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By Washington Nationals right-handed pitching prospects Travis Sykora and Marquis Grissom Jr. have been selected to represent the organization in the 2025 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park in Atlanta on Saturday, July 12. Major League Baseball made the announcement Monday on MLB Network. The 26th All-Star Futures Game features the top Minor League prospects competing as part of All-Star Saturday.
Sykora, 21, is the Nationals No. 1 prospect and the No. 46 prospect in all of baseball, according to Baseball America, and the No. 54 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. After making his season-debut on May 3 until his promotion to Double-A on June 26, he led all of Minor League Baseball in opponents’ batting average (.107), WHIP (.0.61), hits per 9.0 innings (3.10), opponents’ slugging percentage (.137) and strikeouts per 9.0 innings (15.49). Sykora also ranked among all qualified Minor League pitchers in ERA (2nd, 1.09) and strikeouts (T2nd, 70) during that span.
A third-round pick in the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas, Sykora is 3-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 11 games this season between the Florida Complex League, Single-A Fredericksburg, High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg. Despite pitching in his first game in May this year, Sykora’s 76 strikeouts rank third in the Nationals Minor League system.
The hard-throwing, 6-foot-6, 232-pound righty was named the Nationals organization’s Pitcher of the Year and the Carolina League Pitcher of the Year in 2024 after he led the Fredericksburg Nationals to the league title.
Grissom Jr., 23, is the No. 21 prospect in the Nationals organization according to MLBPipeline.com. He ranks third in Washington’s Minor League system with six saves this season. His 15 saves over the last two seasons are the most by any current Nationals farmhand.
A 13th-round pick in the 2022 First Year Player Draft, Grissom pitched to a 1.86 ERA and was 5-for-5 in save opportunities in nine games with Double-A Harrisburg this year before he was promoted to Triple-A Rochester on April 30. In all, he is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA with six saves and 26 strikeouts in 30.2 innings of work between the two levels this season.
An alumnus of the Counterpane School in Fayetteville, Ga., and Georgia Tech, Grissom Jr. will return to Atlanta to represent the Nationals on a National League team opposing the American League squad managed by his father, Marquis Grissom.
The 2025 All-Star Futures Game will air live exclusively on MLB Network and will be simulcast on MLB.tv, MLB.com and on the MLB app at 4 p.m. ET. on July 12.
