The trio of terror for opposing pitchers will all represent the Tigers farm system.
The All-Star break has a lot of events beyond the titular matchup of MLB’s stars. For our money, the MLB Futures Game is the main attraction. The American and National Leagues do battle with rosters comprised of the game’s best young prospect talent. As you’d imagine, the Detroit Tigers will be well represented.
The 2025 All-Star Futures Game will be played on Saturday, July 12 at 4:00 p.m. ET. It will air on MLB.TV and MLB.com . The 2025 MLB amateur draft will follow on July 13-14, with the MLB All-Star Game concluded the week of festivities on July 15.
Shortstop Kevin McGonigle, center fielder Max Clark, and catcher Josue Briceño will all take part in this year’s edition of the Futures game. The trio of 20-year-olds are among the game’s top prospects, with McGonigle now getting a lot of national consideration as the best prospect in baseball.
The last big prospect showcase was the Spring Breakout series set in the middle of spring training. The format there is two major league clubs at a time facing off with rosters comprised of their best prospect talent. The 2025 edition featured the Tigers’ prospect facing off against the Atlanta Braves ’ farm system.
The Tigers won that game 6-3, and while McGonigle, Clark, and Briceño all had hits, the standout story was the first public pro game for 2024 first round shortstop Bryce Rainer. The young infielder had a pair of singles and three RBI, but what really stood out was just how hard the rookie hit the ball in his first official game out of high school.
Unfortunately, Rainer’s season came to an end with a dislocated shoulder in early June, but the Tigers will still be sending the best group of hitting prospects to the Futures Game.
McGonigle shows some of the best pure hitting ability in recent prospect history, along with significantly more power potential than some thought on draft day. He also looks more and more likely to stick at the shortstop position, at least until a really high-end defensive shortstop comes along. McGonigle doesn’t have Riley Greene’s raw power, but he’s likely the best hitting prospect the Tigers’ system has seen since the 70’s at least.
Max Clark has done nothing but live on base with a .426 OBP, while raking steadily against Midwest League pitching. There’s still a good chance for average power production even if it’s tilted more toward extra base hits rather than home runs. Clark’s reads and routes have continued to improve and he looks on track to be the plus outfielder he was projected to become. The whole package is very compelling and Clark could be an all around force in the Tigers outfield over the next decade.
Finally, after losing much of 2024 to a PCL sprain in his knee, the Venezuelan born Briceño emerged in the Arizona Fall League as a leaner and meaner version of an already good combination of pure hitting ability and raw power. He improved his lower half flexibility, got his legs into his swing more effectively, and started absolutely hammering the baseball to all fields with a lot fewer ground balls in the mix.
Briceño became the first to win the Triple Crown in the Fall League and torched older pitching than he’d ever seen for both power and average, including some tape measure shots to all fields. He’s already hit 14 home runs in 50 games for the West Michigan Whitecaps with a walk rate of 16.8 percent and a strikeout rate of just 16.4 percent.
In short, he’s a monster. The big question with Briceño is whether the Tigers will keep working as a catcher, or whether the bat is progressing to quickly for his defense to catch up. The Tigers have eased him back into catching slowly this spring, and while he has the tools to be a quality backup catcher in time, if he keeps hitting like this a full-time move to first base may be in order eventually.
It should be very fun to see them all in action against the game’s best. You can find the complete Futures Game rosters and further details right here.