Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
This is what I had written before the official announcement:
For the second consecutive year, Corey Seager is heading to the Futures Game. He joins Jose De Leon as the two Dodger participants selected to the best prospect-based All-Star Game, which is played the Sunday before the MLB All-Star Game.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. It appears MLB wanted Seager to participate, but …
I'm told Dodgers declined to approve Corey Seager's selection to Futures Game.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) June 25, 2015
Makes sense. The Dodgers are obviously contemplating recalling Seager sometime in the not-too-distant-near-future, and the Dodgers don’t really need Seager to go to the game.
In his stead, Kyle Farmer gets the nod. That is a thing that happened. Kidding aside, Farmer was a logical choice. He’s hitting well between High- and Double-A (despite being old for each league) and is making a solid transition from college shortstop to professional catcher.
Farmer, 24, is hitting .335/.388/.512 with two home runs, 20 doubles and 43 runs scored in 237 plate appearances. He joins Cubs’ prospect Kyle Schwarber as the only catchers on the U.S. roster. I’m guessing we’ll see Farmer for 2-3 innings.
The selection of Juan Gonzalez is puzzling and has me a little miffed. Gonzalez, 25, has played for Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, and he has pitched well — 1.07 ERA, 0.947 WHIP, 8.2 K/9 .That’s fine, but he is far from a prospect. The Dodgers picked him up last year and he spent the entire 2014 season at Chattanooga and was not good (6.0 BB/9). He was previously with the Rockies, which signed him out of Venezuela in 2007.
I just don’t get this. In these All-Star games, the pitchers who start the game generally get a couple innings. If not, they’ll get one. What I don’t understand is why Jose De Leon was not given the nod. It could be a similar situation to Seager, in that the Dodgers didn’t approve his selection. If not De Leon, then surely Jharel Cotton had a nice case to be made (more innings pitched than Gonzalez). I guess i’m just upset that a non-prospect (and I’m not even talking about Farmer) was selected over a couple guys with much brighter futures. ‘Tevs.
Here’s a list of every Dodger participant in the Futures Game in years past (not as long a list as Mike’s from the yesterday’s post):
| Year | Player |
| 1999 | Chin-Feng Chen, Luke Prokopec |
| 2000 | Chen, Randey Dorame |
| 2001 | Ricardo Rodriguez |
| 2002 | Victor Diaz, Rodriguez |
| 2003 | Franklin Gutierrez, Edwin Jackson |
| 2004 | Joel Guzman, Koyie Hill |
| 2005 | Andy LaRoche, Russell Martin |
| 2006 | Guzman, Chin-Lung Hu |
| 2007 | Clayton Kershaw, Hu (MVP) |
| 2008 | Ivan De Jesus |
| 2009 | Pedro Baez |
| 2010 | Baez, Dee Gordon |
| 2011 | Alfredo Silverio |
| 2012 | Chris Reed |
| 2013 | Joc Pederson |
| 2014 | Corey Seager, Julio Urias |
That’s a fun list.
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On Tuesday, both the Great Lakes Loons and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes had participants play in each league’s respective All-Star Games.
In the Midwest League game, the Dodgers had pitchers Grant Holmes, J.D. Underwood and infielder Michael Ahmed. All contributed to the East squad’s victory.
Holmes, 19, got in for two-thirds of an inning and struck out half of the batters he faced. Underwood, 22, was even more impressive, as he struck out 100 percent of the batter he faced in one-third of an inning. Ahmed, 23, got the most playing time, as he went 1-for-2 with an RBI as he relieved Gleyber Torres (that name!) at shortstop.
In the California-Carolina League game, the Dodgers had first baseman Cody Bellinger and infielder Brandon Trinkwon representing the Quakes. De Leon was originally selected to the team, but obviously didn’t play because of his promotion to Double-A.
Bellinger, 19, started at first base and hit third in the Cal League lineup. He went 1-for-4 with an RBI double (that drove in Trinkwon). He also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. I’m trying to keep my excitement about him in check, but that’s getting more and more difficult as the season progresses.
Trinkwon started at second base and hit ninth, and had the best game of anyone. He went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a walk. He was named the “Top Star” for the Cal League, which is basically the game’s MVP. It was a nice showing for the 23-year-old.
It was a solid showing for all involved. The Double-A All-Star Game is in less than a week, while the Triple-A All-Star Games is on July 15. I assume the Dodgers should have some representation at both games — more on the Triple-A side than the Double-A side.
