On any given day during the Arizona Fall League season, a fan can see a bevvy of future big league All-Stars. At the annual Fall Stars Game presented by Bowman Baseball Cards, the field will be full of them.
The 14th edition of the Fall Stars Game will be played on Saturday at 5 p.m. local MST (8 p.m. ET) at Salt River Fields. The two rosters were announced on Tuesday, picked by a combination of scouting and farm directors, AFL staff, and MLB.com writers. While a handful of players weren't allowed to be chosen due to developmental considerations, the rosters are full of many of the top prospects in baseball. Fans can tune in live on MLB.com and Topps.com.
A total of 12 players from MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 Prospects list will be on the field, giving the event a Futures Game kind of feel. That group is led by a pair of top 10 prospects, Angels outfielder Jo Adell (No. 5) and Twins shortstop Royce Lewis (No. 9), both of whom will play for the East. The West crop is headed by No. 25 prospect Julio Rodriguez, the 18-year-old phenom from the Mariners. Giants No. 19 prospect Joey Bart was on the roster before sustaining a right thumb fracture, and was subsequently replaced by Rays catching prospect Ronaldo Hernandez. The East has a decided advantage in terms of Top 100 talent, with nine players:
East
Jo Adell, OF, Angels (No. 5)
Royce Lewis, SS, Twins (No. 9)
Joey Bart, C, Giants (No. 19)
Alec Bohm, 3B/1B, Phillies (No. 34)
Nolan Jones, 3B, Indians (No. 37)
Vidal Brujan, 2B/SS, Rays (No. 39)
Miguel Amaya, C, Cubs (No. 90)
Andres Gimenez, SS, Mets (No. 92)
Shane Baz, RHP, Rays (No. 94)
Seth Beer, 1B/OF, D-backs (No. 96)
West
Julio Rodriguez, OF, Mariners (No. 25)
Daniel Lynch, LHP, Royals (No. 69)
Luis Garcia, INF, Nationals (No. 91)
Two prospects were added on Thursday via The Bowman Fall Stars Final 2 Vote. Fans selected one additional player for each Fall Stars team by voting online. The Indians¡¯ Nolan Jones (No. 37) was selected to the East squad, while White Sox outfielder Blake Rutherford was added to the West team.
This game is often billed as the AFL¡¯s Futures Game, and for good reason. There are seven players in this year¡¯s Fall Stars Game who participated in last July¡¯s Sirius XM Futures Game in July: Adell, Amaya, Bart, Bohm, Jones, Lewis and Jarren Duran of the Red Sox. And one doesn¡¯t have to look far into the game¡¯s past to see how good it is at predicting Major League success.
In last year¡¯s contest, Mets first base prospect Pete Alonso homered. All the National League Rookie of the Year candidate did was win the MLB Home Run Derby as a first-time All-Star and set a rookie record for homers (53). Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays, Keston Hiura of the Brewers and the D-backs' Jon Duplantier are among the others from the 2018 game to have springboarded from the AFL to the big leagues in 2019 and have graduated off of prospects lists.
The last three NL Rookies of the Year all played in the game: Braves outfielder Ronald Acu?a Jr. along with the Dodgers¡¯ Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager. The 2018 starting lineups for the Major League All-Star Game featured Fall Stars alumni like Angels two-time MVP Mike Trout and Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez in the AL and Brewers reigning MVP Christian Yelich, not to mention Bellinger and Seager, in the NL.
The complete Fall Stars rosters are below:
East
Adell, Jo, LF, Angels No. 1
Amaya, Miguel, C, Cubs No. 2
Angulo, Argenis, P, Indians
Bart, Joey, C, Giants No. 1
Baz, Shane, RHP, Rays No. 6
Beer, Seth, 1B, D-backs No. 4
Bohm, Alec, 1B/3B, Phillies No. 1
Brujan, Vidal, 2B, Rays No. 3
Castro, Anthony, RHP, Tigers No. 20
Deichmann, Greg, RF, A's No. 17
Gimenez, Andres, SS, Mets No. 3
Goudeau, Ashton, RHP, Rockies
Harris, Trey, LF/RF, Braves No. 18
Humphreys, Jordan, RHP, Mets No. 22
Jones, Nolan, 3B, Indians No. 1
Lewis, Royce, 3B, Twins No. 1
Lowe, Josh, OF, Rays No. 11
Marsh, Brandon, CF, Angels No. 2
Mattson, Isaac, RHP, Angels
Mesa, V¨ªctor V¨ªctor, OF, Marlins No. 13
Minch, Jordan, LHP, Cubs
Neff, Zach, Twins, LHP, Twins
Neidert, Nick, RHP, Marlins No. 11
Perdomo, Geraldo, SS, D-backs No. 7
Rees, Jackson, RHP, Blue Jays
Vesia, Alex, LHP, Marlins
West
Ashbeck, Elliot, RHP, Padres
Castaneda, Victor, RHP, Brewers
Chatham, C.J., 2B, Red Sox No. 9
de Geus, Brett, RHP, Dodgers
Delaplane, Sam, RHP, Mariners No. 30
Duran, Jarren, OF, Red Sox No. 4
Elledge, Seth, RHP, Cardinals No. 25
Fletcher, Aaron, LHP, Mariners No. 26
Fry, David, 3B/1B, Brewers
Garcia, Luis,, SS, Nationals No. 2
Herrera, Ivan, C, Cardinals No. 6
Isbel, Kyle, OF, Royals No. 8
Johnson, Tyler, RHP, White Sox No. 19
Kremer, Dean, RHP, O's No. 8
Lee, Andrew, RHP, Nationals
Lynch, Daniel, LHP, Royals No. 3
Matijevic, J.J., 1B, Astros No. 17
McCoy, Mason, 2B, O's No. 24
Oliva, Jared, CF, Pirates No. 11
Rodriguez, Julio, OF, Mariners No. 2
Rutherford, Blake, OF, White Sox No. 9
Stephenson, Tyler, C, Reds No. 7
Thompson, Bubba, OF, Rangers No. 8
Uvila, Cole, RHP, Rangers
Wagner, Brandon, 1B/3B, Yankees
Wilson, Marcus, CF, Red Sox No. 17