The Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees received further reassurance with promising performances from up-and-coming prospects over the weekend. Both yougnsters hope to become mainstays in the MLB this season.
Cubs' prospect catcher Kyle Schwarber helped the United States earn its sixth straight victory in the Futures Game and the 22-year-old was named MVP of the annual event on Sunday. Schwarber finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs in the 10-1 win. He also threw out a baserunner attempting to steal second base.
His two-run triple in the bottom of the third off of Jarlin Garcia gave the U.S. a 3-1 lead and they never looked back, adding two more runs in the fourth and five more in the sixth. Check out Schwarber discuss winning MVP of the Futures Game below:
Schwarber's success in the Futures Game comes as no surprise given his success in the minor leagues this season. He also impressed during his short stint with the Cubs back in June and manager Joe Maddon said it's possible Schwarber gets the call again if catcher Miguel Montero hits the disabled list. The slugger is batting .323/.430/.591 with 46 runs scored, 16 home runs and 49 RBIs in 75 games between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.
As for New York, the Yankees called up second baseman prospect Rob Refsnyder to make his MLB debut this weekend against the Red Sox in Boston. The team has had trouble finding an effective hitter to play second base this season as Stephen Drew and Jose Pirela continue to struggle at the plate.
Refsnyder got the start on Saturday and Sunday and finished the weekend 2-for-7 with a run scored, one home run and two RBIs. He went 0-for-3 on Saturday, but rebounded on Sunday to finish 2-for-4 while adding two important insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning.
Refsnyder's two-run homer off of Alexi Ogando yesterday extended New York's lead to 8-4 over the Red Sox. Boston then scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning thanks to two errors by Refsnyder, but Andrew Miller closed out the game and sealed the victory.
Check out his first career MLB homer below:
Before earning the promotion, Refsnyder was batting .290/.387/.413 with 45 runs scored, 7 home runs, 37 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 81 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. However, the Yankees put off calling him up in the past because of his defensive shortcomings, which proved to be an issue this weekend.
The 24-year-old should remain with New York if he can tone down the mistakes and keep his bat consistent.
