Twins' Berrios, Kepler to play in Futures Game
MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins prospects Jose Berrios and Max Kepler are set to represent the club in the 2015 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which will take place on July 12 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
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Both players are off to a strong start at Double-A Chattanooga, and they will represent the World Team. Berrios, 21, is a Puerto Rico native, while Kepler, 22, is from Germany.
It marks the second straight appearance in the Futures Game for Berrios, who started last year's game at Target Field and tossed a scoreless inning. Berrios, ranked as the No. 26 overall prospect by MLBPipeline.com, is 7-3 with a 3.23 ERA in 14 starts for Chattanooga. The right-hander has struck out 86, walked 23 and allowed six homers in 83 2/3 innings.
Video: Top Prospects: Jose Berrios, RHP, Twins
Kepler will be making his first appearance in the Futures Game, and he is having a monster season offensively for Chattanooga, while seeing time at first base and all three outfield positions. Kepler is hitting .342/.413/.560, with three homers, 17 doubles and eight triples in 53 games since being promoted to Double-A. He also has 11 stolen bases in 14 attempts.
Video: Top Prospects: Max Kepler, OF/1B, Twins
Major League Baseball -- in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, MLB.com, Baseball America and the 30 Major League clubs -- selected the 25 players currently on each team. Ken Griffey Sr. will manage the U.S. Team, while Tony Perez will be the skipper of the World Team.
The 17th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game takes place at 2 p.m. CT on July 12, and it can be seen live on MLB Network and MLB.com, with Matt Vasgersian, Dan Plesac, Heidi Watney and Jonathan Mayo on the call. In addition, SiriusXM Radio will broadcast play-by-play coverage of the event live on MLB Network Radio (XM channel 89; Sirius channel 209). MLB.com will also provide complete coverage before, during and after the game. Fans can stay updated by following @FuturesGame on Twitter and can send/receive tweets to/from the U.S. and World dugouts during the game by tagging tweets with the hashtags #USDugout and #WorldDugout.
Kennys Vargas and Berrios represented the Twins last year, while Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano represented Minnesota in 2013 at Citi Field in New York.