Collette Calls: Futures Game Breakdown

The Futures Game rosters were announced a few days back, and as always, it is quite a loaded group of talent. My passion for minor league prospects aside, that game is the biggest event of the weekend for me as the All-Star Game itself is rather uneventful and ESPN has ruined the home run derby with 75 commercial breaks and Chris Berman's tired act calling the shots.

The best thing about the game is it gives everyone a chance to see players in action, which is tough to do these days. Having a subscription to MILB.TV is a great resource if you want to watch Triple-A games and if you are lucky, your local cable provider will carry a local game on television every now and then, but for the most part it remains tough to actually watch minor league baseball without getting out to the games. It would be great if they would show all of the Double-A games as well one of these seasons but I guess we should be grateful for what we have so far.

Here are the teams that will be out on the field on July 10 at Chase Field in Arizona:

Pitchers:

The collection of arms in this game are impressive, particularly the collection of left-handed arms here. Teheran has already made an appearance in the majors but is the only one of the group to have done so. Carlos Martinez is the guy I am most interested in seeing as he was recently promoted to High-A with the Cardinals and he and Shelby Miller combine to give the Cardinals a deadly duo at the top of their pitching depth chart. I am also interested in seeing how Peacock looks as well as Thornburg who often gets tied to Tim Lincecum because of a similar delivery. James Paxton has struck out at least 10 or more batters in three of his last seven starts in the Midwest League and Liam Hendriks has a 4.0 K/BB strikeout to walk rate in his last 10 starts that and has given up just four home runs in 77 innings of work in Double-A as yet another one of the Twins' pitchers that pound the strike zone. If you are a fan of watching high-octane fastballs, you will have your chance watching Marinez, Infante, and Cosart who all can get it into the upper-90s.

Catchers:

Mesoraco is the focus here as he has the most fantasy upside right now and just needs the Reds to clear the roster spot for him. Rosario has the power but is struggling this season in Double-A as he comes back from a knee injury that prematurely ended his 2010 season. Romine's future becomes a bit more interesting since Jesus Montero's season has not exactly gone as expected and while Valle is the furthest away, he has a bright future in an organization that does not have much blocking his way between High-A and at least backing up Carlos Ruiz in a couple of seasons.

Infielders:

Goldschmidt and Darnell have enjoyed monster offensive numbers, but Goldschmidt has done in it in the traditionally pitching-friendly Southern League. He has also cooled off a bit recently as he is just 4-for his last-36 and has struck out 15 times. For entertainment purposes, it would be awesome if the World team went with Lee and Altuve as their middle-infield combination at one point. In Altuve, you have a guy that is 5-foot-6 in cleats that is hitting nearly .400 on the season and the promotion to Double-A has not slowed him up any and in Lee, you have a rail-thin defensive whiz who has found his bat this season and his having a big year in the Florida State League. Machado and Profar also bear watching; Machado had a knee injury earlier this season that slowed him up a bit but Profar is more than holding his own in full-season ball at the age of 18.

Outfielders:

Obviously, Harper and Trout are the big names here but Myers and Marte deserve your attention as well. If you are looking for future speed, Fuentes is your guy as he was one of the pieces to the Adrian Gonzalez deal and fits nicely into Petco Park working gap to gap as a center fielder. Silverio has an impressive slash line but look at the gap between his OBP and SLG; he has just ten walks in 276 at-bats this season while striking out 52 times. Compare that to Chiang's numbers who has 18 walks and 41 strikeouts in 209 at-bats in the Eastern League. Viciedo continues to produce at Triple-A but remains blocked by Konerko, Quentin, and Dunn at 1B, RF, and DH.

A lot of these guys will show up to the game trying to impress with their skills so focus in on a few things with them. For pitchers, watch their fastball location and how their secondary pitches look and when they throw them. Are they going to only fastballs when down in the count or are they not afraid to show their other pitches? For batters, watch their plate discipline and how they look in the field. The old saying goes - defense gets you to the big leagues but offense will keep you there. Have fun!