2022 Futures Game Preview

Francisco Alvarez, Futures Game, July 11, 2021, Denver, CO. Photo credit Scott Greene, @Scotty_Ballgame on Twitter

The SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game is scheduled for this Saturday, July 16th at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, part of All-Star Saturday. From the first game in 1999 until 2018, the United States faced the World’s prospects. That changed in 2019 to the current format of American League versus National League. This game features some, if not all, of the top prospects in the sport and gives them a chance to showcase their talents on a bigger stage.

The first number next to the player is his ranking in our Top 189 published last month. The second number is the player’s ranking on his team’s Top 50 list from January. Click on the numbers to take you right to the team’s article to read more about the players.


Let’s take a look at the rosters broken down by position to see which team has the advantage this year. Players with an asterisk (*) were initially selected but have been replaced by others due to injury or promotion.

Catchers:

American League:
Yainer Diaz, HOU, Unranked / 14
Dillon Dingler, DET, Unranked / 3
Shea Langeliers, OAK, 98 / 3 for Atlanta ranked prior to trade

National League:
Francisco Alvarez, NYM, 20 / 1
Diego Cartaya, LAD, 66 / 1
*Henry Davis, PIT, 31 / 3
Logan O’Hoppe, PHI, 140 / 5

Advantage: National League
Alvarez alone would give the advantage to the National League then add last year’s 1st overall pick (Davis), L.A.’s top prospect (Cartaya) and an improving Phillies catcher, there’s no comparison here. In spite of that, Langeliers and Diaz are showing good power this year while Dingler is improving at the plate, too.

Infielders:

American League:
Dustin Harris, TEX, 53 / 9
Gunnar Henderson, BAL, 13 /4
Curtis Mead, TB, 64 / 6
Jhonkensy Noel, CLE, 118 / 7
*Nick Pratto, KC, 79 / 4
Spencer Steer, MIN, Unranked / 12
Anthony Volpe, NYY, 7 / 1

National League:
Darren Baker, WAS, Unranked / Unranked
Elly De La Cruz, CIN, 32 / 5
Jordan Lawlar, SS, ARI, 9 / 3
*Ezequiel Tovar, COL, 18 / 7
Miguel Vargas, LAD, 22 / 3
Mark Vientos, NYM, 99 / 5
*David Villar, SF, Unranked/ 29
Jordan Walker, STL, 4 / 3
Masyn Winn, STL, 48 / 5

Advantage: American League
As good as the NL players are, Henderson and Volpe are in consideration for top overall prospects in the game, and Pratto was just promoted to the bigs, so he won’t be in LA. Noel has been playing better as of late and Steer has had a very solid year. Harris was a late selection to the team. The NL is sending quite a few talented players, also. Tovar is having a great season and Villar was recently promoted to the majors. De La Cruz is showing why he’s one of the more exciting prospects in baseball with his power. Walker and Winn are also showing why they are rising up the ranks quickly for the Cardinals. Vientos was added to the team to replace Villar and is showing his usual power in the minors but his average and OBP have decreased this year.

Outfielders:

American League:
Ceddanne Rafaela, BOS, 69 / 29
Denzel Clarke, OAK, Unranked / 11
Oscar Colas, CWS, Unranked / N/A
Jasson Dominguez, NYY, 63 / 3
George Valera, CLE, 28 / 1
Matt Wallner, MIN, Unranked / 16

National League:
Corbin Carroll, ARI, 1 / 1
Jackson Chourio, MIL, 52 / 17
Pete Crow-Armstrong, CHC, 36 / 9
Robert Hassell, SD, 8 / 2
Joey Wiemer, OF, MIL, 56 / 7
Zac Veen, COL, 23 / 1

Advantage: National League
This is the most evenly matched of the positions but Carroll is our top prospect and Veen and Hassell are in the top 25. Chourio is tearing it up as a teenager and PCA has had an impressive season, also. For the AL, Valera and Dominguez have the potential to be even better than the NL outfielders but in more of a long-term play, as young as they are. Wiemer was a late addition replacing Tovar on the roster.

Pitchers:

American League:
*Brayan Bello, BOS, 46 / 6
Taj Bradley, TB, 47 / 5
Hunter Brown, HOU, 113 / 4
Ky Bush, LAA, Unranked / 7
Wilmer Flores, DET, 136 / Unranked
Emerson Hancock, SEA, 91 / 6
Jack Leiter, TEX, 34 / 1
Alec Marsh, LHP, KC, Unranked / 14
Ricky Tiedemann, TOR,  94 / 15
Ken Waldichuk, NYY, 121 / 10
Yosver Zulueta, TOR, Unranked / 36

National League:
Andrew Abbott, CIN, 179 / 14
Mike Burrows, PIT, Unranked / 21
*Cade Cavalli, WAS, 58 / 2
Jose Ferrer, LHP, WAS, Unranked / Unranked
Kyle Harrison, SF, 35 / 4
Antoine Kelly, MIL, Unranked / 16
Bobby Miller, LAD, 62 / 2
Erik Miller, PHI, Unranked / 19
Eury Perez, MIA, 14 / 4
Jared Shuster, ATL, Unranked / 9

Advantage: American League
Bello was promoted to the majors in early July and, while he struggled a bit, that doesn’t take away from his impressive year. Hancock and Leiter are first rounders who are pitching well. Bradley looks like another future rotation mainstay for the Tampa Bay Pitching Factory. Marsh replaces fellow KC prospect Pratto on the team.  Perez is making a case for best pitching prospect in the game, excelling at such a young age for Miami. Harrison and Bobby Miller are having great seasons as is a sleeper for the Phillies, Erik Miller, who is finally healthy and showing promise. The unranked Ferrer replaces Cavalli for Washington.

Managers:

American League:
Jimmy Rollins
2017 NL MVP, 2008 World Series Champion, 3 Time All-Star, 4 Time Gold Glove winner

National League:
Mike Scioscia
1981 and 1988 World Series Champion, 2 Time Manager of the Year, 2022 World Series Champion (as manager)

Advantage: National League
As much as I respected Rollins as a player, Scioscia has managed before and lead the Angels to a World Series championship back in 2002. His managerial experience gives the National League the advantage here.  It also doesn’t hurt that Scioscia has Eric Davis and Shawn Green on his coaching squad.

Game Prediction:
National League defeats the American League in a high-scoring affair. Both teams have some great talent on both sides of the ball but the National League has players closer to the majors which gives them the experience advantage. Let’s call it a 10-4 victory.

MVP Prediction:
Miguel Vargas and Diego Cartaya, both Los Angeles Dodgers, share the award after each hitting a home run in their major league team’s ballpark giving their fans at home a glimpse of the near-future.

Tony Bps Spina is a lifelong baseball fan hailing from the City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia! Tony has loved baseball since 1980 and has followed the Phillies through good and bad times. Tony is married with 3 kids and works for a financial institution but has enough free time to play in 20 fantasy baseball leagues with 75% of them being Dynasty Leagues. He lives a few blocks away from Citizens Bank Park and attends many Phillies games per year in addition to their minor league teams in Lehigh Valley and Reading. He can be reached on Twitter at @TonyBps1.




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