SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants won't have any position players in this year's All-Star Game, but two players who could anchor future lineups will be in Cleveland.
Catcher Joey Bart and outfielder Heliot Ramos, the organization's top two prospects, were selected to participate in the Futures Game, held two nights before the All-Star Game next month at Progressive Field. The game, a showcase for the top prospects in baseball, will be held at 4 p.m. Pacific on July 7 and will have an American League vs. National League format for the first time.
Bart, 22, has a .770 OPS in his first full minor league season, with five homers, four doubles and two triples in 103 at-bats. He was tearing up the California League before a fractured hand knocked him out in April, and has struggled to get going since returning. Still, Bart is the organization's top prospect, and he came into the season viewed by some as the top catching prospect in the minors.
Ramos, drafted in the first round a year before Bart, is hitting .290 with a .383 on-base percentage and .525 slugging percentage in his first season in High-A ball. The 19-year-old has nine homers and 11 doubles in 45 games and has shown increased plate discipline.
Bart and Ramos will play on an NL squad that includes San Diego's MacKenzie Gore, Miami's Sixto Sanchez, Washington's Carter Keiboom, Atlanta's Christian Pache, and Dodgers prospects Dustin May and Gavin Lux.
The Giants are expected to have just one representative, closer Will Smith, in the actual All-Star Game.
