Baseball America bird dog scout Dave Perkin attended the Futures Game and had these impressions:

• Mike Trout, of course, was the most exciting potential five-tool player in the game. I had him getting down the line in 3.88 seconds. My concerns with him center around some hitting mechanical issues:  His bat starts behind his head, and he sometimes fails to complete his swing across his face or around his head; and finally, I'd like to see him really let that top hand go–use it to whip and fire the bat head. He pushes it a bit now. When he does that, he'll reach his power potential.

• Fellow Angels farmhand Hank Conger had a really tough day catching and throwing, and was visibly upset with himself on that front. He redeemed himself with the homer, but I still have some of the same worries I had from his days as an L.A. area prep. Conger still overstrides, and will often flip that front side open too soon. So you will get the occasional home run but the batting average isn't what it could be. [...] Continue Reading »

ANAHEIM—I had a chance to talk quickly to World coach Charlie Montoyo, the Triple-A Durham manager who threw some of the World team's BP, while BA's SoCal birddog, Dave Perkin, also took it in.

Both were impressed with Yonder Alonso's batting practice, and Alonso lost some balls to dead center with impressive power. He dropped his back shoulder a bit but was squaring balls up with ease.

Carlos Peguero of the Mariners, who has as much raw pop as anyone in the minors, also impressed with his power display. Perkin said Peguero's approach, from what he saw in BP, does leave him vulnerable to pitches on the outside corner, and that's been evident in Peguero's career in terms of strikeouts. [...] Continue Reading »

ANAHEIM—Here are the starting lineups for Sunday's Futures Game at Angels Stadium. The most notable keys are that Angles low Class A phenom Mike Trout isn't in the starting lineup, and that the starting pitchers are Simon Castro (Padres) and Jeremy Hellickson (Rays).

World Team
2b Brett Lawrie
ss Ozzie Martinez
1b Yonder Alonso
3b Alex Liddi
lf Carlos Peguero
rf Wilkin Ramirez
c Wilin Rosario
cf Gorkys Hernandez
dh Francisco Peguero

Starting Pitcher: Simon Castro [...] Continue Reading »

ST. LOUIS—Thanks to XM Radio, I’ve been able to watch the last four Futures Games from field level, doing interviews during the game from the dugouts. This year, I was back in the U.S. dugout, and had some extra points that didn’t make it into our Twitter feed.

• Brett Wallace was our first interview during the long rain delay, and the Cardinals third baseman was outstanding to talk to. Wallace relayed that he stayed in touch with former Arizona State teammate Mike Leake, who was the Reds’ first-round pick this year, and made sure to reach out to Leake after his poor start against Texas in the College World Series. I’m paraphrasing here, but Wallace said he predicted to anyone who’d listen that Leake would get back on the mound and throw well in Omaha, and he did, throwing six solid innings and striking out seven on two days’ rest.

I got Wallace’s attention by asking him if he’d gotten a pregame brawl started prior to the Futures Game, as Arizona State staged before losing the 2008 super-regional to Fresno State. Wallace rolled his eyes but was a tremendous sport anyway during the interview, to his credit. [...] Continue Reading »

The U.S. got the go-ahead run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but J.C. Sulbaran (Reds) ultimately held on for a 7-5 World victory. Working with a 90-92 mph fastball, Sulbaran easily retired Daryl Jones (Cardinals) on a foulout and Jason Castro (Astros) on a pop to center. He walked Mike Stanton (Marlins) and Danny Espinosa (Nationals) to add some drama, and then Jemile Weeks (Athletics) tried to redeem for his error in the top of the seventh by smashing a liner to deep center. Tyson Gillies (Mariners), who moved to center for the seventh, went back and caught it to end the game.

Two poor defensive plays by the U.S. helped the World take the lead with four runs in the seventh. Brett Lawrie (Brewers) led off with a sharp double to left, went to third on an infield hit by Starlin Castro (Cubs) and scored on a wild pitch by Trevor Reckling (Angels). Castro was on second base with one out when Alcides Escobar (Brewers) chopped a grounder up the middle. U.S. second baseman Jemile Weeks (Athletics) gloved the ball and tried to flip it to shortstop Danny Espinosa (Nationals) in an attempt to hold Castro at third, but the ball got way. Castro scored and Escobar took second. Reckling struck out Tyson Gillies (Mariners) looking on a curveball and gave way to Brad Lincoln (Pirates).

