Sean "The Duke" Newcomb, the Angels' first round pick of the 2014 draft, was selected today for the 2015 All-Star Futures Game. He will represent the US team during All-Star Game week in Cincinnati, and joins 22 other MLB Top 100 prospects as they take on the World team.
Newcomb was promoted to High A Inland Empire back in mid-May, and while he struggled a bit in his first start or two, he's rebounded in June and strung together some impressive outings. He's had some bad innings here and there, but one thing that's been consistent is his ability to get Ks. In a game on 6/16, he faced 10 batters in the first three innings and struck out 9 of them. He's currently sitting on a 3.32 ERA with the 66ers, with 19 walks and 50 Ks in 38 innings pitched. That's 11.8 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. Not too shabby for the youngster. Not too shabby at all.
The All-Star Futures Game can often be overshadowed by the big league All Star game, but if you're into young studs, then you need to pay attention. Last year saw guys like Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa and Joey Gallo in the game doing their thing, and now they're up in The Show doing amazing things on the regular. The futures game lives up to it's title, and it's quite the honor for Newcomb to represent the Angels, and the US. He's still got a bit to go before we see him in the Halos' starting rotation, but he's been making steps in the right direction in his last few starts, and now we know it's just not us that think he's special. The MLB will get their proper introduction to The Duke soon enough, but we'll get a nice little taste on a bigger stage come July.