The Futures Game has become a key part of All-Star weekend, and gives us a unique opportunity to see a number of the top prospects in the minors at the same time and against some of the top competition. The rosters were announced last week, and while there are still potentially some additional changes before the game, we have a pretty good idea who is really going to be at the game. With that in mind, let's look at three prospects who could be called up in the second half and provide nice fantasy value.
Carl Edwards Jr., RHP, Cubs
If you're not sure why you haven't heard this name before, Edwards has previously gone by C.J. rather than Carl. The Cubs have moved him to the bullpen this season, and has been pitching multiple innings in a lot of the outings. His performance there between AA and AAA has been solid, but with the similar caveats to his past. He's struck out a total of 50 batters across 36 innings, but has also issued 26 walks to go with it. His WHIP has stayed relatively good, allowing just 17 hits over the season. There have been concerns for a while now that Edwards may be a better fit in the bullpen, and the transition could actually get him to Chicago before the end of the season. I can honestly see him coming in and being used as a multi-inning reliever, providing solid strikeout totals, and potentially ending up as a closer down the line.
Tony Kemp, 2B/OF, Astros
It's pretty clear that barring an injury, there's not likely to be a place for Kemp to play in the majors, with Jose Altuve at second base and some combination of George Springer, Jake Marisnick, and Colby Rasmus generally patrolling center field. With that said, another injury could always open that up, and Kemp has been hitting well. So far this year, Kemp is hitting .340 with a .429 OBP and 21 steals in 31 attempts. The other stat that jumps out with Kemp is that he has actually walked more than he has struck out this year (40 BB, 33 K), something he also did in 2014. He's more of an AL-only hedge at this point, but he's another name worth looking into if you need steals and batting average.
Max Kepler, OF/1B, Twins
Kepler was fairly well known as an international signee back in 2009 due to receiving the largest bonus (at the time) for a player out of Europe. He has reached AA for the first time this year, and while the home run power potential hasn't appeared as strongly as anticipate at signing, he is still slugging .544 with an isolated power of .209. Kepler's another player where there's really nowhere to put him into the lineup for his current team, but may be one of the prospects most likely to be traded to help support the Twins as they continue to stay in the wild card race. He can still potentially be a .280 hitter with 15-20 home runs, and may not necessarily be limited to just first base down the line.