh.
Phil Bickford, RHP, San Francisco Giants: The 18th overall pick in the 2015 draft has lived up to his billing, posting a 2.54 ERA in 71 combined innings in the Class A South Atlantic and California leagues. He had a career WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 0.96 through 931⁄ innings and has been effective through two starts in the high-octane Cal League (20 strikeouts in 11 innings).
Amir Garrett, LHP, Cincinnati Reds: The 22nd-round pick (2011) has been impressive during his climb through the Reds system. He’s 5-4 with a 1.80 ERA through a combined 892⁄3 innings in the Southern and AAA International leagues this season. He has a 2.19 ERA over his last 41 appearances, dating to 2015 when he played for Daytona (Fla.) of the Class A Florida State League.
WORLD TEAM
Alex Reyes, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals: Reyes is perhaps the highest-profile pitching prospect on either squad, and there has been plenty of discussion about when he will arrive in St. Louis. He’ll need to turn it around after struggling through June, when he went 2-1 with a 6.31 ERA through six Pacific Coast League starts. He has a bigtime mid-90s fastball, but it wasn’t enough as he allowed 11 earned runs in his final 13 June innings.
Gary Sanchez, C, New York Yankees: If the Yankees become sellers this month and start to rebuild in earnest, Sanchez will be a big reason. He’s an outstanding catcher with plus power. Sanchez, who has appeared in three major league games in the last two seasons, has one of the most respected arms in the International League, throwing out a league-best 39% of runners attempting to steal through June 30. The 23 attempted steals against him were the lowest among the league’s top-10 rated catchers.
Yoan Moncada, 2B, Boston Red Sox: The Cuban native has excelled at each of his three stops during his two years as a pro, including getting off to a solid start at Portland (Maine) of the Eastern League after last month’s promotion. Moncada hit .307 in the Carolina League before the move and was hitting .288 through 52 atbats with the Sea Dogs. He drew 89 walks through his first 586 professional at-bats, but that included two walks in the Eastern League.
Eloy Jimenez, OF, Chicago Cubs: The teenager from the Dominican Republic was dominating the Class A Midwest League. He was first in RBI (56), extra-base hits (37) and total bases (154), second in slugging percentage (.531) and hits (96) and third in batting average (.329). He had 10 homers and is projected to be a 25homer player as he fills out. His strikeouts (71 in 292 at-bats) are consistent with his age and the league in which he plays. Still, he has a .367 on-base percentage and a .895 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, numbers the Cubs thing will carry over to high-A ball.
Dilson Herrera, 2B, New York Mets: Herrera has had two stints with the Mets during the last two seasons and was un- derwhelming in both. He hasn’t torched the Pacific Coast League this season either (.274 batting average through 70 games), yet he stands as the heir apparent to Neil Walker in New York. Whether Hererra takes up that position this season or next depends on how well he and the Mets perform over the final three months of the season.