Ranking the best tools in the Futures Game

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Since its 1999 debut at Fenway Park, the All-Star Futures Game has showcased baseball’s best prospects. Joe Mauer will become the first Futures Gamer inducted into the Hall of Fame in a couple of weeks. Mookie Betts, Miguel Cabrera, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Justin Verlander and many others will follow him into Cooperstown in coming years.

The rosters are as jam-packed with talent as ever this year, including 37 members of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list among the 50 participants. Scheduled for 4 p.m. ET Saturday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the game will be broadcast on MLB Network, MLB.TV, MLB.com and in the MLB App.

These are the loudest tools that will be on display:

Best Hitter: Dylan Crews, OF, Nationals
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 Draft, Crews repeatedly makes hard contact with a quick right-handed stroke and a selectively aggressive approach.

Best Power: Xavier Isaac, 1B, Rays
He may have been a stunning first-round pick in the 2022 Draft, but Isaac has blossomed into baseball’s best first-base prospect and hits balls exceptionally hard and far for a 20-year-old.

Fastest Runner: Chandler Simpson, OF, Rays
Evaluators joke that Simpson has 90 speed on the traditional scouting scale. He tied for the Minor League crown with 94 steals in 2023 and is the runaway leader with 58 swipes this season.

Strongest Arm: Max Clark, OF, Tigers
Clark went fifth overall in last year’s Draft because of his five-tool potential as a center fielder, but he also pushed his fastball to 97 mph as a prep left-hander.

Best Defender: Druw Jones, OF, Diamondbacks
Jones’ speed and range give him tremendous range in center field — reminiscent of his father, 10-time Gold Glover Andruw. He also features well-above-average arm strength that’s uncommon for his position.

Best Fastball: Emiliano Teodo, RHP, Rangers
Teodo has a lightning-fast arm that generates four-seamers that sit in the mid-90s and touch 103 mph, as well as two-seamers with similar velocity and electric sink.

Best Curveball: Thomas White, LHP, Marlins
White not only has a high-spin curveball that reaches the low 80s, but he also shows the ability to land it in the zone despite its big break.

Best Slider: Noah Schultz, LHP, White Sox
This may be the most devastating pitch in the Futures Game, as the 6-foot-9 Schultz unleashes a low-80s slider with huge sweep from a low arm slot.

Best Changeup: Tink Hence, RHP, Cardinals
Hence’s mid-80s changeup fades and tumbles and has generated an astounding 70 percent swing-and-miss rate in Double-A this year.

Best Control: Rhett Lowder, RHP, Reds
The No. 7 overall choice a year ago, Lowder needed just five starts before reaching Double-A, in large part because he pounds the strike zone with his fastball, slider and changeup.