Southern League Update: Six Players to Futures Game

Six Southern League Players On Futures Game Roster

The 2013 Futures Game Roster was revealed on Wednesday, and six players from the Southern League were chosen to participate. The six players happen to be split evenly between the US and World rosters, with three on each. Representing the US will be Diamondbacks prospect Archie Bradley, Dodgers prospect Joc Pederson, and Marlins prospect Christian Yelich. For the World, Rays prospect Enny Romero, Braves prospect Christian Bethancourt, and Cubs prospect Arismendy Alcantara will be taking the field. All of these prospects have enjoyed very successful seasons, with Bradley and Pederson shining the brightest. Bradley has been extremely impressive, posting a 1.79 ERA in 95.1 combined innings between Single and Double A. Pederson has shown his valuable combination of speed and power this year, hitting 13 homers and tacking on 25 stolen bases. Cubs

prospect Alcantara is having a breakout season, and is hitting at a slash line of .277/.353/.471. He also possesses an exciting combination of power and speed, and has demonstrated it this season by hitting 10 homers and swiping 19 bags thus far. Romero, another Rays starting pitching prospect, has posted a sub 3 ERA on the year over 16 starts. Because of so many quality arms in the Rays system, Romero doesn’t get as much hype as someone of his caliber should, but he has the potential to become an above

average mid rotation starter for the Rays. Marlins prospect Christian Yelich has had an up and down season, as he started off the year injured, and is now on a rehab assignment for a different injury. Between the two injuries, Yelich played in 41 games with the Jacksonville Suns, and posted a respectable line of .262/.342/.518. While it isn’t elite, Yelich came into the season as a top 20 prospect, and he hasn’t shown anything that is reason enough to change that. Christian Bethancourt has always been noticed for his exceptional defense behind the plate, and his hitting has always been questionable. He has hit well enough this year to stay in the starting lineup, with an average of .262.

However, Bethancourt was almost chosen by default to participate in the game. His stats are not impressive, and some are very below average. He has only walked 7 times in 47 games, and this has lead to a measly on base percentage of just .286. His defense keeps him valuable as a prospect, but he will have to improve his hitting skills to become a big league regular. As a side note, Taijuan Walker also made the roster, although after his recent promotion, he will be official be representing the Pacific Coast League. Overall, the Southern League sent some very nice players to this years Futures Game, and the players will have a great opportunity to showcase their talent.

Top Performances of the Week

David Holmberg and Ross Stripling have continued their success that was covered in last weeks update. Both pitchers threw another eight innings of scoreless ball this week, continuing their stellar seasons. Stripling gave up only two hits on Friday, walking none and striking out four. He lowered his ERA to 2.34 on the season, and his K/BB rate continues to get better, as it is up to 47/6 on the season over 50 innings. Holmberg also pitched 8 innings of shut out ball on Friday, scattering four hits, giving up two walks, and striking out eight. Holmberg lowered his ERA to 2.45 on the season, and has now thrown over 100 innings, the only pitcher in the Southern League to do so. Holmberg has been promoted to the next level of competition mid season both of the past two years, and it looks like this year may be no different. Another top performance this week came from Cubs prospect Alberto Cabrera. On Monday, Cabrera went eight innings and struck out thirteen. He only gave up three hits on the night, and the lone run came on a solo homer. Cabrera’s ERA sits at 3.49 on the season over 98 innings. Cabrera has struck out just under one per inning for the season, and has a K/BB ratio of 97/36. Cabrera came into the season as the 18th ranked prospect in the Cubs system, and will likely move up the list a bit for next season if he can continue his season at the same pace.