Jesus Sanchez, Nate Lowe named to 2018 Futures Game

Rosters for the 2018 Futures Game were announced Friday, and the Rays will be represented by first baseman Nate Lowe on Team USA and outfielder Jesus Sanchez on Team World.

Perhaps no one has improved their stock in the organization this season more than Lowe. For Class-A Bowling Green and Class A-Advanced Charlotte in 2017, he posted a .761 OPS with seven home runs in 115 games. In 2018 for Charlotte and Double-A Montgomery, the 22-year-old’s OPS is 1.021, and he has 16 home runs with 20 doubles in 75 games.

Sanchez was already considered a promising player entering the season, and he’s ranked as the No. 29 prospect in baseball on Baseball America’s latest update. In 71 games for Charlotte, the 20-year-old is batting .303 with a .324 on-base percentage and .475 slugging percentage. He has nine home runs and 20 doubles and is only striking out in 17.2 percent of his plate appearances.

The Futures Game will be played in Washington on Sunday, July 15. MLB Network will broadcast it at 4 p.m. ET, and MLB.com will stream it. It will be the 20th Futures Game played, and the U.S. has won seven of the last eight. In 2017, Rays pitcher Brent Honeywell was named the game’s MVP at Marlins Park, joining Toby Hall as the only Tampa Bay prospects to win the award.

As usual, both rosters are loaded with talent, featuring 30 of MLB.com’s top-100 prospects. The U.S. team has four of the top 10 picks from last year’s draft, including No. 2 pick, right-handed pitcher Hunter Greene. The international squad is highlighted by San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr.