2023 Futures Game Live Blog
Image credit: Lawrence Butler #1 of the Oakland Athletics looks on during batting practice before the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at T-Mobile Park on Saturday, July 8, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
J.J. Cooper is providing a running live-stream of what’s happening during the 2023 Futures Game.
3:33 PM PT: Welcome to our 2023 Futures Game liveblog, where we’ll pull together what’s happening during this year’s Futures Game.
First, we’ll catch up on what happened during the Batting Practice.
3:44 PM PT: More BP notes
https://twitter.com/GeoffPontesBA/status/1677801072700821504
3:45 PM PT: Before the AL and NL Futures Game BPs, there was the High School Home Run derby to settle which two semifinalists would advance to get to hit during Monday night’s Home Run Derby. Hitting with metal bats that some players noted seemed to be rocket-fueled, they hit home runs into parts of the park that the Futures Gamers didn’t even dream of reaching. PJ Morlando regularly reached the upper deck in right field as he and Samuel Johnson advanced to Monday’s Home Run Derby.
4:00 PM: Here are the lineups:
Kyle Manzardo is attending the game, but will not play.
4:11 PM: Cubs CF Pete Crow-Armstrong lines out to Mariners CF Jonatan Clase with a 106-mph line drive and we are underway.
4:14 PM: Brewers OF Jackson Chourio was timed at 30.1 feet per second and was timed at 4.3 seconds home-to-first on an infield groundout. While the 4.3 time may seem a little slow, a reminder that Statcast times are generally a little slower than a hand-timed time. That 30.1 feet per second would be a top-tier sprint speed if Chourio can do it regularly. This is my regular reminder that one 30 feet per second run is not elite speed, but averaging 30 feet per second sprint speed is truly elite.
4:19 PM: Red Sox SS Marcelo Mayer gives us our first hit of the game with a single to center field. Seeing Mayer in person is a nice reminder of how big and physical he is, but while also showing the body control needed to be a shortstop.
4:22 PM: Going back to the BP for a minute.
4:24 PM: As our Geoff Pontes noted to me, Phillies RHP Mick Abel has a claim to the Pacific Northwest himself, since he’s a Oregonian. Abel struck out Mariners’ prospects Jonatan Clase and Harry Ford while touching 99 mph multiple times. So he wins the battle of Pacific Northwest supremacy…for now.
4:26 PM: Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday gets a double-play ground ball at shortstop, but his throw pulls Red Sox second baseman Nick Yorke off the bag. Yorke manages to get the out at second, but the wide throw eliminates any chance of a double play.
4:33 PM: Royals RHP Will Klein is struggling. He has thrown 17 pitches so far, four of those 17 pitches are strikes.
4:35 PM: It’s been a rough inning in the field for Holliday, although he has no errors, he now has two tough plays. In addition to the wide throw on a potential double play, he tried to backhand a grounder in the hole. It would have been a tough play to nab the Brewers Jeferson Quero at first, but it bounced off Holliday’s glove into short left field for an RBI single and the first run of the game.
4:39 PM: There’s plenty of traffic on the bases. Guardians lefty Joey Cantillo enters in relief of Klein and immediately walks Ryan Bliss. The National League seemed to have the pitching advantage when the rosters were released, and that seems to be the case so far.
4:41 PM: It goes in the scorebook as a sacrifice fly with an RBI, but Mariners center fielder Jonatan Clase made a nice diving snag coming in on a ball off the bat of the Phillies Justin Crawford. If he doesn’t make the catch and the ball gets by him, the National League would likely be leading by four instead of two. Cantillo then struck out Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong on a 98 mph fastball to get out of the inning. Cantillo sat in the mid 80s in high school, as he discussed at the Louisville Slugger Prospect Pad yesterday.
4:50 PM: Brewers catcher Jeferson Quero had a 1.93 pop time on Marcelo Mayer’s stolen base earlier in the game. Don’t blame him for that. He did pick up a passed ball last inning. That one’s on him.
4:56 PM: Cardinals RHP Tink Hence was one of the most anticipated arms pitching in today’s game. Yesterday he said he was aiming to throw 100 mph in today’s game. He fell 1.1 mph short, as he maxed out at 98.9 mph.