Pinch-hitter Rene Tosoni (Twins) doubled off the glove of first baseman Chris Carter (Athletics), who lived up to his reputation as a defensively-challenge player. Dayan Viciedo (White Sox) followed with another double, giving the World a 7-5 lead with a half-inning to go.

Chia-Jen Lo (Astros) almost had a seven-pitch bottom of the sixth, but third baseman Dayan Vicieco (White Sox) sailed a throw over first baseman Alex Liddi (Mariners) with two out for a two-base error. After reaching Desmond Jennings (Rays) stole third–a Futures Game record?–and Josh Vitters (Cubs) and Chris Carter (Athletics) drew walks to load the bases. Lo buckled down and struck out Scott Sizemore (Tigers) on 95-mph fastballs to keep it a two-run game.

Casey Kelly (Red Sox) continued to reinforce the notion that he has a brighter future as a pitcher than as a shortstop. He needed just eight pitches to get out of the sixth innings, getting all three outs with a 93-94 mph fastball: a comebacker by Dayan Viciedo (White Sox) and flyouts by Carlos Santana (Indians) and Nick Weglarz (Indians).

Luis Perez (Blue Jays) got two quick outs in the bottom of the fifth, but he couldn’t close the door before the U.S. took the lead. Scott Sizemore (Tigers) singled off a changeup, Daryl Jones (Cardinals) singled off a 91-mph fastball and then Jason Castro (Astros) jumped on a curveball, drilling a three-run homer down the line for a 5-3 advantage.

Luis Durango (Padres) led off the top of the fifth with the World’s second bunt single of the day, then became the second member of the World team to steal second base after getting picked off. Tyson Gillies (Mariners) accomplished both of those feats in the third, then stole third base. Durango tried to do the same and was thrown out at third by Jason Castro (Astros). Danny Duffy (Royals), who threw 92-93 mph, got Alcides Escobar (Brewers) on a groundout before walking Gillies, then gave way to Jarrod Parker (Diamondbacks). Parker threw four pitches, including three 95-96 mph fastballs, to get Alex Liddi (Mariners) on an easy fly to right. Still 3-2 World, heading to the bottom of the fifth.

Jhoulys Chacin (Rockies) showed a nice changeup and curveball in the fourth inning, striking out Danny Espinosa (Nationals) and Desmond Jennings (Rays) to get out of it. He led off the inning by retiring the best prospect in baseball, Jason Heyward (Braves) , on an easy groundout to second, and sandwiched the strikeouts around a walk to Eric Young Jr. (Rockies).

Using almost only a 94-96 mph fastball, Mat Latos (Padres) needed just eight pitches in a 1-2-3 fourth, getting two groundouts and an easy flyout to left.

Francisco Samuel (Cardinals) received a nice welcome from the hometown crowd, but he couldn’t locate his 94-97 mph for strikes. That wasn’t a huge surprise, but the fact that Eric Young Jr. (Rangers) pulled a 97-mph fastball into the seat in right-center was. Young is better known as one of the best basestealers in the minors than as a power hitter. After Samuel issued a pair of walks and allowed Desmond Jennings (Rays) to steal two bases, he got Chris Carter (Athletics) to pop out and was pulled in favor of Leyson Septimo (Diamondbacks). Pedro Alvarez (Pirates) drove in a run with an infield hit, but Septimo struck out Chris Heisey (Reds) on an 85-mph slider and Tyler Flowers (White Sox) on a 95-mph fastball to get out of the inning with a one-run lead.

Tyson Gillies (Mariners) gained a run for the World Team solely with his speed in the top of the third. Facing Brian Matusz (Orioles), Gillies bunted the ball between the mound and first base and BA’s Ben Badler (sitting in the stands) clocked him in 3.4 seconds to first base as he beat it out for a single. Matusz picked him off first base, but Gillies beat the throw to second base for a steal. Then he swiped third and eventually scored when Barbaro Canizares (Giants) grounded into a double play. Interesting thing about the inning was that Matusz worked mostly with his fastball (91-94 mph) when he has a reputation for sometimes relying too much on his fine secondary stuff.

