2021 All-Star Futures Game: Open Game Thread

Today is a veritable baseball buffet of content, which is wild when you remember that a year ago, not only had the season not started yet, but we weren’t even sure if we’d see baseball played in 2020. So I am trying to practice gratitude about the avalanche of baseball activities coming our way today and not silently freak out about covering all of them. How do you eat an elephant, bit by bit, although also gross, and who would want to do that.

First up today is the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. The game starts at 12 PM Pacific and you can see it on MLB Network, or stream it live on MLB.com. Also, as you might be able to divine from the sponsorship, you can listen to it on the radio if you’re a Sirius subscriber.

Here are the lineups for the two squads:

I gotta say, I like the AL here. Bobby Witt Jr. is someone we’ve seen play against the Arkansas Travelers a few times, and he’s an impact player on both sides of the ball. His NW Arkansas Naturals teammate Nick Pratto is a big bat and a nice counterbalance to the speedy on-base ability of Witt. The Tigers are sending 2020 first overall pick Spencer Torkelson, somehow batting eighth in this incredibly stacked lineup, and Riley Greene, a prep bat who was taken fifth overall in 2019. I’m excited to see these guys play because the Mariners don’t play any Tigers affiliates. And obviously 2019 first overall pick Adley Rutschman (hey the last two first overall picks both came out of PAC-12 schools I just realized, way to represent!) is an overall awesome player, as anyone who watched him during his time at OSU can attest.

Conversely, I don’t know the NL starters as well because the Mariners don’t play a ton of NL teams outside of the NL West ones (SF, ARI, COL). One I do know is slugger Nolan Gorman, who has been torturing the Arkansas Travelers pitching staff this year in the former Texas League. Michael Toglia from the Rockies org will also be a familiar name for those who have followed the Everett AquaSox this year; Toglia’s teammate Corbin Carroll, a Seattle native, likely would have been named to the Futures Game but unfortunately suffered a season-ending shoulder injury earlier this season. Speaking of injuries, RHP Emerson Hancock was also selected for the Mariners, but won’t participate as he’s dealing with a minor shoulder injury.