4:59 PM: Excellent glove flip by Red Sox second baseman Nick Yorke to nab Nationals outfielder James Wood on a check-swing grounder.
But more importantly. Um WOW. Wood was timed at 4.02 home-to-first and also had a 30.9 feet-per-second sprint speed on that play. That’s top-of-the-scale speed.
5:17 PM: Well, I can give a sneak peek at Geoff Pontes’ post-game superlatives story. Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski will have the best fastball. We hadn’t see a pitcher touch triple digits until Misiorowski came into the game. He immediately touched 101 mph and then follow it up with 102.4. Not only was Misiorowski lighting up radar guns, but he also showed plenty of carry at the top of the zone.
No other pitcher so far in the game has topped 99.0 mph. Misiorowski’s slowest fastball was 99.8 mph, and his other 10 fastballs were all 100.0 mph or harder. Misiorowski got whiffs on three of the seven fastballs hitters offered at.
5:21 PM: Speaking of fastball velocities…
5:25 PM: Cardinals outfielder Victor Scott II stole a base, and then he stole third. No surprise there, as he’s stolen 52 bases this year which is second most in the minor leagues. Scott said at the Prospect Pad that his goal is to steal 100 bases this year. He also acknowledges that stealing 100 might not be enough to lead the minors, as Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson has 59 steals.
Scott said that Simpson is one of his best friends in baseball. The two bonded in the Northwoods League a few years ago where Simpson won the stolen base title, but Scott had the defense of noting he arrived a few weeks later than Simpson did.
This year, both are on equal footing.
5:31 PM: In a game that hasn’t had an extra-base hit, Red Sox second baseman Nick Yorke ended that drought with a double to center field. But Braves righthander Spencer Schwellenbach then struck out Yankees outfielder Spencer Jones and Angels infielder Kyren Paris. He finished the inning with an Astros outfielder Drew Gilbert ground out.
Schwellenbach is still working back to form after Tommy John surgery 20 months ago. At the Prospect Pad yesterday, he said his elbow feels great, but he’s still working to regain the feel on his four pitches as he shakes off the rust of a 20-month layoff.
5:41 PM: Blue Jays RHP Yosver Zulueta is coming in to pitch in relief of Sem Robberse. Zulueta threw one pitch in last year’s game. He enters with a chance to the same again, if he gets a first pitch double play. Zulueta said yesterday at the Prospect Pad that he hopes to get to throw more than one pitch –maybe 10?–in this outing.
5:47 PM: Good news for Zulueta. He has now thrown 11 pitches. Bad news for Zulueta. He gave up a bases-clearing three-RBI double to Marlins infielder Nasim Nunez after hitting Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing with a pitch.
6:01 PM: Tigers third baseman Colt Keith, Athletics first baseman Tyler Soderstrom and Tigers DH Justyn-Henry Malloy have all walked as Pirates righthander JP Massey has struggled to find the strike zone. But Massey pulled off a high-wire act, as he struck out Yorke to escape without allowing a run.
6:08 PM: With these lineups and these pitching staffs, I thought the hitters would have the advantage. With just one extra-base hit and few other balls that even had a threat of reaching the warning track, so far, I was clearly mistaken.
6:14 PM: Red Sox righthander Luis Guerrero touched 100.0 mph while striking out Rockies outfielder Yanquiel Fernandez in the only batter he faced. He’s the second pitcher to touch 100 mph today, joining Misiorowski.
6:19 PM: A reminder that this is a seven-inning game. Monteverde is the final pitcher in the bullpen today. The pens are now empty.
6:23 PM: And that’s the ballgame. The National League defeats the American League 5-0 in the 2023 Futures Game. We’ll get word on the MVP before long, but the likeliest candidate is Nasim Nunez thanks to his three-RBI double. In a game with five runs scored and two extra-base hits, that’s probably going to be the case.
6:24 PM: Phillies righthander Mick Abel is the winning pitcher, while Royals righthander Will Klein got the loss.
6:27 PM: And it’s confirmed. Marlins infielder Nasim Nunez is the Futures Game MVP.
