July 11, 2021: NL stars win Futures Game as Rachel Balkovec makes historic coaching appearance for AL

After a one-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB All-Star Week returned in July 2021. The site was Denver’s Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies.1 Alongside the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, one of the biggest attractions was the All-Star Futures Game, a seven-inning contest that showcases the most highly touted prospects from the American and National Leagues.2

According to MLB Pipeline’s ranking of baseball’s leading prospects, 32 of the top 100 prospects were participating in the 2021 Futures Game, including six of the top eight.3 Among them were Baltimore Orioles catcher and 2019 first overall draft pick Adley Rutschman (ranked Number 2 by MLB Pipeline) and Detroit Tigers first baseman and 2020 first overall pick Spencer Torkelson (Number 3).4

Five of the first seven players selected in the June 2019 amateur draft were in the Futures Game: Rutschman, second overall pick Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals), fifth pick Riley Greene (Detroit Tigers), sixth pick CJ Abrams (San Diego Padres), and seventh pick Nick Lodolo (Cincinnati Reds). High-profile international signings Julio Rodríguez (Seattle Mariners) and Jasson Dominguez (New York Yankees) were also there.

Vinny Castilla, a former Rockies star, two-time All-Star, and three-time Silver Slugger recipient, was managing the NL team in a ballpark he called home from 1993 to 1999 and again in 2004 and 2006. Castilla’s career totals of 1,884 hits and 320 home runs were the most all-time by a Mexican-born player in the majors.

The AL manager was LaTroy Hawkins. Hawkins, a right-handed pitcher with 21 years of major-league experience, had two stints with the Rockies: 2007 and 2014 to 2015. As of July 2024, he ranked 10th on the list of most games pitched, having appeared in 1,042 games.

As Coors Field welcomed baseball superstars past and present, the AL dugout was graced with a baseball pioneer who gained fame through her groundbreaking efforts. Donning number 22 on Hawkins’ coaching staff was Yankees minor-league hitting coach Rachel Balkovec, the first woman to coach in a Future Stars game.5

Balkovec, who played collegiate softball at Creighton University and the University of New Mexico, was no stranger to breaking barriers. When the St. Louis Cardinals hired her as their minor-league strength and conditioning coordinator in 2014, she became the first woman to hold a position as a full-time strength coach in professional-affiliated baseball.6

In 2016 the Houston Astros hired Balkovec as their Latin American strength and conditioning coordinator.7 Two years later, she was promoted to the position of strength and conditioning coach for the Astros’ Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Texas League.8 In 2019 the Yankees hired Balkovec as the first female hitting coach in the history of affiliated professional baseball.

Hawkins specifically requested that Balkovec join his staff for the event. Balkovec’s initial response after receiving word of her selection was, “Did I earn this? Why?” She said, “I’ve been in the game for more than 10 years, so this is something that’s been a long time coming. My first reaction was to make sure that this is something I have earned and that I’m getting it for the right reasons, not maybe just because of my gender.”9

Hawkins, who had been following Balkovec’s career on social media since she joined the Yankees in 2019, believed she was highly qualified to join his coaching staff.10 He remarked, “When she walked in, she was immediately ready to do the job. She not only had the breakdown on the players on the other team, but on our team. She was confident. She was bilingual. She was able to communicate with the players. She is so prepared, she is ready. I am so glad to see her get her chance.”11

In the top of the first inning, while coaching first base, Balkovec was struck on the leg by a 93.9 mph line drive off the bat of Mariners prospect Jared Kelenic.12 She later told MLB Network, “Thankfully, caught me in the calf and not the shin, but I had to play it off, let’s be honest. I think I can go on record saying I’m the first woman to be absolutely smoked in the Futures Game. It’s a big moment in my career and I’m going to remember it forever.”13

Matthew Liberatore, a first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 who was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2020,14 started for the NL and retired the three batters he faced.

