Castellanos named MVP of MLB Futures Game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Detroit prospect Nick Castellanos hit a three-run homer during a nine-run sixth inning, and Royals minor leaguer Wil Myers added three RBIs to lead the U.S. team to a 17-5 rout of the World team in the All-Star Futures Game on Sunday.

Billy Hamilton and Manny Machado each drove in two runs for the U.S. team, contributing to a record 22 combined runs during the annual prospect showcase.
  
Castellanos was the game's MVP, but it was Myers who drew the biggest reaction. The 21-year-old outfielder received a standing ovation from an adoring sellout crowd that has been pining for his arrival all season. Myers is hitting .315 with 14 homers in 48 games at Triple-A Omaha.
  
Orioles prospect Dylan Bundy earned the win by pitching a scoreless fourth inning.

Castellanos was joined by fellow Tigers prospects Rob Brantly and Bruce Rondon in tonight's game, but it's Castellanos who is without question the most celebrated of the three Detroit farmhands. 

He is considered to be the best minor league prospect in the organization and there has been a lot of chatter about where he might fit in at the major league level if Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder are on the roster when he's ready to contribute.

Castellanos played 55 games in Lakeland this season, batting .405 and knocking in 32 runs before his promotion to Double A Erie, where he has played 27 games. 

Since joining the SeaWolves, Castellanos is hitting .307 with four home runs and 15 RBI. 

When asked about his future at third base with the Tigers organization before today's game, Castellanos said, "Our organization still loves me as a third baseman.  They see me there in the future.  They've also mentioned to get an outfielders glove, maybe we can work there a little bit, but nothing too serious so far.

"Miguel obviously is Miguel Cabrera, he needs no introduction and Prince Fielder's at first so he doesn't need any introduction. Victor Martinez is a career .300 hitter so all those guys are great.  I'm just going to have to keep on grinding it through and hopefully I'll force them to put me somewhere."

Brantly, a catcher for Triple A Toledo, was a late injury replacement for Sunday's game and shared a funny story of how the news was relayed to him.

"When they called me into the office after a game, my first thought was I was in trouble for something," said Brantly.  "When I walked into the locker room, Phil Nevin was there and he tells me, 'Rob, sit down, I want to talk to you about something.'

"I was twittling my thumbs like, 'Oh, what did I do now?'

"He's looking at some papers and he just turns around and says, 'Hey congratulations, you're going to the futures game."

Castellanos and Brantly are joined by pitcher Bruce Rondon, who will pitch against them in Sunday's game as a member of the international team. 

"It means a lot," said Castellanos about playing Sunday's game. "If you sit back and you look at all the great names that came out of here, but I'm sure that you can flip it around and say there's a lot of people that have played in this game that have not turned out to be All-Stars, so you can't really look at it, 'You know, I'm here, so that's it, it's over.' 

"It's more like, 'OK, I'm here. They expect a lot from me.  Now I gotta go to work that much harder."