2026 Futures Game Recap: More Next Year, Please
I had the pleasure of attending the 2026 Futures Game yesterday in Philadelphia. Good weather, a big crowd, and great rosters — this game was especially loaded with pitching, which isn’t always the case — made for a fun event.
The nature of the game makes it an imperfect place to evaluate talent. It’s a showcase environment where big tools stand out more than refined skills, and, particularly in a seven-inning game, there’s precious little time for players to show off their range of abilities. Below you’ll find thoughts and reflections on the day, which also included batting practice and pregame defensive work. Inevitably, given the volume of players, some of these write-ups are fairly short, more of a weather report than anything else. In other cases, players moved the needle for me, or at least inspired things for us to monitor over the rest of the season. If you want the full monty on these guys, all of them have full scouting reports on our team-specific lists. We’ve also opted to tuck this recap into our draft coverage navigation widget. If you missed our recap of Day 1, or any of our other coverage, be sure to check it out.
Hitters
Franklin Arias, SS, Boston Red Sox
Arias played second base, which was strange, since he’s a better defender than either of the guys who manned short for the American League. In any case, he looked like one of the best players on the field all day, with a sweet and simple swing and a little more thump than when I saw him last. He’s on the short list for the best prospect in baseball.
Caleb Bonemer, 3B, Chicago White Sox
Bonemer looks a little stiff on both sides of the ball, particularly at third, where he may not fit long-term. At the plate, he swings with almost no load at all. It isn’t a real fluid-looking operation, but it’s obviously working for him so far. He also ran a 4.20 jailbreak down the line, a surprising late-game development given everything else.
Roldy Brito, CF, Colorado Rockies
Brito is a high-motor player. He turned in the best home-to-first time of the day (I had him at 4.03, while Statcast had 4.09, which lines up better than it sounds) and was a busy presence during outfield work. He also unsuccessfully tried to execute a delayed steal. He was another guy with an impressive BP, as he lined one ball off the facade and in general showed that, even though he isn’t huge, he has plenty of juice.
Charlie Condon, LF, Colorado Rockies
Condon’s age and recent barrage of long balls in Albuquerque made him feel a little overqualified for the game. He took one of the day’s most impressive BPs, lining several balls into the seats and a couple very far out to left. After battling injuries in the early part of his pro career, he looks fully healthy and ready for the next adventure.
Kayson Cunningham, 2B, Arizona Diamondbacks
Cunningham is a hit tool-first offensive player, and you need repeated viewings to fully appreciate that. He did hit a line drive in the game, but as one of the younger and smaller players on the field, he was never going to steal the show.
Over the winter, I wrote that Cunningham looked poor at short last summer and that “he will have to do a ton of work to turn himself into even a second baseman, and left field looks like a real possibility.” Well, he’s been working. His footwork is much more assured and his arm looks playable on the dirt. I’m still skeptical that he’ll fit at short: Jesús Made is perhaps an unfair point of comparison, but they took infield in the same group, and there was a huge gap between them in all facets. Cunningham’s odds of staying at second are up, though, and that’s a big development for him.
Josue De Paula, RF, Los Angeles Dodgers
For better or worse, De Paula is a low-motor player. He was in first gear throughout BP and outfield work, and then drifted slowly in on a popup down the left field line in the first inning (which, if nothing else, left space for Luis Peña to track it down and make the play of the day). De Paula hit a single fairly hard during the game, and if he does that often enough, nobody will care a bit about his step count.
Leo De Vries, SS, Athletics
Of all the top prospects on the field, inevitably someone is going to have the worst day and De Vries was the guy yesterday. He swung underneath most of the pitches he saw in BP and didn’t make hard contact during the game. He did steal a pair of bases in the first inning, although the catcher mishandled the ball both times. Sometimes good players have bad days, but I’m leaving town with an uneasy feeling here. I wish I had a week to sit on Midland so that I could either excise or double down on that thought.
Alfredo Duno, C, Cincinnati Reds
Duno has a short load, a big leg kick, and huge bat speed. He can get out on his front foot and still line balls out the other way. Defensively, he had a tough time corralling Gage Wood’s stuff; in a setting like this, perhaps Wood could take it as a compliment.
Nathan Flewelling, C, Tampa Bay Rays
Flewelling had the big hit of the game, a sixth-inning solo home run that made it 4-1 for the American League and put the game out of reach. It came on an odd cut, nothing like his A-swing, and it was almost like he barreled a pitch he was desperately trying to hold back on. If nothing else, the short finish was a nice tribute to Chase Utley’s swing.
