Rangers shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar was the youngest player in Sunday's MLB sponsored Futures Game at age 18 and just under five months, but he was also one of the best. Profar relieved the Rays' Hak-Ju Lee and showed what he can do both offensively and defensively. He coupled a nice defensive play with a triple off of 23-year-old Triple-A prospect Kyle Gibson that gave the World Team their first lead. Baseball America even called Profar's swing the best in the game.
Profar should have been overmatched against Twins Triple-A righthander Kyle Gibson, but instead he swing at the first pitch he saw and put a beautiful lefthanded swing on a 91 mph fastball, sending it for a line-drive triple into right center field to drive in a run. Even more remarkable is that Profar's lefthanded swing is still in its infancy.
"When I signed I started switch-hitting," said Profar, who signed on July 2, 2009. "I could swing lefthanded before, but I never did it before in games when I was in Curacao."
BA just last week ranked Profar as the 12th best prospect in baseball. Their No. 6 prospect, Martin Perez, was the Rangers' other participant in the game. He struggled in his one inning, allowing a run on a pair of hits and a walk while striking out one.
The U.S. team won the game with three eighth inning runs off of Royals prospect Kelvin Herrera.