News broke Thursday afternoon that Twins infield prospect Nick Gordon had been selected to play in the 2017 All-Star Futures Game at Marlins Mark on July 9, 2017. Gordon, who has spent the whole season at Double-A Chattanooga, is the only player who’ll represent the Twins at the game.
The Futures Game — which was first played at Fenway Park during the 1999 All-Star break — was created to showcase top-end minor-league talent, and is separate from All-Star Games at each level. As one might expect, there have been some truly great talents represented at these events. Alfonso Soriano — then a member of the Yankees organization — was the first MVP of the game, with Jose Reyes, Grady Sizemore, Billy Butler, Nick Castellanos, Joey Gallo, Kyle Schwarber and Yoan Moncada winning the award over the last 17 years.
Twins outfield prospect Rene Tosoni won the MVP in 2009.
Gordon, who was prospect No. 60 on the preseason list for Baseball America, No. 50 on MLB.com and No. 48 on Baseball Prospectus, is hitting a stellar .310/.378/.488 through 69 games with the Lookouts, including 21 doubles, six triples and six home runs.
The six home runs this year comprise more than half the home runs (11) he’s hit as a professional in 362 games and just over 1,600 plate appearances.
Gordon has played mostly at shortstop this season (53 starts), though he did see some time at second base (14 starts) earlier in the season when Engelb Vielma — who was promoted to Rochester — was still with the Lookouts.
Twins Through the Years at the Futures Game
Here’s a look at the Twins who have been on Futures Game rosters since the game began:
- 1999 – J.C. Romero, Michael Cuddyer
- 2000 – Brad Thomas
- 2001 – Grant Balfour
- 2002 – Justin Morneau, Michael Restovich
- 2003 – Joe Mauer, J.D. Durbin
- 2004 – Morneau, Jason Kubel
- 2005 – Francisco Liriano, Travis Bowyer
- 2006 – Trent Oeltjen
- 2007 – Matt Tolbert
- 2008 – Luke Hughes
- 2009 – Tosoni
- 2010 – Liam Hendriks, Anthony Slama, Ben Revere
- 2011 – Hendriks, Kyle Gibson
- 2012 – Oswaldo Arcia, Alex Meyer
- 2013 – Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton
- 2014 – Kennys Vargas, Jose Berrios, Meyer
- 2015 – Berrios
- 2016 – J.T. Chargois
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