On Friday afternoon, the rosters for the 20th-annual All-Star Futures Game were revealed.
Two of the Chicago White Sox top prospects were selected to participate. Dylan Cease, the White Sox fourth-ranked prospect was named to the USA team. Luis Alexander Basabe, the White Sox 13th-ranked prospect, was named to the World Team.
.@DylanCease's final pitching line yesterday:
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 3, 2018
7.0 IP
2 H
0 R
0 BB
12 K
MERCY! pic.twitter.com/PXPjMHjMkA
Cease and Basabe have been two of the White Sox biggest breakout performers within their farm system. Both Cease and Basabe began the season with High-A Winston-Salem before earning promotions to Double-A Birmingham last month.
Acquired in last July’s Jose Quintana trade, Cease is the #40 prospect on the MLB.Com Top-100 prospects list.
In 13 starts with Winston-Salem, Cease went 9-2 with a 2.89 ERA. Cease struck out 82 batters in 71.2 innings prior to his promotion.
While top pitching prospect Michael Kopech gets most of the attention amongst White Sox prospects when it comes to eye-popping velocity, Cease has reportedly consistently hit upper-90s with his fastball, even hitting triple-digits a few times.
Cease has made just two starts for Birmingham, striking out 14 batters in his first 11.2 innings pitched. Through both levels in 2018, opponents are hitting a minuscule .214 against Cease.
Tonight in #NextSox: No. 13 prospect Luis Basabe drove in two (one of his three hits) for @WSDashBaseball in their W. pic.twitter.com/t1dPIqDtln
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 14, 2018
Unlike Cease, Basabe’s breakout season has come at a complete surprise.
Acquired in the 2016 Chris Sale trade, the 21-year old outfielder struggled in his first season with the White Sox organization in 2017.
In 58 games in Winston-Salem, Basabe hit .266 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs. Basabe totaled 26 extra-base hits in 207 at-bats for the Dash, earning him a spot in the Southern League All-Star game, and a promotion to Double-A.
While Basabe has struggled in his first 14 games in Double-A, Basabe’s strong bounce-back season, coupled with a surprising power display, is more than enough to earn him a spot on the World Team in the Futures Game.
Congratulations to the two Barons that have been selected to represent the @whitesox in the @MLB All-Star #FuturesGame on July 15 at Nationals Park!!
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) July 6, 2018
OF Luis Alexander Basabe will play for the World Team and RHP @DylanCease will represent Team USA! #NextSox pic.twitter.com/KlZUkYnUqs
Given their high level of production and strong breakout campaigns, a Futures Game selection is a nice, well-deserved achievement for Dylan Cease and Luis Alexander Basabe.
The 2018 All-Star Futures Game will be played on Sunday, July 15th at Nationals Park to kick off the All-Star festivities in Washington D.C.