Major League Baseball

The All-Star Futures Game featured mammoth homers, fireball pitches and more

Updated Jul. 30, 2021 8:09 a.m. ET

By Jake Mintz
FOX Sports MLB Writer

DENVER — The next generation of baseball was on display Sunday afternoon at Coors Field for the 2021 Futures Game.

For those of you new to the event, it’s essentially an All-Star exhibition game with most of the best prospects in the minor leagues. The Futures Game is a rare, once-a-year opportunity to watch the most talented youngsters in the sport battle it out against one another. Most of the biggest superstars currently in the majors played in this game at some point.

Because it’s almost impossible to glean anything significant about a player’s future from watching one inning on the mound or two at-bats, the Futures Game is all about individual plays, incredible happenings that make a jaw drop or a crowd ooh and ah.

Here are the five best moments from the 2021 Futures Game.

The impressive batting practice

You can learn more about a player during batting practice than you can during a single game. Four at-bats aren’t going to tell me a whole lot about a player’s feel to hit, but 50 swings in BP give me a good sense of who has light-tower power.

On Sunday, there was some serious juice on display.

The consensus most remarkable BP performance belonged to Mets prospect Francisco Alvarez. The 19-year-old Venezuelan catcher launched at least 10 homers during his round of batting practice. And he wasn’t just yanking stuff to the pull side. Alvarez hit at least three taters to the deepest part of the park in center field.

That display was a bit of a preview, as Alvarez also launched a laser beam to right during the game. It was very impressive stuff from a catcher born in 2001.

Other notable performances included fellow Mets prospect Brett Baty, Atlanta outfielder and local Georgian Michael Harris II (who had some of the most awesome bat speed I’ve seen in a long time), Tigers first baseman and last year’s No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson and Orioles franchise-resurrector Adley Rutschman.

The hardest-hit ball

Baseball is a dumb sport, hilariously dependent on luck. It makes sense then that the hardest-hit ball of the afternoon was a lineout. In literally the first plate appearance of the game, Royals shortstop prospect Bobby Witt Jr. rocketed one to left field at 112.7 mph off the bat. Unfortunately, it was right at D-backs prospect Alek Thomas, who made a sweet, leaping grab.

Witt was the victim of bad luck in his second at-bat as well, as his 103-mph liner, this time to right field, found the glove of an outfielder. Poor dude went 0-for-2 with an average exit velocity of 107.8. Thankfully, he was a good sport about it.

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The fastest pitch

With every pitcher in the game throwing one inning or less, it’s always fun to predict who will throw the hardest pitch in the Futures Game. My pick was Rays fireballer Shane Baz. In fact, before the game, I made a little charitable wager with Baz: If he threw a pitch faster than 100, I’d donate 50 bucks to a charity of his choice. If he didn’t, he owed $50 to a charity of my choosing.

Shane just missed, topping out at 98.5 mph.

My BFF Jordan Shusterman went with Yankees pill-chucker Luis Medina and was 100 percent correct. Medina won the belt for the hottest cheddar, the most flammable gas, the steamiest heater, etc., with a 100.7 mph fastball that he threw for a ball to Michael Toglia in the sixth inning.

The other most notable heat belonged to Nats prospect and former Oklahoma Sooner Cade Cavalli, who topped out at 100.4 and threw all 22 of his fastballs above 97.9 mph, including 13 at 99 or faster.

The guy on the hometown team did a cool thing

The Rockies don’t have what you’d call a "great farm system." In fact, FanGraphs just ranked them third-to-last in the midseason organizational rankings. But on any given Sunday, magic can happen, and in the third inning, Colorado High-A first-base prospect Michael Toglia absolutely launched one deep and gone for a tater.

The hometown players at the Futures Game obviously get some big cheers in their introductions, simply for being members of the local team’s farm system. But unless it’s a top, top, top prospect or a recent high draft pick, most casual fans won’t have heard of the player in question.

Even so, when the future Rockie went yard, Coors erupted with a little bonus cheer. Definitely, it was a cool moment, with Toglia getting a taste of what it might be like to hit at Coors once he’s ready to roll in the bigs in a year or so.

The MVP goes off

Cubs outfield prospect Brennen Davis became the third player to homer twice in a Futures Game, joining Alfonso Soriano in 1999 and Yusniel Díaz in 2018. Davis went 2-for-3 with two massive taters, his first going 428 feet and the second going 410. It was a dominant display from the Arizonian, who grew up raising pigs, llamas and peacocks on his family farm.

Jake and Jordan chat with Cubs prospect Brennen Davis about his pet llamas

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman talk to Chicago Cubs prospect Brennen Davis about what it's like to have a pet llama.

Things have been rather tough for the Cubs in the bigs recently, but if Davis can continue to fulfill the promise he displayed Sunday, there’s at least a glimmer of hope on the horizon.

Jake Mintz is the louder half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He’s an Orioles fan living in New York City, and thus, he leads a lonely existence most Octobers. If he’s not watching baseball, he’s almost certainly riding his bike. You can follow him on Twitter @Jake_Mintz.