Reds trio picked for Futures Game
PITTSBURGH -- Three Reds prospects -- left-handed pitcher Amir Garrett, and outfielders Kyle Waldrop and Yorman Rodriguez -- will represent the organization next month in its home ballpark after they were named to the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on Thursday.
Garrett and Waldrop will play for the U.S. squad managed by former Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Sr. Rodriguez is slated to play for the World team that will be managed by Reds great and Hall of Famer Tony Perez. The Futures Game, slated for 3 p.m. ET on July 12, is part of the All-Star Game events being held at Great American Ball Park ahead of the July 14 Midsummer Classic.
A 22nd-round Draft pick in 2011, Garrett has seen his trajectory improve after he gave up college basketball in 2014 to focus solely on baseball. This season, the 23-year-old is 2-5 with a 3.22 ERA in 14 starts for Class A Advanced Daytona. He has walked 28 and struck out 72 in 67 innings.
Waldrop, 23, was just promoted to Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday after he batted .277/.313/.430 with six home runs and 31 RBIs in 67 games for Double-A Pensacola.
Rodriguez, 22, played 11 games in the Majors last season with the Reds. He has spent the entire 2015 season thus far with Louisville, where he is batting .267/.311/.422 with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 69 games.
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 on each team. In the 2014 Futures Game in Minneapolis, the Reds were represented by No. 1 prospect Robert Stephenson, and current No. 2 prospect Jesse Winker.
While neither Stephenson nor Winker has yet to reach the Majors, several current Reds have played in the Futures Game and debuted in the Majors the following season. The list includes Joey Votto and Homer Bailey in 2006, Jay Bruce in '07, Devin Mesoraco in '11 and Billy Hamilton, a two-time Futures Game participant in '12 and '13 before he reached the Majors as a September callup at the end of '13.
The 17th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game takes place at 3 p.m. ET 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.