Spencer Steer, Matt Wallner Will Represent Twins in Futures Game

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