The 13th annual MLB Futures Game is in the books, with the U.S. team defeating the World team 6-4 at Arizona's Chase Field. The performance of both representatives from the Washington Nationals will be dissected in the coming days, as the can't miss phenom struggled while his minor league teammate showed tremendous promise on the mound.
Uber prospect Bryce Harper was hitless in four at-bats, striking out twice and grounding out twice to first base (I'm pretty sure I even heard a few "Boos" after the second strikeout). Braves right hander Julio Teheran actually got Harper looking in his first at bat, freezing him on a 95-mph fastball after a nasty changeup. Harper displayed his cannon arm in the sixth inning, throwing a bullet from just in front of the wall to home plate. Unfortunately, he probably should have just hit the cutoff man, because the base runner was able to advance to third base.
Less hyped Harrisburg teammate Brad Peacock was extremely impressive in his one inning of work, mowing down the World team on just nine pitches. Peacock worked the second inning, fanning Alfredo Silverio (Dodgers) on three fastballs and then getting Chih-Hsien Chiang (Red Sox) to ground out to first base and Wilin Rosario (Rockies) to meekly pop up to shortstop. The Nationals have said they look forward to a rotation that saw Peacock as a number three starter behind Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann. Tonight, he showed why that could become a reality in the not-too-distant future.