First baseman Choi added to Futures roster

By Greg Johns

July 2, 2013

ARLINGTON -- The Mariners added one Minor Leaguer to the upcoming Futures Game on Tuesday, but lost another as Major League Baseball adjusted the roster for the July 14 game in New York.

Mariners shortstop Brad Miller was replaced on the U.S. team by D-backs shortstop Chris Owings, since Miller won't be eligible to play now that he's on the Major League roster. Miller went 1-for-4 in Tuesday's 9-2 win over the Rangers, and is now 3-for-15 in his first four games with the Mariners.

But young first baseman Ji-Man Choi, currently playing for Double-A Jackson, was added to the World team as a replacement for Rangers catcher Jorge Alfaro, who broke his hand when he was hit by a pitch on Friday.

Right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker had already been named to the U.S. team. Walker pitched his second game since being promoted to Triple-A Tacoma on Monday, and has yet to give up a run in 11 innings with the Rainiers.

The 15th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game takes place at 11 a.m. PT on All-Star Sunday, July 14, at Citi Field in New York, and can be seen live on MLB.com, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD and followed live on MLB.com's Gameday. In addition, XM Radio will broadcast play-by-play coverage of the event live on MLB Network Radio XM 89.

MLB.com will also provide complete coverage before, during and after the game. Fans can stay updated by following @MLBFutures on Twitter and can send/receive tweets to/from the U.S. and World Team dugouts during the game by tagging tweets with the hashtags #USDugout and #WorldDugout.

When the rosters were announced last week, Choi was one of the five Futures Finalists vying for the final spot on the World team. He finished fourth in the fan vote, which was won by Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, but Choi is now headed to the game anyway.

The South Korean native began the year at Class A Advanced High Desert, where he hit .337 with seven home runs in 48 games. The 21-year-old was promoted on June 3 to Jackson, where he is hitting .221 with five home runs in 21 games.

Greg Johns is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregJohnsMLB as well as his Mariners Musings blog.