Can of Corncast: Fantasy baseball tips for the All-Star Futures game

How do you find the next best fantasy baseball player? The All-Star Futures game!

This week the rosters for the 2015 All-Star Futures game were announced. It’s my favorite part of All-Star weekend, more than the Home Run Derby and more than the game itself. Why? Because I’m a huge nerd for fantasy baseball and it’s by far and away the best way to see your future team members on the field.

I had started to make up a list of 2014 participants who are on major league squads right now, but it ended up being way too long so you can see those rosters for yourself right here. Five of them have been on my fantasy team over the past calendar year and two of them are currently on my roster, Noah Syndergaard and Joey Gallo, two guys who I’ve raved about on the show.

This season is no different, it’s filled with guys who will very soon be making a major league impact. In this week’s episode I cover three players from each squad plus the two D-backs representatives. Here I’ll keep it short and go with one of each.

My favorite player to watch on Team USA is Aaron Judge, a behemoth of an outfielder at 6’7” and 275 lbs. He has massive power which I got to see in person during the Arizona Fall League. After 63 games at Double-A Trenton, the Yankees promoted him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre where he’s struggled in his first five games, but the power potential is outrageous. In total, he’s hit 13 homers with 48 RBI and piled up a ton of strikeouts (to be expected with a young power hitter) while walking 27 times. He’s the best power prospect in the game and should at least get the September call-up if he isn’t brought to the big club before then.

As for the World squad, I have my eye on Ketel Marte, a Seattle Mariners prospect on the DL at Triple-A Tacoma. He was in line for a promotion, but has been sidelined since June 1 with a broken left thumb. He’s most likely to find his way onto the M’s this year since they seem to want to use regular SS Brad Miller as an outfielder. The experiment stalled at first, as they called up SS Chris Taylor instead. He hit .159 in 20 games and was promptly sent down, but not before the Marte injury. Beforehand, Marte was hitting a cool .343 with a pair of homers, 24 RBI, 30 runs and 17 stolen bases. He’s shot up the minor league ranks and should be a major leaguer very soon after he returns to the diamond.

Our D-backs representatives may not see Chase Field for quite a while. The farthest along is Socrates Brito, an outfielder at Double-A Mobile who could fit in well as a number two or eight hitter. He’s hitting .263 with very few extra base hits though he has 22 RBI and has scored 32 runs. He’s a career .281 hitter in the minors and if he continues to get on base at a high rate he should see the Sedona Red and Sonoran Sand on his jersey before the end of 2016.

Diving deeper into the minors we find Taiwanese hurler Wei-Chieh Huang at Single-A Kane County. Huang has barely sniffed the professional ball field as he only has six starts under his belt, but he’s done well and showed promise. He’s gone 36.2 innings, striking out 38 and kept runs off the board with a 1.72 ERA. He’s also only walked five batters, which is always excellent to see.

Be sure to catch the All-Star Futures game on Sunday, July 12 for even more prospects and names that you’ll soon find on your fantasy roster!