American League Futures Roster Has a Familiar Name for Gators Fans

MLB’s All-Star Futures Game rosters were released on Tuesday with two players having ties to the Florida Gators.

Xavier Isaac was almost a Florida Gator, but he's making waves with the Tampa Rays' affiliate, the Bowling Green Hot Rods / Angela Wilhelm/Asheville Citizen Times /

MLB’s All-Star Futures Game rosters were released on Tuesday with two players having ties to the Florida Gators. 

The more familiar one is pitcher Brandon Sproat (on the National League Roster), the other one may not be as recognizable.  

Xavier Isaac, a Florida Gator baseball commit in high school, saw his name included in the American League roster that was released this week. 

For the ones who follow high school baseball recruiting, you know him. 

And for the ones that don’t, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound first baseman was rated as the 54th-best prospect and best first baseman in the 2022 Class, per Perfect Game. Additionally, he was the fourth-best prospect in North Carolina. 

Isaac was drafted 29th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays and it is easy to see why they took him so high. 

At East Forsyth High School in Kernersville, N.C., Isaac had an impressive .578 batting average and 12 homeruns in 26 games in 2021-22. 

Now, after spending two years in the Tampa Rays organization, Isaac has worked his way up to the Rays High-A Affiliate Bowling Green Hot Rods where he is slashing .302/.386/.557 with 12 homers and 56 RBI in 58 games played. 

Furthermore, at the end of the 2023 season, Isaac was named to MiLB’s Rays 2023 Organization All-Stars. This is done each offseason by MiLB and honors the best players by position in each organization’s farm system. 

Isaac has shot up MLB’s and the Rays’ prospect rankings with his impressive performances over the past couple of years. 

According to MLB’s prospect rankings, Isaac lands at 32nd overall and is the third-best prospect in the Rays' farm system.

While it would’ve been great to land Isaac and pair him with college baseball icon Jac Caglianone, it is no wonder he had the option to skip college and head straight to the pros.