Trio of Padres prospects set to play in MLB Futures Game
SAN DIEGO-- On Sunday at Nationals Park, a trio of Padres prospects will be participating in a showcase game on baseball's brightest stage.
SS Fernando Tatis Jr., INF Luis Urias, and OF Buddy Reed have all been chosen to play in MLB's 20th annual Futures Game, a contest that exhibits baseball's best young talent in the minor leagues. San Diego's heralded farm system, which was ranked No. 1 by MLB Pipeline before the season and recently given an "A" midseason grade by MiLB.com, was the only system in baseball to have three players selected.
The Futures Game will be played at 1 PM PT on MLB Network. A free live stream will also be available on MLB.com.
To the players...
Fernando Tatis Jr.'s performance this season has vaulted him to the No. 3 spot on MLB.com's top 100 prospects list (he was ranked No. 8 prior to the season). After a difficult April in which he hit only .177 with 34 strikeouts in 96 at-bats, the 19-year-old has taken the Texas League by storm. Since May 1, Tatis is slashing a blistering .333/.406/.577 with a .984 OPS in 278 plate appearances. He is also exhibiting better discipline at the plate, as the strikeouts are trending down and the walks are trending up.
The D.R. native, who is playing against competition much older than he is, currently leads the Texas League in total bases and runs scored. He is also in the top five in hits, doubles, home runs, and slugging percentage. All of this in total adds up to a .289/.359/.509 line with 15 HR, 42 RBIs, and a 131 wRC+ in 85 games played.
https://twitter.com/tatis_jr/status/1015271902456229888
INF Luis Urias will join Tatis Jr. on the World team, as San Diego will hopefully get a glimpse at the future of their middle infield for years to come. Urias, 21, has a .278 average with a .391 OBP in 84 games with Triple-A El Paso. He is hitting for more power this season (his six home runs already match a career-high) and is also sporting a walk rate of 14.3%, which would be a career-best. However, the Mexico native is also striking out more than 20% of the time, which may be a sign that he needs a little more seasoning against advanced pitching before getting the call to San Diego (Urias walked more times than he struck out in Double-A San Antonio last year).
Despite the increase in K's, Urias is projected to be a sweet-swinging, high average & OBP guy who will provide solid defense at second base. There is also a chance he shows more power when he gets to the big leagues, as Dustin Palmateer wrote at The Athletic.
https://twitter.com/epchihuahuas/status/1017437910268764160
When the minor league season began, it would not have been too difficult to predict that both Tatis Jr. and Urias would make their way to D.C. for this game. The duo had already developed a reputation as two of the better infield prospects in baseball.
One player that has been a very pleasant surprise, though, is OF Buddy Reed.
Drafted by the Padres in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft, the University of Florida alum was seen as a high-risk, high-reward pick by many. Reed had the potential to be a five-tool player if everything came together, but he struggled a bit offensively in college and there were questions about his potential with the bat as a pro. Reed did little to quiet those concerns early in his career, hitting .254 and .234 in his first two professional seasons with Tri-City and Fort Wayne respectively, with very little power. He registered a pedestrian 90 wRC+ in both seasons.
This past offseason, though, Reed started to show his potential. Playing winter ball in Australia, he hit .326 in 31 games for the Canberra Cavalry, poking 10 home runs and slugging 1.022.
The 23-year-old rode the momentum from winter ball to a spectacular first half with the Lake Elsinore Storm. Reed broke out onto the scene to the tune of a .324 average with 12 home runs and 47 RBIs. He also stole a California league-leading 33 bases in only 79 games.
Reed's performance earned him a promotion to Double-A San Antonio just last week.
"In his bat, he has power," stated director of scouting Mark Conner after the 2016 draft. "He's just going to have to learn how to use it in a game."
It took a little while, but he seems to be learning just that. Reed will be the sole Padres representative on the USA team.
https://twitter.com/madfriars/status/1015419661289062401
