If you blinked and missed the Futures Game, which started shortly after noon ET on Sunday, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
The star of the game — which the American League won, 6-1 — had to be Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Seth Hernandez, the No. 6 pick in the 2025 draft out of Corona (Calif.) High School. Hernandez showed all four weapons in a perfect 14-pitch inning. His fastball was 99-101 and he had an unbelievable changeup that was 87-88 — if that’s not an 80 changeup (on the 20-80 scouting scale), then I’m not sure what is. He also flipped in a curveball and a slider for good measure.
He blew away Baltimore Orioles prospect Ike Irish, who had a very good at-bat, with 99 away, and overwhelmed Kansas City Royals prospect Blake Mitchell on a changeup away after throwing him three straight fastballs. He just turned 20 and, at this point, I think only injury could stop him from becoming a top-of-the-rotation starter.
The most impressive American League pitcher was probably Seattle Mariners right-hander Ryan Sloan, who showed five different pitches in his inning of work. His four-seam fastball sat 97-100, and he showed a two-seamer at 95, along with a kick-change, sweeper and cutter. His sweeper is usually his best pitch, but he hung one to San Francisco Giants prospect Dakota Jordan, who turned on it for a double down the left field line. Ultimately, the four-seamer and kick-change were Sloan’s best weapons today.
Royals right-hander Kendry Chourio has the best command of any prospect on my top 50 list or anywhere close to it. In his brief stint in this game, he was throwing harder than ever, with his fastball at 98-99 with a 12/6 curveball, getting on top of the ball well to drive the fastball down into the zone. At 18, he was the youngest pitcher in the game for either squad, and he looks even younger than that — until he starts pitching.
The three college lefties who were selected in the 2025 MLB Draft all showed well. Kade Anderson of the Mariners started for the AL and his fastball was 93-95 with a plus changeup and above-average slider. He allowed only a bloop single to MLB’s top prospect, Jesús Made of the Milwaukee Brewers, in his inning of work.
Liam Doyle of the St. Louis Cardinals was 97-99 with a downward-breaking slider and one splitter, getting a whiff from Boston Red Sox prospect Franklin Arias. Doyle came out strong, but he was overthrowing — not uncommon in this game since pitchers know they’re going three outs at most — and ended up with two strikeouts and two walks.
Jamie Arnold of the Athletics was 94-96, showing two- and four-seamers, with a slider and changeup. He looked much better than he did in the A’s Spring Breakout game in March.
There were a couple of pitchers who didn’t look great. Washington Nationals right-hander Miguel Sime Jr. did exactly what I thought he’d do — he hit 101.1 mph and couldn’t command anything, facing five batters, walking one, giving up two hits and throwing a wild pitch. Right-hander Anthony Eyanson, Boston’s top pitching prospect, was just 93-94, missing glove side with the fastball, and his slider wasn’t very sharp either. He’d been in the upper 90s in spring training but was 90-94 when I saw him a month ago. San Diego Padres left-hander Kash Mayfield was only 91-94 with a fringy slider and changeup. He threw 25 pitches and didn’t generate a single whiff, while only 13 of his pitches went for strikes.
Flewelling and Parker show impressive power
Tampa Bay Rays catcher Nathan Flewelling was the MVP because he hit the only home run* of the game. It was a great piece of hitting, even though the ball wasn’t that hard-hit. (*It is not uncommon for the Futures Game to feature only one home run and for the guy who hits it to be named MVP.) Flewelling saw 96 on the first pitch from Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Wen-Hui Pan — whose name the stadium announcer mispronounced as “One Way Pan,” which is unfortunate, but not as unfortunate as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred mispronouncing Cholowsky “Cha-LOO-skee” — and turned on it for a homer to right that left his bat at 95 mph.
Rays teammate Theo Gillen had a single and was robbed of another by Made, who was positioned perfectly to grab a groundball and throw him out. Gillen showed his plus speed on the play.
Blue Jays infielder JoJo Parker had the most impressive single swing of the game, as he ambushed 101 from Sime and nearly homered himself, settling for a hard-hit double off the right field wall. He also flew out in an eight-pitch at-bat that tied Irish for the game’s longest at-bat.
Brewers Made and Peña stand out
The two Brewers infielders also made their impressions felt. I’ve mentioned Made a few times already. In the game, he had a bloop single, a groundout and a flyout, and made that one strong play against Gillen. His groundout was smoked — it was the hardest-hit ball of the day at 106.9 mph.
Luis Peña played third base and made an outstanding catch on a pop fly down the left field line. He also showed outstanding bat speed in his three at-bats, flying out all three times, twice at 95 mph off the bat.
Other notes
Padres prospect Ethan Salas singled and walked, and the catcher didn’t swing and miss once. The hit was smoked the other way, leaving the bat at 104.4 mph — I did not think it was hit nearly that hard — off 94 middle-away.
Cleveland Guardians first baseman Ralphy Velazquez played the whole game and finally got a hit in his last at-bat, getting to a slider running down-and-in but still in the strike zone for a single to left.
There were a lot of other players in the game — seven played the whole seven innings, or at least were never taken out for another hitter — but most hitters didn’t do anything of note, which is common for this game. The pitchers are all throwing so hard that even a final score of 6-1 feels like a slugfest.
