Pete Crow-Armstrong – Picture by Todd Johnson

In the coming days, either the Cubs or minor league baseball should announce which two participants the Cubs are sending to the Futures Game which takes place in LA on the 16th of July. In past years, we’ve seen two Cubs elevate their prospect status based on their performance in this game. A few years ago, Eloy Jimenez tore it up in San Diego. Last year, Brennen Davis hit two home runs and vaulted into the top 25 on most prospect lists as a result.

Well with those things in mind, who should the Cubs send this year?

Odds are the Cubs are going to send one pitcher and one hitter. Usually, those players are culled from either Tennessee or South Bend. It could even be a combination of the two.

Tennessee

I would love to see either Matt Mervis or Alexander Canario go and represent the Cubs. Canario would play for the World team while Mervis for the USA. Either player going would be pretty cool, but it would also sort of be a little litmus test just how they stack up against some of the better players in the minors. Then again, there are currently at Double-A already playing against some of the best talent in the minors at AA.

When it comes to a pitcher, I would like to see Jeremiah Estrada get a look in the Futures Game. I’d like to see what his four-seam fastball could do against some of the better prospects in baseball. And the same is true for fellow Tennessee reliever Danis Correa. Cranking his fastball up to 99 would be a lot of fun!

South Bend

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Yohendrick Pinango obviously pop right to the top of the list for hitters to pick from. Now that he’s healthy again, PCA would be an excellent choice to go represent Cubs in the United States in this exhibition. Pinango could go as well. I really like what he can do with the plate and I don’t think he would be over matched there. I think it will be a good precursor for what he’s going to experience when he heads to Tennessee later this summer.

If you’re talking pitchers at South Bend, I would not mind seeing either DJ Herz, Jordan Wicks, or Daniel Palencia get a call to go participate. All three would be excellent candidates who would be just fine. Like Pinango, the game could be a little preview for each of the three for Tennessee. It would be cool to Herz’s Vulcan changeup baffle the best or to see Wicks dig in and attack or to see Palencia rare back and throw 100 mph gas down the middle. We can’t lose whomever is picked.

One of the wild cards to throw in there from South Bend could be a reliever. Zac Leigh is the name that could come up and so could Yovanny Cruz now that he is healthy. Considering it is just an exhibition, it might be better to send a reliever so that you don’t get any of the starters out of their five day routine.

It should be interesting to see who are the Cubs sending in the next few days.