| ATLANTA -- We know this much: The Big Hurt really should have been invited to Tuesday's All-Star Game, because Frank Thomas' nickname has become an ironic symbol of this year's Midsummer Classic.
Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey Jr. ... if Mike Piazza misses the game as well all we need is a second baseman to fill out our starting lineup of injured All-Stars.
By the way, of the top nine leading vote-getters, only Pudge Rodriguez, Roberto Alomar and Sammy Sosa will be playing in the game.
Anyway, the Futures Game did feature the best prospects in the game. Here are some observations on a few of them:
Ryan Anderson: The Space Needle is putting up impressive strikeout numbers for Seattle's Triple-A team in Tacoma (121 K's in 88.1 innings) and fanned two in his one inning of work. He was also touched for a home run by Texas' Carlos Pena that bounced off the top of the right-field wall.
Anderson is still tall and still throws hard and is still just 20 years old. And still not ready for the majors. His ERA at Tacoma is 4.58 and he hasn't learned to dominate left-handed batters, as indicated by Pena's homer. While scouting reports say Anderson throws in the mid-90s and tops out at 99, he certainly wasn't throwing that hard Sunday. He does have a nice, fluid motion for a pitcher who is nearly seven feet tall.
After giving up the home run to Pena, he struck out Cubs first baseman Julio Zuleta looking on a nice curveball. That's the pitch that needs refinement and control for Anderson to develop. Seattle has rushed pitchers in the past, but with the strength of their big-league rotation can afford to be patient with Anderson, maybe giving up him a September bullpen callup.
Josh Hamilton: The No. 1 overall pick last June by the Devil Rays, Hamilton is a left-handed outfielder with size 18 feet. He hit .347 in his pro debut in the Rookie-level Appalachian League and is hitting .336 with 11 home run at Class A Charleston.
Hamilton takes a wide stance at the plate with his weight heavily shifted on his back foot. He has almost no stride when he swings, relying on upper-body strength to generate power. It seems like a difficult style of hitting and it will be interesting to see if he develops big-time power as he moves up to more difficult levels of play. He went 3-for-4 Sunday, equaling the hits totals of Sean Burroughs and Chin-Feng Chen.
Ben Sheets: Milwaukee's No. 1 pick a year ago out of Northeast Louisiana, Sheets brings serious heat and a big curveball to the table. He's not real tall (6-1) but has big wide legs and a big behind to generate a mid-90s fastball.
In this writer's opinion, he was the most impressive-looking pitching prospect in Sunday's game. He threw hard, showed control of his offspeed pitches and has a durable body. His minor-league numbers back up that assessment: he has a 2.06 ERA in 17 starts between Double-A and Triple-A, with 82 strikeouts and 38 walks in 105 innings. He'll be in the Brewers' rotation next season.
Felipe Lopez: A Puerto Rican who graduated from high school in Florida, Lopez is a shortstop for the Blue Jays. Baseball America says Lopez has been compared to Omar Vizquel on defense -- and sure enough, he made the game's outstanding defensive play, making a diving stop in the hole on Vernon Wells' grounder in the second inning and making the long, accurate throw to first to nail the speedy Wells.
It was the type of play that makes scouts drool. Lopez has good size (6-1, 175), runs well and is expected to hit for power. However, his hitting and baserunning are unrefined. In his first at-bat, he swung at an Anderson fastball that was over his head. His stats at Double-A reflect that lack of discipline: he's hitting .253 with a poor 68/12 K/BB ratio.
C.C. Sabathia: A giant left-hander for the Indians, Sabathia stands 6-7 and has a David Wells-type body. Which isn't necessarily a good thing when you're just 19 years old. However, he also has a power fastball to go with all that power eating. He throws in the mid-90s and while he gave up a run in his inning of work, he also struck out the side. Other than Sheets, he had the best fastball of the day. His offspeed stuff needs work, but he could be in Cleveland very soon.
David Schoenfield is the baseball editor at ESPN.com.
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