Edward Florentino, RF, Pittsburgh Pirates
Florentino brings the rain in batting practice. He has a deep and low load that produces a steep path and a lot of very high, very deep fly balls. It’s a tricky swing, and there’s hit tool risk here. He’s been able to make plenty of contact throughout his career thus far, though, and he just might have the kind of special barrel feel that allows a player to get away with things that others can’t. Disappointingly, he was hit in the back in his lone at-bat.
Theo Gillen, CF, Tampa Bay Rays
One of the more athletic players on the field, Gillen took a lively BP. He loads slow and then quickly fires his hips and rips his hands through. Sometimes it comes with a level of effort that leaves him off balance, but not always. In the game, Gillen went 1-3 with a groundball single off of Kash Mayfield. He had the wherewithal to take second, and then third, on the throw when it scooted away from the catcher.
Josiah Hartshorn, LF, Chicago Cubs
I knew Hartshorn was big, but he looks huge in the flesh. He has a rotational swing, a fast bat, and he might have plus impact already. He isn’t an especially fluid mover and he has a compact finish. Physically, he’s matured early, and he’s going to have to work to stay limber.
Walker Jenkins, CF, Minnesota Twins
For a couple years, Jenkins’ raw power data lagged a bit behind what you’d think it would be given how big he was and how natural his swing looked. We can officially bury that concern. His measurable power is up a few ticks this year and looked easily plus in BP, which he spent spraying balls off the facade of the second deck. He also showed impressive feel for moving the bat head; on one pitch, it looked like he was going to get caught out front, but he kept his hands back and lined a low ball hard into right center.
Ike Irish, RF, Baltimore Orioles
Irish has a lot of power — he was one of a few hitters who played pepper with the facade behind right field in BP — but he leaks early and dips the back shoulder to help generate it. Still, he’s got pretty good barrel feel despite those limitations and is a guy I wish I’d had more time to fully evaluate. He walked and struck out during the game.
Jesús Made, SS, Milwaukee Brewers
Somehow, this was my first live look at Made. He looks awesome, twitchy and athletic, with a nice swing from both sides of the dish. Most pertinently, he looked quite good at short. There was some concern coming into the year that he was on the cusp of growing off the position, but in both pre-game work and a couple of plays during the game, his speed, footwork, arm, and actions all looked at home right where he is.
Blake Mitchell, C, Kansas City Royals
Mitchell was as true to form as one can be. After leading all players in BP homers with seven, the Three True Outcomes maestro struck out and walked in his two plate appearances. He also produced a sub 1.90 pop time behind the plate.
Xavier Neyens, 3B, Houston Astros
Neyens is a player of extremes. His enormous walk and strikeout totals stand out on the stat sheet, and his swing seems like a factor. It starts with a pronounced barrel tilt, and while he’s strong, the length in the path looks like an issue for him. Are the strikeouts a product of his approach? Is that bat path limiting his ability to make contact? Some of both? He’s also a high-to-the-ground defender who doesn’t look like a long-term fit at third base. He’s a big kid with power — we shouldn’t lose sight of the good stuff here — but both the hit tool and future defensive home are tricky projections.
JoJo Parker, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays
Parker turned around a 101-mph fastball at the knees and lined it off the top of the right field wall in the seventh. It was the most impressive moment a hitter had all day and, as much as any single at-bat or pitch can, strengthened my conviction that he can hit. He also had a couple good takes on fastballs just off the plate and stayed back on a slider on another occasion, all of which made for a good day at the plate. Defensively, he looks destined for third; that’s not just my opinion either, as two scouts I spoke with also have him shifting away from short in the long run.
Luis Peña, SS, Milwaukee Brewers
Peña had an extremely scary medical event earlier this year, when he overheated and collapsed in the dugout. He’s been back on the field for a bit now, and it was great to see him and his whippy swing look no worse for wear. He made a great catch on a popup waaaay down the left field line, but otherwise had a relatively uneventful day.
Nelson Rada, CF, Los Angeles Angels
It was an odd choice to start Rada, an excellent up-the-middle defender, in left field. He swiped a bag and, on a short day where looks were very limited, he’s not the first guy I’d have picked to play the whole game.
Ethan Salas, C, San Diego Padres
Salas stayed back nicely on a fastball away from him and went with the pitch for a sharp single to left against Caden Scarborough. It was a hitterish moment, and a nice thing to see from a guy who has had a one-note, power-only offensive look at times.
