ARLINGTON, Texas — Since its inception in 1999, the All-Star Futures Game has become an annual showcase for baseball’s top prospects, who are invited to participate in a seven-inning exhibition as one of the first major events of All-Star Weekend.
In 2024, MLB will introduce something new beyond exhibition games for the first time: a batting competition in which eight selected young hitters will showcase their various offensive skills and earn points in three different rounds.
Here are five Futures Gamers who stood out on All-Star Saturday at Globe Life Field.
Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony
Let’s start with the winner of the first Skills Showcase, a 20-year-old outfielder who is expected to be one of the big breakout stars of 2023. In the first two rounds, Anthony barely scored a single point as he was focused on hitting the ball into targets and specific sections of the field, but his early struggles became irrelevant as he got going in the third and final round, where he focused on the much easier task of hitting a home run. Hitting several consecutive home runs earned Anthony enough bonus points to vault himself to the top of the leaderboard in a furious comeback that got the crowd more excited than any other round so far. Surprisingly, people just want to see home runs!
It was a notable display of power for a prospect not known for his all-around offensive prowess in the majors. Anthony has just 10 home runs in 66 Double-A games this year, but he’s hitting .350 with 15 doubles as a junior in the Eastern League, which suggests he’s got a lot of offensive potential. Along with catcher Kyle Teal and shortstop Marcelo Mayer (who are in Arlington for the Futures Game festivities), Anthony is the third of a trio of position players expected to arrive in Boston sometime in 2025.
Reds 3B Cam Collier
Collier is two years removed from being Cincinnati’s first-round draft pick in 2022, but he’s still one of the youngest players on the Futures Game roster, as he won’t turn 20 until November. The son of former major league infielder Lou Collier, Cam graduated high school early to attend a junior college in Florida so he could boost his draft rating against older competition. This is a similar path to the one Bryce Harper took, but with considerably less publicity. The plan mostly worked. Despite falling to the 18th pick, Collier received the 10th-highest signing bonus ($5 million) of his class as one of the most promising young hitters available. His early success in professional baseball has been mixed, but the home run that started the scoring in the Futures Game was enough to earn him the game’s MVP award.
In just two at-bats, Collier’s performance was a solid encapsulation of why there’s both reason to be hopeful and skeptical about his potential. In his first at-bat, he smashed a 94-mph sinker from Angels right-hander Cayden Dana into the bullpen in right-center field, a 405-foot solo home run that gave the National League an early 1-0 lead. It was a familiar sight for Collier in the first half of the season, and his 13 homers rank third in the High-A Midwest League, an impressive record for one of the league’s few teenagers.
However, Collier struck out in his second at-bat against White Sox left-hander Noah Schultz. Schultz allowed three hits and one walk in the inning, a reminder that Collier has struggled immensely against left-handers this season. Collier is batting .128/.171/.218 in 82 at-bats, but is batting .269/.355/.472 in 248 at-bats against right-handers. Collier’s ability to play to his natural potential in games appears to be improving, but whether his overall hitting ability improves against better pitchers over the next few years will be a big factor in determining whether he can be an impact player in the major leagues.
Mets RHP Brandon Sproat
Sproat, New York’s second-round pick in 2023 out of Florida and, oddly enough, a third-round pick in 2022 when he returned as a senior without signing, threw the two fastest pitches in the Futures Game, including a pair of 99.2 mph sinkers in the third inning. He also threw a four-seam fastball that topped 98.9 mph, becoming the latest pitcher to showcase two different fastballs in his arsenal.
Sproat has been one of the best starting pitchers in the minor leagues this season, with a 1.71 ERA and .167 batting average against both sets of pitchers ranking third among minor league pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched. His development into a bona fide top 100 prospect is a big step for a Mets farm system desperate for impact pitchers.
Athletics RHP Luis Morales
Morales, a slender 21-year-old right-hander who was second only to Sproat in terms of velocity (he was clocked at 99.1 mph), received the largest signing bonus ($3 million) of any international amateur pitcher his age when he signed with Oakland from Cuba a few years ago, and his talent has been clear since the start of his pro career.
In addition to his high-end velocity, Morales also boasts some of the best spin rates. His slider has an RPM of 2,998, the highest of any pitch in the Futures Game, and his slider and curveball average 2,900 RPM, which are among the best in MLB. Still in High-A and slowly building up his workload, it will likely be a few years before Morales is ready to pitch for the A’s. That said, he clearly has the best potential of any pitcher in Oakland’s system.
Braves C Drake Baldwin
In the top of the sixth, Baldwin smashed his second home run back into the bullpen in left-center field, a stunning reverse ball at 107.5 mph, faster than any hit in this year’s Futures Game. My personal favorite in the 2022 draft, Baldwin has rapidly climbed the minor league ladder, earning a promotion to Triple-A last month. The timing of the promotion seemed a bit odd given that he had a .650 OPS in 52 games at Double-A, but Atlanta was clearly confident enough that Baldwin could handle the promotion.
And it looks like they were right. Baldwin batted .309/.440/.532 in 24 Triple-A games, walking more than he struck out. The Braves farm system is extremely thin, with relatively few players at impact positions, but Baldwin emerged as perhaps the best hitting prospect. Will he end up replacing Sean Murphy as Atlanta’s primary catcher, or will he be traded away for a more pressing position? That’s a question for another day.
