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The 7 most impressive performances in the 2015 All-Star Futures Game

CINCINNATI — The U.S. team throttled the World team, 10-1, in the 2015 All-Star Futures Game at Great American Ballpark on Sunday. And though it’s impossible to conclude anything from a single exhibition game, the following prospects stood out from the rest of the pack:

1. Josh Bell, Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates’ first-base prospect had the biggest hit in the game, a two-run homer in the fourth inning that he absolutely obliterated. The ball only traveled 388 feet, but Bell hit it so hard that it looked like it had barely crested when it reached the stands.

Bell is huge, and he’s showed good contact ability and plate discipline in the minors. But he’s yet to turn his big frame into big power: The 235-pounder has 27 homers in 327 career minor league games. Everyone seems to think the home runs will come, and Sunday’s display seemed pretty convincing.

2. Ketel Marte, Seattle Mariners

Ketel Marte

(David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports)

Marte beat out an infield single from the left side to lead off the game and slashed an opposite-field liner from the right side in his second at-bat, showing off the array of skills that have him among the Class AAA Pacific Coast League leaders in batting average and stolen bases despite being one of the youngest players in the circuit. Marte’s minor league numbers have gotten better every year, but he’s blocked in the Mariners’ middle infield by shortstop Brad Miller and second baseman Robinson Cano.

But 21-year-old, switch-hitting middle infielders batting .343 in Class AAA are a pretty valuable commodity, and Marte seems sure to reach the Majors in some capacity soon. He can expect big money in vodka endorsements whenever he does, as his name is Ketel.

3. Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs

Kyle Schwarber

(Elsa/Getty Images)

A local favorite from nearby Middletown, Ohio — which is nowhere near the middle of Ohio — Schwarber entered the Futures Game as perhaps its most prominent prospect, thanks both to his gaudy minor league numbers and his short but successful stint with the big league Cubs earlier this season. He did not disappoint on Sunday, ripping a two-run triple (which probably should have been scored a double and an error) down the right-field line on an 0-2 pitch.

Schwarber’s not known for his defense behind the plate, but he threw out Marte on an attempted steal in the first. He did allow a passed ball, though. Miguel Montero has played well enough this season to keep Schwarber in the minors, but he’s going to make a scary addition to a lineup that already includes Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant.

4 Jairo Labourt, Toronto Blue Jays

Jairo Labourt

(David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports Images)

Either Jairo Labourt is a dominant pitcher ready for the Majors or it’s silly to read too much into one inning in an exhibition game. It’s probably the latter, but I’m rooting for the former. Labourt, a Blue Jays prospect who looks every bit of his 6’4″ and 205 pounds — if not a bit more — came in to start the bottom of the fifth against a tough part of the U.S. team’s lineup. But he promptly struck out J.P. Crawford on three pitches, got Kyle Schwarber to ground out weakly, and struck out Richie Shaffer to end the inning.

Labourt, whose name is Spanish for “the bourt,” needed only 11 pitches — eight of them strikes — to retire two of the top 10 prospects in baseball and a guy, Shaffer, who has hit 14 home runs in 134 Class AAA at-bats this season. Not bad for a lefty with a 4.71 ERA in Class A Advanced in 2015 who didn’t even make his own team’s preseason top 10 prospects list at Baseball America. Maybe there were better pitchers than Labourt in the game on Sunday, but no one pitched better than Labourt in the game on Sunday. Viva Labourt! The ‘bourt goes on.

Hey… you think he throws a Jairoball?

5. Michael Conforto, New York Mets

Michael Conforto

(Rob Carr/Getty Images)

The Mets’ outfield hopeful showed why he was considered one of the most polished hitters in the 2014 draft with line-drive singles to center and right field in his two at-bats. Conforto also made a great throw home from left field to nail a runner trying to score from second on a single.

Conforto happens to play in the farm system of a team more desperate for offensive help than perhaps any in the big leagues, but the Mets have not suggested he’ll be promoted from Class AA Binghamton anytime soon.

6. Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees

Gary Sanchez

(David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports)

The righty-hitting catcher has been a fixture on Yankees’ top prospect lists for so long that Yankees fans might be sick of hearing about him, but the Class AA backstop hit two balls extremely hard on Sunday. One found a glove, one found the gap.

Sanchez is still only 22, but he has progressed very slowly through the Yankees system. They placed him on the 40-man roster before the 2014 season, meaning next year will be his third and final option year. But Sanchez is starting to show more power, on pace for a new career high in homers.

7. Trea Turner, Washington Nationals

Trea Turner

(Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Turner endured a strange start to the season: Practically everyone knew he was the player to be named later in the deal that sent Wil Myers to the Padres (and Rookie of the Year candidate Steven Souza to the Rays), but players are not allowed to be traded until a year after they sign their first professional contract. So Turner had to spend a couple awkward months with the Padres’ Class AA affiliate in San Antonio before he could become the Nationals’ property.

But Turner has hit everywhere, and appears the overwhelming favorite to replace Ian Desmond in the infield when Desmond leaves for free agency — or sooner, if Desmond can’t turn his woeful season around. Turner hit two doubles on Sunday, joining Conforto as the only U.S. team players with multiple hits.

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