ATLANTA — The MLB All-Star Futures Game, one of the most underappreciated events during any All-Star weekend, provides an opportunity for Minor League Baseball’s best to perform on a national stage. The Futures Game, which features a plethora of the Cape League’s most talented products on an annual basis, had 11 alumni represented between both the American and National League rosters this year.

The contest, which took place Saturday at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, was headlined by a handful of MiLB’s top 100 prospects. Notable participants included JJ Wetherholt (Chatham ‘23), Braden Montgomery (Y-D ‘22-23) and Charlie Condon (Falmouth ‘23). Wetherholt and Condon were two of the National League’s key impactful players in its 4-2 victory.

Wetherholt, who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024, had one of the game’s few extra-base hits when he ripped a leadoff double, coming off his bat at 106 mph for the first hit of the afternoon. The Cape League “was awesome,” Wetherholt said. “The competition there was great and continued to help me develop.”

Montgomery, who headlined the Chicago White Sox's return in the Garrett Crochet trade in December, recorded an RBI groundout for the American League, which opened the scoring in the third inning. “Every game I played helped me in a sense. I loved my time in the Cape — my family was great, the teams were great, and our coaching staff was awesome."

The 2024 Golden Spikes winner, Charlie Condon, suited up for the National League as the Colorado Rockies’ top prospect.

“It’s an All-Star League,” Condon said of the Cape. “Everybody that plays there is so good, and there’s so much history behind it. It’s unlike any other summer baseball league, and I’m really happy to have been a part of it.”

Condon, who didn’t post off-the-chart numbers with Falmouth as he’s so accustomed to, said, “that level of competition and dealing with the struggles that come with it — the Cape League is one of the hardest to hit in.”

The lone multihit performance from the 2025 iteration of the Futures Game came from the Arizona Diamondbacks’ LuJames Groover (Harwich ‘22). Groover, who goes by “Gino,” cited how much he enjoyed playing under Mariners manager Steve Englert. “He always kept it light in the dugout. He let us go out there, have fun and be ourselves, and I think that’s how you get the most out of your players.”

On a similar note to Condon, Groover detailed how “it’s a very tough league — the everyday grind. The best part was being around the guys from all over the country that you'd never meet unless you played there. I remember we had like six people in our house; we’d always be playing music. The other guys would come over to hang out, it was the big spot.”

Kaelen Culpepper (Harwich ‘23) played at Whitehouse Field the year after Groover but agreed on the premise “we had the best uniforms, by far,” in reference to the Mariners’ blue jerseys. He laughed about Englert letting them wear a big Cadillac chain around the field for a day if they won Player of the Game the night before.

Now with the Minnesota Twins, Culpepper said, “Me being from Memphis and the city area, it was a really cool change of scenery. Bringing it back to baseball though, the competition was legit — I loved playing down there.”

Marquis Grissom Jr. (Orleans ‘21) made headlines all day as his father and Atlanta Braves legend, Marquis Grissom, managed the American League squad. The Washington Nationals pitcher was credited with the win, throwing a one-hit, one-run fourth inning.

Although he pitched one recorded game with Orleans, he remembered his line perfectly — “three innings, I think I walked two, I gave up a run, but I only gave up one hit.” Grissom didn’t mention his two strikeouts, but he did recall pitching “one game before that, but it rained so it didn’t count. That game was a lot better,” he joked.

He took out his phone and pulled up a group chat he still has with his host family. “They hit me up and check on me every now and then,” he said. His favorite memory was driving up Route 6 to Nauset Beach with them and stopping for ice cream on the way back.

Carson Whisenhunt (Chatham ‘22) of the San Francisco Giants expressed how the Cape League served as an opportunity to hone his pitching mechanics. “I was definitely trying to figure out some mechanical things, trying to get a feel for my stuff and keep my legs under me. I was trying to find my pitch shapes again and make sure everything was moving correctly.”

He spoke about one of his wildest baseball experiences, showing up to Veterans Field one day and “you couldn’t see second base. I was standing at third and could not see second.” The conditions were quite different in Atlanta. Whisenhunt threw a clean two outs in the seventh inning in the 91-degree heat, earning a hold.

Other Cape League alumni featured in the 2025 All-Star Futures Game include Keagan Gillies (Cotuit ‘18) and Enrique Bradfield Jr. (Cotuit ‘22) of the Baltimore Orioles, and CJ Kayfus (Cotuit ‘22) of the Cleveland Guardians. Both Bradfield and Kayfus expressed their excitement to team up again for the first time since playing together at Lowell Park. On the National League side, Carson Benge (Chatham ‘23) represented the New York Mets.

A common theme amongst every alumni was their gratitude and fond memories from their time in the Cape League. Wetherholt’s favorite memory from the Cape League? It’s not a home run he hit, it’s not a crazy defensive play he made, it’s “just riding the yellow school bus to games, honestly. I’ll never forget those little yellow buses.”