Cincinnati Reds links – Cam Collier named MLB Futures Game MVP, MLB Draft tonight
Major League Baseball rarely does the bare minimum to hype it’s annual Futures Game. They place it mid-day on a Saturday, don’t broadcast it anywhere outside of their own MLB proprietary streams, and advertise it less than they do about gambling.
Those frustrations aside, it’s annually a game featuring an amazing array of talented prospects, and yesterday’s game was no different. For the Cincinnati Reds, it became extra special, as 2022 1st round pick Cam Collier crushed a 409 foot homer in the 3rd inning and eventually took home the game’s MVP award.
As the picture above shows, Collier got a handshake from Cincinnati Reds legend (and fellow sweet-swinging lefty) Ken Griffey, Jr. as part of his ceremony.
Collier’s homer featured an impressive exit velocity of over 105 mph, and would have been a homer in 29 of 30 big league parks.
Fellow former 1st rounder (and top pitching prospect in the Reds system) Rhett Lowder also participated yesterday, picking up a hold for his efforts while firing a scoreless inning that featured a hit and a K.
In other news, the 2024 MLB Draft begins this evening, and the Reds hold the coveted #2 overall pick. There’s been plenty of scuttlebutt that the Cleveland Guardians – who hold the top overall pick – are working to draft and sign West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt in a move that would potentially come in under-slot with the signing bonus, a move that would then leave both Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana and Georgia’s Charlie Condon as options for the Reds at #2.
