Spencer Steer, Matt Wallner Will Represent Twins in Futures Game

[Seth Stohs]

On Thursday morning, MLB announced the participants in the upcoming Futures Game. Two Minnesota Twins prospects will participate, infielder Spencer Steer and outfielder Matt Wallner. 

The 2022 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game will be played at Dodgers Stadium on Saturday, July 16th at 6 pm central time. You can watch Twins prospects Spencer Steer and Matt Wallner live on Peacock and SiriusXM with MLB Network producing the telecast and re-airing the game at 7:30 pm that night. 

The two Twins representatives are the two hitters with the most home runs in the system.  Wallner has hit 20 homers, and Steer has hit 19. 

It is a big deal for the players. Not only does it show that they are recognized by their own organization, but they are given the respect of the other organizations too. And finally, their names can become more well known to fans on a national level. 

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I'm so excited to get to experience." Steer said following the announcement. 

It is extra special for him for another reason. "It means so much to me that I get to go play a game so close to my hometown. This will be the first time a lot of my family have seen me play professionally, so I couldn't be more excited about that as well." 

Spencer Steer, 24, grew up in Long Beach (CA) and went to the University of Oregon to play college ball. The Twins drafted him in the 3rd round of the 2019 draft. He began the 2022 season at Double-A Wichita where he hit .307/.385/.591 (.976) with 13 doubles and eight homers. He was promoted to Triple-A St. Paul where he has now played 36 games. He has hit .243/.330/.533 (.862) with nine doubles and 11 home runs. Just so you don't have to look it up, combined, he has played in 71 games and hit .273/.356/.561 (.916) with 22 doubles, 19 homers and 58 RBI. 

One more reason for Steer's excitement? "It's awesome that I get to go play with Wallner, who is a great friend of mine." 

Wallner is a 24-year-old from Forest Lake (MN). He was the Mr. Baseball choice in Minnesota in 2016 and drafted in the 32nd round by the Twins, as a pitcher. He went to Southern Mississippi and became an All-American outfielder with immense power. The Twins drafted him with the 39th overall pick in 2019. 

He has been on fire this season. In 73 games at Double-A Wichita, he has hit .282/.422/.585 (1.007) with 13 doubles and 20 home runs. He also has 58 RBI. 

When the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospect rankings were updated on July 1st, Spencer Steer ranked #6 with Matt Wallner ranking #12. 

Below is an interview with Spencer Steer shortly after his promotion to St. Paul. Check it out! (Then below the interview you can see the players that Steer and Wallner join as Futures Game Twins representatives since the game's first year.)

 

Past Twins in the Futures Game
1999: Michael Cuddyer, JC Romero, 
2000: Luis Rivas, Brad Thomas, 
2001: Grant Balfour
2002: Justin Morneau,  Michael Restovich,  
2003: JD Durbin, Joe Mauer, 
2004: Jason Kubel, Justin Morneau, 
2005: Travis Bowyer, Francisco Liriano, 
2006: Trent Oeltjen, 
2007: Matt Garza, Matt Tolbert, 
2008: Luke Hughes, Denard Span, 
2009: Rene Tosoni, 
2010: Liam Hendriks, Ben Revere, Anthony Slama, 
2011: Kyle Gibson, Liam Hendriks, 
2012: Oswaldo Arcia, 
2013: Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, 
2014: Jose Berrios, Trevor May, Alex Meyer, Kennys Vargas (at Target Field)  
2015: Jose Berrios, Max Kepler, 
2016: JT Chargois, 
2017: Nick Gordon, 
2018: Alex Kirilloff, Lewis Thorpe, 
2019: Jordan Balazovic, Royce Lewis,  
2020: No Futures Game 
2021: Josh Winder
2022: Spencer Steer, Matt Wallner

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[bean5302]

Great news for them! It seems reasonable to suspect Wallner may very well not head back to Wichita after the All Star Futures Game. 

 

[Dman]

Most of the guys on that list did pretty well at the MLB so they have that going for them.  They both have great season's and deserve the honor.  Congrats to both players.

[old nurse]

13 minutes ago, Dman said:

Most of the guys on that list did pretty well at the MLB so they have that going for them.  They both have great season's and deserve the honor.  Congrats to both players.

Balazovic is the only one that has played in the futures game who did not make it to the majors. He just needs some more time 

[MMMordabito]

What was everyone's favorite Trent Oeltjen moment?

[bean5302]

15 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

What was everyone's favorite Trent Oeltjen moment?

It was when the Twins' farm system was so insanely bad that he got sent to the All Star Futures Game.

[DocBauer]

Congratulations to both young men. They clearly deserve the honor.

Both should be ready some time next year. Two more really nice young players to add to an already good mix.

 

[jmlease1]

Fine choices based on the Twins system right now. Both are moving up quickly and performing well and should do fine at the game. Nice for them to both get the exposure that comes from it. (won't help them much for prospect lists most of which will ding them significantly for being 24, but that's a they problem not a we problem.)

[weitz41]

Congrats to both of them. It's well deserved. Was hoping for a pitcher like Varland to make it also. His numbers are really impressive.

[ashbury]

3 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

2020: No Futures Game 

You didn't list which hapless players got selected for this one.

But seriously, ladies and germs, Steer and Wallner are fine choices this year.

[Thegrin]

The rundown of past players in the Futures game brings back many fond memories.  There are many great Twins on that list and some we had high hopes for. I wonder how we'll feel about Steer & Wallner in 10 years?

[SpicyGarvSauce]

JD DURBIN BABY!!!

[Monkeypaws]

Wallner is awesome - I shared this story a year ago but I sat next to his grandma at a game in Cedar Rapids. Her expectations were that he would succeed, and dang it grandma, you got it right. Nice lady.