Yohan Flande (Phillies), the only non-replacement Futures Gamer this year who wasn’t written up in the 2009 Prospect Handbook, escaped a two-out rally in the second. Sitting at 91 mph with his fastball, Flande retired Pedro Alvarez (Pirates) on a strikeout and Chris Heisey (Reds) on a grounder before Tyler Flowers (Braves) and Jason Heyward (Braves) touched him for consecutive singles up the middle. But he fanned Eric Young (Rockies) on an 87-mph cutter to get out of it. Still World 2, USA 0 after two innings.

Kyle Drabek (Phillies) continued his impressive comeback from Tommy John surgery with an impressive inning. Drabek needed just 10 pitches to retire the World in order, touching 96 mph while getting Wilmer Flores (Mets) to hit a soft grounder to second base, Luis Durango (Padres) to strike out and Alcides Escobar (Brewers) to hit an easy fly ball to right.

Neftali Feliz (Rangers) subbed for previously announced starter Junichi Tazawa (Red Sox) and looked very impressive after the 4:09 rain delay. Feliz threw mostly fastball, sitting in the upper 90s and touching 101 according to MLB’s pitch f/x system (which is about 4 mph faster than the stadium gun). He struck out Eric Young Jr. (Rockies) and Desmond Jennings (Rays), got worked for a 10-pitch walk by Brett Wallace (Cardinals) and then broke Chris Carter’s (Athletics) bat for a soft lineout right back to the mound.

Chris Tillman has cruised through the International League this year, but he had more trouble against the World team at the Futures Game. Tillman threw a solid curveball to leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar that Escobar swung over the top of, but Escobar managed too chop the ball right off the plate. U.S. catcher Tyler Flowers pounced on the ball quickly, but fired wildly past first baseman Chris Carter, allowing Escobar to advance to second on an error.

From then on, Tillman struggled with his command. He fell behind Alex Liddi 3-0 and eventually walked him. He bounced a pitch in the dirt that hit Nick Weglarz. A sinking line drive from Babarao Canizares scored one run and a Jesus Montero groundout scored another. Tillman did show a 92 mph fastball and a sharp-breaking, if inconsistent curveball.

What was most impressive about the World team was its speed. On my admittedly non-scout stopwatch, Alcides Escobar was 4.0 from the right side to first place while Tyson Gilles was 4.15 from the left side and Brett Lawrie was 4.15 from the right side. Montero on the other hand was significantly slower (4.65) as you would expect.

And then a storm cloud showed up and a tarp is now on the field. Hopefully this is a brief shower.

 ST. LOUIS—A few quick observations and reminders from Busch Stadium batting practice:

• Follow BA’s coverage here on the prospects blog, but also on Twitter (www.twitter.com/baseballamerica). Also, I’ll be on Sirius XM Radio’s coverage from the U.S. dugout, with Scott Graham and Jim Kaat calling the action.

• I talked briefly with Charlie Montoyo, the Triple-A Durham manager and one of the coaches for the World team, and he was most impressed by Brett Lawrie (Brewers), who took a mean batting practice. "It’s fun to throw BP to guys with pop," Montoyo said, and then he surprised me by throwing Brewers shortstop Alcides Escobar into that mix. "He stung the ball," Montoyo said.

Jason Heyward put on a nice show for the U.S., showing easy power while hitting in a group with Tyler Flowers, his former Braves system teammate. Josh Vitters, another 2007 first-round pick (he went 11 spots ahead of Heyward) also had a nice round, finishing with a long homer to left-center field. Ben Badler also reports from the field that Mike Stanton (Marlins) and Brett Wallace (Cardinals) were among the U.S. players who had the best BP sessions. [...] Continue Reading »

Mets farmhand Jenrry Mejia was placed on the disabled list at Double-A Binghamton yesterday with a strained finger. The injury forces him out of the Futures Game, and he’s been replaced on the World roster with righthander Francisco Samuel.

The righthanded Samuel is an easy choice logistically, as he plays for the hometown organization; with the game being played Sunday in St. Louis, it’s easier to add a Cardinals farmhand at the last minute, especially one playing nearby at Double-A Springfield. Samuel, 22, is 3-3, 4.28 with 20 saves this season for the Cardinals and has 40 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings. However, he’s walked 28 in that span. [...] Continue Reading »