The NL took its turn at bat in the bottom of the first inning with José Barrero of the Cincinnati Reds igniting the action with a 426-foot home run to left field off Cole Winn of the Texas Rangers.15

Max Meyer, whom the Miami Marlins drafted with the third overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft, took the ball for the NL in the top of the second inning. Meyer got Rutschman to fly out to left field before walking Royals first baseman Nick Pratto. Meyer was then replaced by Andre Jackson of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who finished the inning without giving up a run.16

Shane Baz, selected 12th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2017 draft, then traded to the Tampa Bay Rays a season later,17 pitched the bottom of the second inning for the AL. He struck out the first two batters he faced and got Rockies outfielder Ryan Vilade to ground out to second base.18

Jackson picked up the first out in the third inning, and then the NL brought in Lodolo. Lodolo, a 6-foot-6 southpaw, induced a lineout to right field from Witt Jr. and a lineout to third base from Dominguez.

In the bottom of the third, Cole Ragans of the Texas Rangers replaced Baz. Ragans committed a fielding error against the first batter he faced, then surrendered a home run to center field by Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia, making it a 3-0 game.

Boston Red Sox pitcher and Dominican Republic native Brayan Bello replaced Ragans with one runner on base, but he did not fare much better. Bello gave up a double to St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman, scoring Barrero. Gorman took third on a wild pitch and scored on Padres catcher Luis Campusano’s sacrifice fly. After three innings, the NL led 5-0.

The National League put another run on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. Chicago Cubs outfielder Brennen Davis, an Arizona native and a second-round draft pick in 2018, connected on a 1-and-1 offering from Minnesota Twins right-hander Josh Winder for a home run over the center-field wall.

The American League’s bats remained silent, failing to produce any runs through six innings. By contrast, the NL maintained its strong performance, with Davis continuing to lead the charge.

In the bottom of the sixth, Davis connected for his second home run of the game, off the Baltimore Orioles’ Marcos Diplán.19 The next batter, pinch-hitter Francisco Alvarez, a New York Mets catching prospect, joined the home-run action by hitting a line drive off Diplán over the left-field fence. The NL now led 8-0.

The AL showed signs of life in the top of the seventh when Tigers prospects Greene and Torkelson hit back-to-back singles off Milwaukee Brewers left-hander Ethan Small. Next up was Red Sox second baseman Jeter Downs, who doubled to left field, scoring both runs. Toronto Blue Jays infielder Austin Martin then singled on a popup to right field, scoring Downs. The AL was now down by five.

But their momentum was short-lived. Small, a 2019 first-round pick from Mississippi State, settled down and got Dominguez and Rodriguez to strike out swinging for the final two outs.

The final score: NL 8, AL 3.

Davis earned the Larry Doby Award as the game’s MVP.20 His bat was collected by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.21 The Hall of Fame also acquired Balkovec’s cap.22

In 2022 Balkovec made history again by becoming the manager of the Tampa Tarpons, the Yankees’ affiliate in the Class A Florida State League.23 This appointment made her the first woman to manage an affiliated professional baseball team.24

In January 2024 she joined the Marlins as director of player development.25

Author’s Note

The players in this article are listed with the names of the major-league teams with which they were affiliated in 2021. Five of the players appeared in the major leagues in 2021: Baz, Diplán, Jackson, Kelenic, and Vilade.

The article was written and published during the 2024 MLB season, a year when five alumni of the 2021 Futures Game – Abrams, Greene, Ragans, Rutschman, and Witt – were selected for the major-league All-Star Game.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources 

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted MiLB.com, MLB.com, Baseball-Almanac.com, Baseball-Reference.com, and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/al-futures-vs-nl-futures/2021/07/11/657048/final/summary/all

Notes

1 MLB All Star Week 2021 spanned from Sunday, July 11, to Tuesday, July 13.

2 The SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game has been played in a seven-inning format since 2019. Before 2019 the game featured a USA vs. World format; it is now referred to as NL vs. AL.

3 Jim Callis, “2021 Futures Game Rosters,” MLB.com, June 30, 2021, https://www.mlb.com/news/2021-futures-game-rosters?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage. MLB Pipeline Prospects is a platform by MLB that ranks the top prospects in baseball. It offers scouting reports, player statistics, and other insights about up-and-coming players in the minor leagues and their eventual potential impact at the major-league level.

