MIAMI -- This year's Futures Game, my 12th and the 19th such event in its history, was a somewhat dry affair -- for which I should probably be grateful given the 1,000 percent humidity outside of Marlins Park -- as the World pitching didn't quite hold up its end of the bargain and no hitter reached base more than twice.

The game never really developed any sort of rhythm, and the score was quickly 7-0 in favor of the U.S. team, although the World hitters never gave up and the second shift managed to put the tying run on base in the ninth before losing 7-6. Here are my observations on the day, starting with the pitchers:

• Brent Honeywell was named the game's MVP thanks to two strong innings to start the game. The Tampa Bay right-hander was 95-97 in the first, then 93-96 in the second, with a plus changeup, fringy slider and a couple of fun screwballs. I could say they're plus, but it's not like there's an "average" screwball running around out there somewhere; if you can execute the pitch, it's going to be effective because hitters never see it. The one knock on Honeywell on Sunday was that he was surgically precise in the first, but his command was noticeably less in the second.

• The World team started Yadier Alvarez, the Cuban right-hander from the Dodgers system who signed in 2015 for $16 million, but he struggled to throw anything for strikes. He was 94-98 with below-average life and command, flashed a plus slider and threw several below-average changeups for which he slowed his arm down enough to telegraph the pitch. I didn't see any mechanical red flags that would indicate he'll never have command, but it wasn't there on Sunday.

• Michael Kopech followed Honeywell, and the White Sox right-hander was the first of three pitchers on Sunday to hit 100 mph, working 98-100 with running action and keeping it around the zone in a quick inning in which he flashed the slider and changeup. (The other two pitchers to hit 100 mph were Baltimore lefty Tanner Scott, 97-100 with a slider at 89-90, and Seattle right-hander Thyago Vieira, 98-100 with an awful breaking ball.)

• San Diego right-hander Cal Quantrill gave up some hard contact in his inning of work, hanging a changeup at 81 mph but in general showing a promising four-pitch mix -- 94-95, above-average changeup and slider and average curveball. He's built like a starter, and his delivery works, keeping him online to the plate.

• Atlanta right-hander Mike Soroka was 90-94, sitting 93-94, with good late-sinking life on the pitch and threw some plus changeups at 84-85. He still comes from a low three-quarter slot with some sling to his arm action, and his shoulder looks stiff at release, none of which is particularly starter-ish, although his track record in the minors is unimpeachable.

• St. Louis right-hander Jack Flaherty showed a four-pitch mix like Quantrill's, with a fastball at 93-95, an above-average 11/5 curveball at 74-76, good fade on a mid-80s changeup, and a power slurve or slider at 79-82. His delivery is fluid, and he, like Q, looks the part of a starter.

• Detroit right-hander Beau Burrows showed his two above-average pitches -- the fastball was really plus in the short stint, 94-98 and heavy, with a short, sharp slider at 84-85. He threw a couple of straight changeups -- 87 for a strike, then 88 like a BP fastball. It's a pitch he's really going to have to improve to get to remain a starter.

• Yankees right-hander Domingo Acevedo was 94-96 with 30 command, and the pitch was pin straight, so he gave up a lot of contact on it; his delivery is so uncoordinated and unrepeatable that I find it hard to believe he'll ever see even fringe-average command. His slider flashed average, but he couldn't locate it. His changeup is at least usable, running down and away from lefties.

• Cincinnati right-hander Jimmy Herget was one of the few pure relievers on either roster, 92-96 from a low, near-sidearm slot with a short slider, and he should be death on right-handed hitters in a short relief role but might need something else to get lefties out.

• Oakland lefty AJ Puk, probably their No. 1 prospect at the moment, was 95-97 to close out the game for the U.S. team with a low-80s, slurvy breaking ball that was pretty sharp despite its caught-between status. But his changeup was well below average, and he wasn't locating the fastball, either.

The hitters:

• I feel obligated to start with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., one of only two players in the game to record two hits and, of course, the youngest player in the contest. He looks like his dad and he swings hard like his dad, but I think he took more pitches in four plate appearances on Sunday than his dad did in a typical month. There's big raw power here, but the approach and the ability to square up a good fastball impressed me more, including one single he pulled to left-center on 99 mph.

• Ronald Acuna of Atlanta worked some great at bats, too -- I counted 16 pitches seen in the first two times up, 22 total on the day, although I might be off by one. But he had nothing to show for it, hitting one ball hard, striking out on a backdoor slider and getting out in front of 92 mph in the ninth. He's got super-quick hands, but he showed some drift at the plate in batting practice, and his setup was noisier than I've seen from him before.

• Yoan Moncada was 0-for-2, rolling over to second base on a changeup, then striking out on 100 mph from his White Sox system-mate Kopech.

• The three great defensive plays on the day came from Mets shortstop Amed Rosario, going way in the hole to get a 6-4 fielder's choice that was nearly a double play; Colorado shortstop Brendan Rodgers, playing out of position at second base, snaring a ground ball that was scorched in his direction; and Colorado first baseman Ryan McMahon, leaning way into the first-base dugout to snare a popup off Vlad's bat in the ninth.

• Rosario, my No. 1 prospect in my last ranking back in April, struck out in his only two trips to the plate, once on 93 in under his hands, once chasing 97 up after getting ahead in the count 3-0 and swinging through 95 when he got the green light.

• Rodgers flew out on a 94-mph fastball, lined a single to left on a 96-mph fastball from a right-hander, and then drew a walk. He has gotten off to a slow start in Double-A at age 20 after destroying the Cal League from hitter-friendly Lancaster, so it was good to see him pull velocity from a same-side pitcher and then show some patience.

• I'd like to see a lot more of Yordan Alvarez, who impressed in batting practice and smoked a 96-mph fastball right back to center for a single in his only at bat, walking in his previous trip to the plate. Both he and fellow Houston farmhand Kyle Tucker impressed in their half-days; Tucker, a left-handed hitter, took 94 away down the left-field line for a hard-hit double, then flew out to the right-field warning track on 95. He still has a lot of room to add muscle, which is a little terrifying given how much raw power he's getting just out of hand strength. He looks like he's loading his hands lower than he did in high school.

• Haitian-born outfielder Estevan Florial (Yankees) is very loose and athletic, but there's some real uphill path to his swing. The left-handed hitter struck out on a 90-mph fastball down the middle from a southpaw, then drew a six-pitch walk off another lefty, Puk, in the ninth.

• Nick Senzel (Cincinnati) lined a single to center on a 95-mph fastball in the first, but later punched out twice on sliders from right-handers, both off the outer edge of the plate.

• Lucius Fox of Tampa Bay was the one player who looked a little overmatched at the plate, with two weak groundouts in his two trips to the plate. His batting practice stood out in a similar way -- nothing wrong with it, but compared to all the other bigger, stronger World team bats, he looked light. He's still just 19 and has time and room to fill out, but it's clear that he has to do that to be able to hit better stuff.