Christian Yelich to Play in Futures Game Next Month

July 8, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; USA outfielder Christian Yelich hits a single during the sixth inning of the 2012 All Star Futures Game at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Christian Yelich has been selected to play in the Futures Game for the second consecutive season. Whether or not he plays this season is still a question that needs to be answered. Yelich is still a candidate to receive a callup prior to the game on July 14th, despite his current injury situation.

Yelich was well on his way to making a mid-June major debut in the major before he sustained a strained abdominal muscle on June 2. He played the next day, but left the game early due to discomfort. Yelich has been on the 7-day disabled list since. He just made his first rehab start with the GCL Marlins on Wednesday, going 1-for-2 as a designated hitter. He was supposed to play the outfield on Thursday, but that game was postponed due to rain.

The Marlins organization hopes for Yelich reinstated by Double-A Jacksonville early next week and if all goes well, he should be able to take part in the Futures game on July 14th.

He told MLB.com that he is excited to be headed to the Futures game and is not looking ahead to his major league callup.

"“I’m looking to enjoy the Futures Game and seeing where we go from there. We’ve got a couple of months left in the Minor League season. Whatever happens with that and at the big league level, we’ll see where it takes us.”"

Last season, when he was in Class A, Yelich went 1-for-2 with a walk at the Futures Game in Kansas City. He hopes to have a similar game on July 14th and show off his skills at a national level, as the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

On the season, Yelich owns a slash line of .262/.342/.518 with a wOBA of .382. He has six homers and was recently improving from a prolonged cold streak that brought his numbers down from even loftier levels.

I would not expect Yelich to make his ascent to the major leagues until late-July or early-August, as the Marlins will want him to have plenty of at bats coming off of his recent injury before they bring him to the big leagues. Once the team bring Yelich up, they don’t want to have to send him down again.

Yelich is currently the Marlins lone representative for the Futures game, but candidates like Jake Marisnick, Andrew Heaney, Anthony DeSclafani, and Justin Nicolino could still have a shot to make the team as replacements for either injured players or players that are called up prior to the game.