4 MLB Pipeline’s Number 1 prospect, Wander Franco, had been called up by the Tampa Bay Rays in June 2021.

5 Balkovec served as a roving hitting coach for the Yankees’ minor-league affiliates, dividing her time between Florida and the Dominican Republic. Bryan Hoch, “NYY’s Balkovec to Be 1st Woman Futures Game Coach,” MLB.com, July 6, 2021, https://www.mlb.com/news/rachel-balkovec-to-coach-in-2021-futures-game.

6 Lindsay Berra, “Cards Have Pioneer in Female Strength Coach Balkovec,” MLB.com, May 30, 2014, https://www.mlb.com/news/cards-have-pioneer-in-female-strength-coach-rachel-balkovec/c-77462528. 

7 Brian McTaggart, “Astros’ Strength Coach Blazing Trail as Female,” MLB.com, February 27, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-rachel-balkovec-breaking-down-barriers-c165143530.

8 Matt Young, “What Rachel Balkovec Said About the Astros in Her Introductory Press Conference,” Houston Chronicle, January 13, 2022, https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Rachel-Balkovec-Astros-Yankees-manager-first-woman-16770307.php.

9 Hoch, “NYY’s Balkovec to Be 1st Woman Futures Game Coach.”

10 “NYY’s Balkovec to Be 1st Woman Futures Game Coach.”

11 Kristie Ackert, “First Female Manager in US Baseball Embracing Being Role Model,” Guam Daily Post (Tamuning, Guam), January 12, 2022, https://www.postguam.com/sports/nation/first-female-manager-in-us-baseball-embracing-being-role-model/article_4b64678c-741d-11ec-a605-3b85a40f9a4b.html.

12 Do-Hyoung Park, “6 of the Coolest Futures Game Moments,” MLB.com, July 11, 2021, https://www.mlb.com/news/2021-futures-game-highlights. Kelenic had made his major-league debut with the Mariners earlier in the 2021 season, on May 13, but was returned to the minor leagues in June. He was recalled to Seattle after the All-Star break and remained with the Mariners for the rest of the season, batting .181 in 93 games.

13 Park, “6 of the Coolest Futures Game Moments.”

14 In January 2020, the Rays sent Liberatore, a minor leaguer, and a draft pick to the Cardinals for Randy Arozarena, José Martínez, and a draft pick.

15 Bobby Nightengale, “Garrett Nonplussed by Team’s Struggles,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 31, 2021: B4. José Barrero, known as José Garcia until earlier in 2021, took his mother’s name to honor her after she died from COVID-19.

16 Jackson was called up to the Dodgers in August 2021. He appeared in 26 major-league games with the Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates from 2021 through 2023. Brian Preece, “Former Utah Star Andre Jackson Pitching in Japan,” KSL Sports, February 23, 2024, https://kslsports.com/511571/andre-jackson-pitching-in-japan/.

17 The Rays had acquired Baz as the player to be named in the four-player trade that sent Chris Archer to the Pirates in July 2018. Baz made his major-league debut with the Rays in September 2021; he was the starting and losing pitcher in Tampa Bay’s 14-6 loss to the Boston Red Sox in Game Two of the AL Division Series on October 8.

18 Vilade was called up by the Rockies in September 2021. He appeared in three major-league games that season, making seven plate appearances.

19 Diplán made his major-league debut with the Orioles on August 6, 2021. He appeared in 28 games with Baltimore before being released in 2022.

20 Since 2002, the Futures Game MVP Award has been named after Larry Doby, who broke the AL’s color barrier in 1947 with the Cleveland Indians.

21 Park, “6 of the Coolest Futures Game Moments.”

22 “6 of the Coolest Futures Game Moments.”

23 Merrill, “New York Yankees Minor League Manager Rachel Balkovec Has Worked Her Entire Life for This Moment.”

24 “New York Yankees Minor League Manager Rachel Balkovec Has Worked Her Entire Life for This Moment.”

25 Christina De Nicola, “Rachel Balkovec, Marlins Director of Player Development.” Minor League Baseball, January 16, 2024, https://www.milb.com/tampa/news/rachel-balkovec-marlins-director-of-player-development.