Map Driving Distances

MLB All-Star Week festivities kick off Saturday with the MLB Futures Game in Arlington, Texas. This showcase of young players from across the sport is a great place for more casual fans to see the top prospects in baseball. The diehards -- and those who work in the industry -- use it as a check-in to see if they have missed any risers or fallers in the first half of the minor league season.

If you're looking for those to pay particular attention to this year, these are the baker's dozen prospects whom I'm most excited to see in this year's game (breakout Phillies shortstop Aidan Miller doesn't make the list only because I already tracked him down earlier this spring in Florida).

Noah Schultz, LHP, Chicago White Sox

Schultz is the second-best pitching prospect in the minor leagues, just behind Detroit's Jackson Jobe. That alone is enough to get onto this list -- the Futures Game is often a pitching-focused showcase -- but Schultz is fascinating for plenty of reasons. He's 6-foot-9 and slings plus stuff from a low slot, a delivery that would make casual fans blurt out names like Chris Sale, Madison Bumgarner or Garrett Crochet. There aren't many precedents for this kind of talent.

Samuel Basallo, C, Baltimore Orioles Xavier Isaac, 1B, Tampa Bay Rays Spencer Jones, CF/RF, New York Yankees

Want to see some big dudes hit the ball really far? These three all have plus-plus raw power from the left side, fit comfortably on a top-100 list and should debut in the next 12 months. Batting practice displays at this game can sometimes be a bit ridiculous (they might sneak a few Titleists in), but these guys will really put on a show, making it clear why they are being counted on by playoff-caliber AL East clubs. Basallo might take the longest to debut; Baltimore has to suss out if the team wants to wait for the 19-year-old's catching chops to catch up with his hitting (or if it should just get his bat up ASAP). Isaac could be one of the rare difference-makers as a first-base-only type -- think a lefty Pete Alonso. Jones hasn't quite dialed in his approach to maximize his upside yet, but it could click at any time.

Max Clark, CF, Detroit Tigers Noble Meyer, RHP, Miami Marlins Thomas White, LHP, Miami Marlins Quinn Mathews, LHP, St. Louis Cardinals

This is the group that interests me the most. Clark (along with Kevin McGonigle) will somewhat unfairly be judged against Wyatt Langford; last year, Detroit basically chose to spread its risk out between two players rather than take the consensus best player available in Langford. Clark is still tracking like a potential All-Star, so I'd like to see if anything looks too visually different. Meyer and White were the two top prep arms in last year's class, and both are holding serve to improve their stock steadily, so checking in on the stuff/command/delivery combination again will be among my top priorities. Mathews -- a lefty who relied more on his changeup and command than power (90-92, touching 94 mph at Stanford) -- was a bit of a known entity, going 122nd overall last summer. His velocity is up (94-96, touching 97 mph), and he might be a mid-rotation type in short order.

Colson Montgomery, SS, Chicago White Sox Marcelo Mayer, SS, Boston Red Sox Drake Baldwin, C, Atlanta Braves

These players are all close-to-the-majors, up-the-middle defenders. Montgomery joins Schultz as the key to the rebuild on the South Side. He looks more like a third baseman long term but has a shot to be above average to plus at everything in the batter's box. Mayer's stock is up this year as scouts report he looks more lively in all phases, but he isn't tracking like the future star some saw at draft time -- more like a very solid everyday shortstop. Baldwin was trending up late last year and was my 125th-ranked prospect, well ahead of other publications, and now is around the middle of my (still in the works) top 100, but here's the latest public update. He's on a red-hot streak in Triple-A and might be a left-field answer for Atlanta with the ability to be a solid catcher if needed.

Ethan Salas, C, San Diego Padres Sebastian Walcott, SS, Texas Rangers

Two recent big dollar international signees with an absurd combination of tools and polish given their ages: both 18 years old, and recently at that. Salas is a possible perennial All-Star -- above-average tools and feel with all the things you look for to project a big league catcher who can also hit. Walcott has the hands for the infield and absurd raw power. He has been pushed by Texas, and facing pitchers much older than him is possibly obscuring his hitting ability.