Mookie Betts Selected to All-Star Futures Game

Mookie Betts has been selected to play on the United States team in the 2014 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game which will take place on  July 13 at Target Field in Minnesota.  

Major League Baseball, in conjunction with the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, MLB.com, Baseball America, and the 30 Major League Clubs, selected the 25 players currently on each team - the U.S. Team and the World Team.  Each Major League organization is represented and the World Team features players from 10 different countries and territories outside the 50 United States.  Players from all full-season Minor Leagues were eligible to participate. 

Mookie Betts joined the PawSox on June 3 and in his first 20 games with Pawtucket he is batting .321 with 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 13 RBI, and 6 stolen bases.  He has played 14 games in CF and 5 games at 2B along with 1 game as the DH.  Mookie had a game-winning solo HR in the top of the 11th-inning at Durham on June 4 in his second game with the PawSox and he had a 2-out, 2-run single   

Betts began the season with the Portland Sea Dogs (AA).  At the time of his promotion to Pawtucket, he was hitting a league best .355 in 54 games (40 at 2B and 12 in CF).  He also paced the Eastern League in hits (76) and runs scored (56) and was among the top five in stolen bases (22), doubles (18), OBP (.443), slugging percentage (.551), and walks (35).  Mookie reached base 112 times in 54 games for Portland and had an on-base streak of 66 straight regular-season games from August 2, 2013 through May 16, 2014.  

The Brentwood, Tennessee native is the youngest player in the International League as he won’t turn 22 until October 7.  The 5’9”, 156 lbs. Betts was Boston’s 5th round pick in the 2011 June draft.  He was the Red Sox Offensive Player of the Year in 2013 after hitting a combined .314 with 36 2B, 15 HR, 65 RBI and 38 SB in 127 games split between Greenville (A) and Salem (A).

Current Portland LHP Henry Owens, a former teammate of Betts, has also been chosen to play on the U.S. team.  Owens is 9-3 with a 1.99 ERA in 14 starts for Portland this season.  He leads the Eastern League in ERA, strikeouts (89), complete games (3), shutouts (2), and lowest batting average against (.178).  Owens, 21, is also tied for the league lead in wins.

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