It will be a homecoming of sorts for Bowling Green Hot Rods shortstop Lucius Fox when he heads to Marlins Park in Miami for Sunday’s Sirius/XM Futures Game.

Fox will be part of the World roster, the third Bowling Green Hot Rods player to be selected for the game while still a Hot Rod.

It’s a game that has showcased plenty of MLB’s rising stars with some of the game’s biggest names – Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber to name a few – among the current major leaguers that participated in the event in recent years.

Fox, who was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and played baseball at American Heritage in nearby Delray Beach, Fla., said playing in the Futures Game was a goal before the year. Still, he was totally surprised when BG manager Reinaldo Ruiz told Fox he was selected for the game.

Now Fox is excited about the chance to play in front of family and friends.

“I can’t wait to go there and show the world what I can do,” Fox said. “As soon as I got the call I was so happy. It’s like a dream come true. I’ve been wanting to do it since I was a little kid. Before I even got into pro ball that was a goal of mine. To actually have that dream come true is amazing.”

The trip to Miami is the culmination of a whirlwind 11 months for Fox, who has had to overcome an injury and a midseason trade last July from the San Francisco Giants to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Fox said the trade was more surprising than making the Futures Game.

“Everything was normal,” Fox said. “The hitting instructor came in town that morning to work with me and a couple of other teammates. He didn’t even know what was going on. Nobody in the Giants knew. I guess only the Giants (general manager) and the Rays knew.

“Being there for only one year, just getting comfortable with all the players and coaches and everyone, that trade really took me and my family by surprise.”

Because of a right foot bruise, Fox didn’t get a chance to make an impression with his new team right away.

Fox said the injury had been bothering him for about a week before the trade, but he tried to play through it.

“I didn’t want to go on the disabled list,” Fox said. “I wanted to finish the season. August was coming up and there was only one more month in the season, so I was trying to tape it up different ways, ice it. The trainer was lenient with me. He wanted to help me also.”

When he joined the Rays, an MRI revealed the injury, and Tampa Bay opted to shut him down for the rest of the season.

“It was frustrating,” Fox said. “I really didn’t know anybody, so the only people I interacted with were the players rehabbing and the trainers and stuff. I was anxious to get on the field. I watched a lot of High A games in (Port) Charlotte (Fla.), waiting my turn.”

Fox had to wait his time, playing a few games in instructional league in the offseason before heading to spring training.

After a good spring training, Fox was ready to finally show his new organization what he could do.

Things didn’t go as planned for Fox, who got off to a miserable start at the plate. He opened the season 1-for-14 with eight strikeouts and was hitting .132 on April 21.

“Everywhere you go, you want to have a good start,” Fox said. “I just had to calm down and play my game, be comfortable, be relaxed and not try to do too much.

“You have to be more mentally strong in baseball. You can have the best start of your life and slow down the rest of the year. I like to improve every month. I get out there every day, trying to improve on my game. It was a tough start, but I kept working with my coaches – believing, trusting in God that he would help me through it.”

Ruiz said Fox may have been pressing a little too much in April trying to impress his new team.

“He wanted to prove (himself) to everybody so bad that it put some pressure on him – especially early in the season,” Ruiz said. “Once he got out of the first 100 at-bats, he started to relax a little bit more. I think he is on the right track right now.”

Fox said he felt things started turning around right before a doubleheader against Lansing (Mich.) in mid-April.

“In the cage I would work on different stuff,” Fox said. “Leading into that game, it felt better. I was seeing the ball better during the game. From there on, I felt like that was the turning point.”

Fox saw his production at the plate steadily increase. His average got up to .305 on June 3. Heading into Friday’s game against Great Lakes (Mich.), Fox is hitting .273 with 14 of his 15 extra base hits coming since May 1.

“I’m just trying to work on what I can work on every day to get better,” Fox said. “I’m relaxed, taking it day by day. I think the biggest thing for me is I’m not afraid to fail. At the beginning of the year I was a little tense, but now I know accidents and errors happen.”

Fox said as the comfort level has grown on the field, so has his comfort level with the Rays.

“It wasn’t like I had to make a lot of changes with stuff,” Fox said. “The Rays welcomed me with open arms. As soon as I was able to get healthy, get on the field and get to work … it couldn’t have been a better organization to come to. I just love it here.”

And he’s excited about what the future holds, but remains focused on what he needs to do now to improve and continue to climb through the Tampa Bay system.

“I just focus on where I am at the moment,” Fox said. “I don’t try to look too far ahead. Wherever I am, I am going to play hard, try to put up good numbers and have a productive and good season so I know that heading into the offseason I gave it my all.”{&end}