Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan will be teammates once again. No, the Seattle Mariners have not yet called up there top two prospects still in the minor leagues. But during MLB’s All-Star Break, the MLB Futures Game will feature both young hurlers on the American League roster. The game will be held at 9 AM PT/12 PM ET at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Sunday, July 12th and will be broadcast on NBC (and presumably Peacock).
The two current Double-A Arkansas Travelers will face off against the National League lineup headlined by Milwaukee Brewers SS Jesús Made, Colorado Rockies 1B/OF Charlie Condon, Washington Nationals SS Eli Willits, and Los Angeles Dodgers OF Josue De Paula. They’ll be backed up defensively by Sacramento Athletics top prospect, SS Leo De Vries, as well as Chicago White Sox INF Caleb Bonemer, and a pair of AL East infielders in Yankees SS George Lombard Jr. and Red Sox youngster SS Franklin Arias.
In the newly updated MLB Pipeline prospects rankings, Anderson and Sloan are the 5th and 8th overall prospects in the sport, with Anderson the top pitching prospect in baseball and Sloan only behind Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Seth Hernandez (6th). No other pitchers rank inside the top 20. There is a high likelihood that Anderson, as the top pitching prospect in the sport by the assessment of many, is tasked with starting the game. Both pitching in a home park that’s extremely pitcher-friendly but a league that is otherwise not, they’re putting up performances worthy of the hype.
The 21 year old Anderson has 99 strikeouts against just 10 walks and a hit by pitch in 66.2 innings. His 1.22/1.55/2.58 ERA/FIP/DRA is evidential of total domination (27/33/48 ERA-/FIP-/DRA-, for some Texas League-comparative stats), with his multi-pitch mix including a deceptive fastball that outperforms its velocity consistently and sets up a pair of plus breaking balls and a changeup which will hopefully soon be on display in T-Mobile Park.
Sloan is just 20, and while he physically cuts a distinct profile from Anderson, but his performance has been nearly as impressive. The home run bug has bitten Sloan at times, bumping his 4.11/3.67 ERA/FIP, but his 3.32 DRA (61 DRA-) and FIP- (79) highlight his 72 punchouts and just 12 walks (2 HBP) in 57.0 innings as augurs of excellence. Sloan does this while generating an above-average walk rate that makes him a potential high-efficiency ace down the line.
