It was a busy weekend for Cincinnati Reds' prospect Chris Heisey. On Friday, Heisey, then still a member of the Carolina Mudcats, was
named to play in the annual Futures Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis
on July 12. Then, on Saturday, Heisey was promoted to the Reds' Triple-A club in
Louisville. Heisey, who is one of two Cincinnati Reds minor league players
selected for the distinguished Futures Game honor, led the Southern
League batting race for several weeks with a .347 average, while also
within the top five of the league in a multitude of other offensive
categories. Heisey was fourth in home runs (13), first in hits (94), second in
on-base percentage (.426), first in slugging (.572), second in extra
base hits (33), and first in runs scored (54) in the Southern League
before his promotion.The Futures Game rosters are selected by Baseball America, the Major
League Baseball Scouting Bureau, MLB.com and all 30 major league
clubs. Every major league organization must be represented by at least
one player, but no club is allowed to send more than two. Cincinnati's other representative will be Juan Carlos Sulbaran, who is
2-1 with a 4.60 ERA over nine starts with the Low-A Dayton Dragons of
the Midwest League. The game will pit the U.S. Futures Stars against the Futures Stars of
the World. Former Mudcats who have also appeared in the Futures Game are Jeremy
Hermida, Rick Vanden Hurk, Jesus Delgado, among others. Replacing Heisey on the Mudcats' active roster is outfielder/infielder
Michael Griffin, who began this season with the Mudcats. Griffin was
sent to Louisville in mid-May, and will be in uniform tonight for
Carolina.Meanwhile, third baseman Juan Francisco has been activated from the
disabled list after recovering from a right hamstring injury suffered
last week at Tennessee. Francisco takes the roster spot of infielder
Jake Kahaulelio, who was returned to High-A Sarasota. Right-handed pitcher Jordan Smith was also activated from the disabled
list.The Mudcats have struggled of late, losing five straight heading into
this week's action, after finishing just a game behind Huntsville in
the race for the first-half title. Carolina returns to Five County Stadium this week just in time for the
Mudcats' annual Fourth of July Fireworks Extravaganza. Games on both
Saturday and Sunday night will be followed by fireworks shows. Tuesday will bring a rare afternoon home game for the Mudcats with a
noon first-pitch against the Smokies.