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As the Yankees' lone representative in the Futures Game, Rafael De Paula represented the World Team. He came into the game in the fifth inning and had a mixed performance. He threw 10 of his 16 pitches for strikes and struck out Twins prospect Bryan Buxton, Baseball America's top prospect in baseball, but also gave up a hit up the middle and hit a batter. He then got what should have been a double play, but the throw to first was wide. De Paula regrouped and got the next batter to fly out.
De Paula was clocked at 94-96 mph during his inning and, despite his struggle, showed hints of what everyone is excited about. Unfortunately, he also showed that he can have control problems at times after hitting George Springer and firing a warm up pitch into the backstop.
De Paula lit up Low-A Charleston with a 2.94 ERA, 6 H/9 and a 13.4 K/9 in 64.1 innings, but he's struggled in High-A Tampa with a 6.75 ERA, 11 H/9 and a 7.4 K/9 in only 14.2 innings. Hopefully he can pick it up in the second half of the season and continue to impress like he was doing earlier.