Corey Seager and Yimi Garcia Will Play in The Fall Stars Game

The World Series will be wrapping up on either Wednesday or Thursday night, and that means baseball fans will have little else to watch during this long winter unless you happen to be a basketball or football fan. If you are itching for some baseball, you can tune into Saturday’s Fall Stars Game which will be televised on MLB Network at 5 p.m. Arizona time and will also be streamed live on MLB.com.

The Fall Stars Game is the new moniker given to the previously dubbed Rising Stars Game. This will be the eighth annual game set in Arizona at Surprise Stadium which will showcase some of the top prospects from within the Minor League ranks of the MLB including the Dodgers.

Last year 23 players who appeared in the Arizona Fall League reached the Major League in 2013. The roster includes 21 of the top prospects divided into two divisions – East and West. The No. 1 prospect heralded by MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospects list is Byron Buxton  of the Twins who will be representing the West Division.

The Dodgers organization will have two representatives on the West Division team including infielder Corey Seager and pitcher Yimi Garcia. Corey Seager is ranked at No. 47 on MLB.com’s list.

Corey Seager at shortstop for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2013. Photo: Stacie Wheeler

Seager and Garcia are currently playing on the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. In 11 games, Seager is struggling and has just a .146 batting average with 6 hits (including 3 doubles), 4 RBIs, 5 walks, and 15 strikeouts. He’s also made 3 errors at shortstop which is his natural position. He is projected to play third base for the Dodgers in the future. MLB.com ranked Seager No. 4 amongst Dodger prospects going into the 2013 season. He was selected in the first round, 18th overall, by the Dodgers in the 2012 draft.

Last season Corey split time between the low-A Great Lakes Loons and the high-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes where he found himself as the youngest player in the Cal League. In 27 games with the Quakes, Corey hit .160 with 4 homeruns, 16 total hits, 12 walks, and 31 strikeouts. With the Loons, Corey had been hitting .309 with 12 homeruns over 74 games before being promoted. When I saw Seager play in Rancho Cucamonga, his size was the first noticeable attribute to me. Although young, Corey is quite sizeable at shortstop, yet he fields the position smoothly.

Yimi Garcia, the young right-hander from the Dominican Republic, has pitched 6

games (7 2/3 innings) for the Glendale Desert Dogs thus far this fall. He is 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA and 6 strikeouts with 3 walks. Garcia pitched for the AA-Chattanooga Lookouts last season where he went 4-6 with a 2.54 ERA in 60 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out an impressive 85 batters while only walking 14.

FALL stars rosters