Mike Sirota, CF, Los Angeles Dodgers
Sirota was another in the conversation for best BP of the day. He’s twitchy, and while his load looks busy, he gets his hands to the right spot on time and generates plus bat speed without a long path. There’s a little barrel tilt, but it’s nothing he can’t work through. Sirota had a couple poor reads off the bat in the game, including one in which he backed up a couple steps on a ball he eventually tracked down just in front of the shortstop. Sometimes the third deck plays tricks on guys who aren’t used to it, but it’s worth monitoring his reads and routes going forward.
Ralphy Velazquez, 1B, Cleveland Guardians
Velazquez singled in his last trip to the plate to cap what was otherwise a tough day. He swung and missed four times, chasing a couple of lefty sliders, missing another at the back foot, and striking out on a fastball up. His contact data has trended down a little this year; it’s not enough to be alarming, but it’s something to pay attention to as he further acclimates to Triple-A pitching down the stretch.
Eli Willits, SS, Washington Nationals
Willits played second, drawing the short straw on a roster stacked with shortstops and light on keystoners. He had an uneventful day, overshadowed by older and toolsier teammates. His BP was solid, and he worked a walk in the game.
Quick hits: Rainiel Rodriguez has a great blend of a low-maintenance swing — short move, quiet feet — and a lot of power… I recently saw Gavin Kilen and Dakota Jordan and, with apologies to Giants fans, I’m going to save longer thoughts on them for another post… Max Anderson was one of the smaller guys on the field, which is a tough platform in a game like this. Still, he played with good energy throughout the day… Kevin Alvarez has a projectable frame and took a solid batting practice. Unfortunately, he got drilled in his only at-bat of the day. He’s one of the players I was most excited to see this week, but the day just didn’t line up in a way that let me get much of a look at him.
Pitchers:
Gage Wood, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies
Wood started in his future home park. He looked good, too, up to 97, with a sharp, upper-80s slider. As I noted above, Duno had a hard time corralling his stuff behind the plate. Encouragingly, nine of his 11 pitches were strikes.
Seth Hernandez, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates
If you had to pref the Futures Game pitchers just based on yesterday, you’d be hard pressed not to take Hernandez. He sat 99-101, with a tight slider, a nice sinking change with good arm speed, and a slower breaking ball. He had some non-competitive misses with the fastball, growing pains for a young guy harnessing elite stuff.
Cam Caminiti, LHP, Atlanta Braves
It’s good to take care of business in nine pitches, but it doesn’t leave much room for analysis. After sitting 94-95 in the first couple of at-bats, Caminiti ended his day with a strikeout on a 97-mph heater. He threw an above-average change and a fringy slider. He has a mid-rotation arm’s delivery and frame, and more consistent command and secondary execution will help him reach that projection.
Liam Doyle, LHP, St. Louis Cardinals
Doyle was a big guy with a thick frame back in college, and he’s filled out further in pro ball. He has an up-tempo, high-effort delivery that spins him off the mound; you can see why he walks people. He also hit the upper 90s with a hellacious, two-plane slider and a pretty good split; you can see why he misses bats. I came away thinking that the relief risk here is pretty high.
Kash Mayfield, LHP, San Diego Padres
Mayfield is an easy thrower with a languid delivery. While he’s never thrown hard, it looks like there might be a path to more velo. He lands on a weak front leg, and because he’s not able to fully decelerate, he also isn’t able to throw as hard as a kid with his size and arm strength conceivably could. He’s otherwise a fluid mover with a great change; teams that think they can build strength and velo should be circling at the deadline.
Karson Milbrandt, RHP, Miami Marlins
Milbrandt threw four pitches. Hopefully the game is nine innings next year, because this is an early-career highlight for many players and they deserve the chance to face a third hitter.
Wen-Hui Pan, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies
Pan is a hard-throwing relief prospect. He’s an open strider with big spinal tilt and below-average body control. It wasn’t his day, as he walked a batter and gave up the game’s lone home run.
Mason McGwire, RHP, Chicago Cubs
McGwire faced two batters, hitting one and striking out the other. Hopefully the game is nine innings next year, because families fly across the country to watch it — I don’t know if McGwire’s did, to be clear — and it stinks that they may only get to watch their son/brother/cousin/friend face two batters.
Miguel Sime Jr., RHP, Washington Nationals
Sime entered the game midway through the seventh and immediately lit up the radar gun, touching 100 several times. The shapes on his change and curve looked promising, but he slowed his body on both, enough that hitters should be able to pick something up. He was also a little wild.
