Futures Game Rosters Announced: World Squad

What a joyous and momentous day! The rosters for the MLB Futures Game, held on July 13 at Target Field in Minneapolis (home of the Minnesota Twins) has been announced by MLB! We’re going to break up our coverage into two posts. I’ll handle the World Team now and we’ll have a look at the USA team roster a bit later.

Let’s start with a quick list:

Pitchers

Francellis Montas – Age 21 – White Sox – Dominican Republic

Julio Urias – Age 17 – Dodgers – Mexico

Jose Berrios – Age 20 – Twins – Puerto Rico

Luis Severino – Age 20 – Yankees – Dominican Republic

Domingo German – Age 21 – Marlins – Dominican Republic

Jorge Lopez – Age 21 – Brewers – Puerto Rico

Enny Romero – Age 23 – Rays – Dominican Republic

Victor Alcantara (aka Alfonso Alcantara) – Age 21 – Angels – Dominican Republic

Edwin Escobar – Age 22 – Giants – Venezuela

Tayron Guerrero – Age 23 – Padres – Colombia

Catchers

Jorge Alfaro – Age 21 – Rangers – Colombia

Christian Bethancourt – Age 22 – Braves – Panama

Infielders

Kennys Vargas – 1B – Age 22 – Twins – Puerto Rico

Maikel Franco – 1B/3B – Age 21 – Phillies – Dominican Republic

Jose Peraza – 2B – Age 20 – Braves – Venezuela

Orlando Arcia – SS/2B – Age 19 – Brewers – Venezuela

Carlos Correa – SS – Age 19 – Astros – Puerto Rico

Francisco Lindor – SS – Age 20 – Indians – Puerto Rico

Javier Baez – SS – Age 21 – Cubs – Puerto Rico

Rosell Herrera – SS/3B – Age 21 – Rockies – Dominican Republic

Renato Nunez – 3B – Age 20 – Athletics – Venezuela

Outfielders

Dalton Pompey – Age 21 – Blue Jays – Canada

Gabriel Guerrero – Age 20 – Mariners – Dominican Republic

Dariel Alvarez – Age 25 – Orioles – Cuba

Steven Moya – Age 22 – Tigers – Puerto Rico

Domingo Santana – Age 21 – Astros – Dominican Republic

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Whew. Everyone got that? The oldest player on the world team is Dariel Alvarez who is 25 and will be turning 26 this year. The youngest is, of course, Julio Urias who isn’t even 18 yet and is playing in High-A Rancho Cucamonga for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Obviously there are plenty of hot prospects on this list. We have three of the best shortstop prospects in the game of baseball all playing for the world team although Carlos Correa may not play in the game due to injury. That said, Baez and Lindor give the game some star power.

As far as the pitchers go, there aren’t too many sexy names out there pitching for the World side. Montas has a glitzy 1.64 ERA in the Carolina League but was only the 14th-best prospect in a weak White Sox system (based on a consensus system from Beyond the Box Score) coming into the year. Urias is having a solid year in a difficult league and the Dodgers certainly aren’t rushing him along: he’s only thrown 45 2/3 innings so far this season.

Berrios is having a very good year in a very pitcher-friendly league while Severino has had one start in High-A after some solid numbers in Class-A Charleston. German is also at Class-A (at the age of 21) and is throwing very well there but isn’t even listed on BTBS’s consensus prospect list.

One to watch might be Tayron Guerrero. He’s finally made it up to High-A after a very strong first half in the Midwest League with a 1.00 ERA and 42 Ks in 36 innings. That said, he’s 23 already and looks like he’s a reliever.

Behind the plate the World team looks to have an advantage with two premium prospects, Alfaro and Bethancourt. Neither has been swinging a particularly hot bat this year but both are very well regarded for their defense.

Of note on the infield are, of course, the shortstops. While Baez’s struggles in Triple-A are well documented, he is one of the best prospects in the game at any position. His strikeouts are off the charts and he’s going to need some time to develop that part of his game and his overall hitting has slowed down. Lindor has been Lindor. He’s a solid hitter (.281) who gets on base (.360 OBP), doesn’t strike out too much (16.0%) with a little bit of extra-base pop (.403 SLG) and good speed (19 SBs).

There are a couple of interesting players in the World outfield. I wouldn’t be doing my home home country justice without highlighting Dalton Pompey, a Mississauga, Ontario native. Pompey has been destroying the High-A Florida State League to the tune of a .308/.389/.456 line with five triples and six home runs to go along with 26 stolen bases in 28 attempts.

Dariel Alvarez, the oldest player on the squad, is putting up very good numbers for Baltimore’s Double-A affiliate in Bowie while Steven Moya is doing the same (with 18 doubles and 16 home runs) for Detroit’s Eastern League club in Toledo. Santana, playing in Triple-A Oklahoma City, is seeing a huge bump in his stats with 20 doubles and 12 home runs already.