By Peyton Wesner
"Corey Seager and Peter O'Brien made the Pacific Coast League All-Star team? No way the International League will be able to compete!"
Yesterday, the Triple-A league of the East, the International League, announced their All-Star roster for the circuit's "Midsummer Classic" on July 15 and those selected did not bring disappointment.
Led by a plethora of pitching talent, highlighted by Pawtucket's Brian Johnson, Gwinnett's Manny Banuelos and Buck Farmer of Toledo, the International League will give the big bats of the PCL a tough time at the plate.
Offensively, MLB.com's seventy-seventh top prospect Indianapolis' Alen Hanson will supply a breath of youth into a lineup of IL veterans that include Buffalo's Matt Hague and Jesus Aguilar of Columbus.
Starters (Voted In By Fans)
C-Elias Diaz (Indianapolis-PIT)
***11th Top Prospect in Organization
---Break?! Elias Diaz's All-Star 'Break' cannot be considered a reprieve from baseball for the twenty-four year old as he will not only be heading to the All-Star Futures Game to represent the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 12, but starting the Triple-A All-Star Game three days later as well. Although his stat line will not supply "oohs and awes" (.263 batting average, three home runs, and twenty-five runs batted in), Diaz's value is high due to his defense behind the plate and strong throwing arm, which is one of the best in Minor League baseball.
1B-Jesus Aguilar (Columbus-CLE)
***13th Top Prospect in Organization
---"Jesus Aguilar touches them all!" Although Cleveland Indians' prospect Jesus Aguilar could not sustain the same success he had at Columbus in Cleveland last season, the twenty-five year old has continued to produce in his second season with the Clippers. The now two-time Triple-A All-Star has ten long bombs and forty-eight runs batted in (tied with Buffalo's Matt Hague for second most in the International League) so far this year.
2B-James Beresford (Rochester-MIN)
3B-Matt Hague (Buffalo-TOR)
---Indianapolis. Buffalo. Matt Hague could careless where he plays. The now three-time Triple-A All-Star has continued to hit just as well in his first full season in Toronto's organization as he did in Pittsburgh's as he leads the league in batting average (.340) and has collected the second most runs batted in (forty-eight). More impressively, Hague has been "Captain Clutch" with runners in scoring position and is hitting .422 when the situation arrises! With that being the case, there is no doubt he has been the Most Valuable Player of the International League in the first half of the season.
SS-Dixon Machado (Toledo-DET)
***9th Top Prospect in Organization
OF-Dariel Alvarez (Norfolk-BAL)
OF-Taylor Motter (Durham-TB)
OF-Trayce Thompson (Charlotte-CWS)
***16th Top Prospect in Organization
---Klay Thompson wins an NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors and now Trayce Thompson gets voted to start the Triple-A All-Star Game! What a summer for the Thompson brothers! Trayce Thompson, the younger brother of Golden State Warriors' sharpshooter Klay, has finally been able to move past two seasons in Double-A Birmingham and has done so in a big way. Coming into today's action, Thompson is batting .272 with nine home runs, four triples, and thirty-three runs batted in while becoming an appealing option to be called up by the White Sox.
DH-Matt Davidson (Charlotte-CWS)
***9th Top Prospect in Organization
---When traded to the White Sox for closer Addison Reed in the offseason following the 2013 season, Matt Davidson was expected to be the man playing the hot corner at US Cellular Field. But that has yet to happen. Although power has always been in the bat of the California native, his strikeout rate and low batting average has kept Chicago from promoting him. Nonetheless, Davidson has continued to near towards his White Sox' debut by bashing thirteen home runs, which is tied for the lead in the International League.
Bench
C-Steve Clevenger (Norfolk-BAL)
C-Austin Romine (Scranton/WB-NYY)
INF-Irving Falu (Louisville-CIN)
INF-Alen Hanson (Indianapolis-PIT)
***77th Top Prospect in Baseball
***7th Top Prospect in Organization
---As of late, Indianapolis has been a place of grooming future Pirates' starters as the last two years Gerrit Cole and Gregory Polanco suited up for the Indians. This season second baseman Alen Hanson has the potential to be that player. Hanson, who batted .234 in the month of April, bounced back from the early season woes with a .362, three home run, eighteen run batted in month of May. Besides his hitting skill, the former shortstop is a very smooth fielder and stolen base threat (nineteen stolen bases in twenty-five attempts). The twenty-two year old's success in his first season at Triple-A has put Pittsburgh General Manager Neal Huntington in a tough position on whether to re-sign Neil Walker when he becomes a free agent in 2017.
INF-Tyler Henson (Lehigh Valley-PHI)
INF-Jefry Marte (Toledo-DET)
INF-Jason Martinson (Syracuse-WSH)
INF-Kyle Roller (Scranton/WB-NYY)
OF-Tyler Holt (Columbus-CLE)
Pitchers
SP-Manny Banuelos (Gwinnett-ATL) (Voted In By Fans)
***Promoted and Made ML Debut Yesterday Against Washington
***11th Top Prospect in Organization
SP-Buck Farmer (Toledo-DET)
***3rd Top Prospect in Organization
---After being drafted in the fifth round of the 2013 MLB Draft, starting pitcher Buck Farmer has been on the fast track to Detroit. How? The Georgia Tech product started his 2014 season in Single-A West Michigan and ended up making his Major League Debut that August! Despite rough outings in two spot starts for the Tigers, Farmer has been dominant for the Toledo Mud Hens this season (7-2 record and 3.35 earned run average) and should surprise no one that he will be pitching at Werner Park on July 15.
SP-Brian Johnson (Pawtucket-BOS) (Voted In By Fans)
***90th Top Prospect in Baseball
***6th Top Prospect in Organization
---While Henry Owens is the highest ranked prospect in the Pawtucket Red Sox' rotation, Brian Johnson has been the best in 2015. Johnson, the thirty-first overall pick by Boston in the 2012 MLB Draft, has arguably been the best pitcher within the organization the last two seasons as he went 13-3 with a 2.13 earned run average and one hundred and thirty-two strikeouts in one hundred and forty-three and two/thirds innings between Single-A Advanced and Double-A in 2014 and is already 8-5 with a 2.68 earned run average and an International League best 1.08 WHIP for Pawtucket this season. With those stats, the former Florida Gator should not be in Triple-A too much longer.
SP-Erik Johnson (Charlotte-CWS)
SP-Taylor Rogers (Rochester-MIN)
***16th Top Prospect in Organization
RP-A.J. Achter (Rochester-MIN) (Voted In By Fans)
RP-Michael Bowden (Norfolk-BAL)
RP-Oliver Drake (Norfolk-BAL)
RP-Gregory Infante (Buffalo-TOR)
RP-Jhan Marinez (Durham-TB)
RP-Zach Phillips (Charlotte-CWS)
RP-Blake Wood (Indianapolis-PIT) (Voted In By Fans)
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