Kade Anderson, LHP, Seattle Mariners
Hitters just didn’t look comfortable against Anderson. All four batters he faced put the ball in play, three of them very meekly. He’s deceptive, he hits the glove, and he’s going to be a problem for big league hitters sooner rather than later. He topped out at 95 and didn’t break a sweat.
Caden Scarborough, RHP, Texas Rangers
Scarborough is a low-slot righty with a fairly deep mix. He generates good sink and tail on his low-to-mid-90s fastball, and the pitch pairs well with his breaking stuff. He gets a ton of run on his low-80s sweeper, and also has a slider with late vertical depth. It was the latter pitch that missed two bats and looked most effective yesterday. He also threw a change, which didn’t seem very deceptive out of the hand.
Nolan Perry, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays
Perry is one of the breakout pitching prospects in the league this year. This wasn’t the ideal environment for him to stand out, as he works in the low-to-mid-90s with a slider and change that play either side of average. His delivery looks clean and gives him a strike-throwing foundation. He was uncharacteristically wild in his short outing, and walked a batter.
Kendry Chourio, RHP, Kansas City Royals
Chourio isn’t just advanced beyond his years, he’s also apparently capable of bumping 99. He’s not going to do that much in longer outings, but it’s nice to know he has it in the tank. He throws a nice sinking change, and he got Charlie Condon to flinch on a front door curve. The breaking ball is pretty long, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he develops a tighter slider to go with it at some point.
Anthony Eyanson, RHP, Boston Red Sox
Eyanson entered mid-inning, and actually had to run in from the bullpen twice because he was mistakenly called into the game before Chourio had reached the three-batter minimum (which apparently went away later in the game for some reason). Anyways, Eyanson didn’t really have it. He slipped a couple times on the mound, walked a guy, and topped out in the mid-90s. His outing had a “flush the look” sort of feel to it.
Ryan Sloan, RHP, Seattle Mariners
The next great power pitcher? For a 20 year old, Sloan is very physical and is able to generate elite velocity without a ton of obvious effort. He sat in the upper 90s and hit triple digits. He mixed in all four of his offerings and missed a bat with his tight, low-90s slider. He also worked the ball around the plate, which is something to keep an eye on. If he’s able to consistently hit both lanes and work the fastball up and down, the sky is the limit here.
Jamie Arnold, LHP, Athletics
Arnold’s long stride and low release make for an unusual release point, particularly for lefties. He flashed the plus sweeping breaking ball that made him famous at Florida State and also threw a plus sinking change to pick up a strikeout. He scattered the fastball all over; commanding that pitch better was and remains a major developmental goal for him.
Joseph Dzierwa, LHP, Baltimore Orioles
Dzierwa threw two pitches. Hopefully the game is nine innings next year so that the next long-levered lefty with impressive control can at least get a few batters to show off his touch and feel.
Ben Grable, RHP, New York Yankees
Grable threw two pitches. Hopefully the game is nine innings next year so that the next 11th-rounder-turned-breakout-relief-prospect can spend more than 30 seconds showing us why he’s so good.
Tyler Bremner, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
Bremner threw three pitches. Hopefully the game is nine innings next year so that the next guy with an elite change up gets a few chances to throw it.
I hate to end on a somewhat sour note, but the game left me feeling a bit like Michael Baumann after the draft. This was a fun afternoon, and the only real disappointment is that it didn’t last longer. For some reason, MLB limits its premier prospect-driven marketing event to seven innings. It’s a bummer for fans, thousands of whom packed Citizens Bank Park to see a good game played by the next generation of stars. Like the Celebrity Softball Game enthusiasts before them, some of those folks might have been there in anticipation of the MLBx All-Star 3-on-3 event that followed, but this generally isn’t an audience of half-in, half-out people bored on their phones. This game is for the sickos: You don’t accidentally stumble into the Futures Game, and even if you do, you probably want to see Mike Sirota hit more than once.
This isn’t just a disappointment for fans. Pitching in this game was presumably an early-career highlight for Joseph Dzierwa and it was over after two pitches. Shane McGwire and Carson Milbrandt looked legitimately bummed when they were lifted from the game after two batters, as must inevitably happen when you invite 19 pitchers to show their stuff in a 14-inning game. The same sentiment applied to Kevin Alvarez when he was hit by a pitch in what was clearly going to be his only at-bat of the afternoon. Even the scouts, a group that doesn’t exactly root for extra innings by nature, were frustrated at the short looks. We The People want more baseball, MLB. Please give it to us next season.