Alexis Farinacci

Image courtesy of © GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images To give readers a better picture of other teams' farm systems, we're going to highlight some of the top performers from MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects list. Two of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 hitters and three up-and-coming prospects ranked as top performers for the week of April 28 through May 3. Outfielder Mike Sirota (Dodgers), shortstop John Peck (Tigers), first baseman Luke Cantwell (Padres), shortstop Ethan Holliday (Rockies), and outfielder Sterlin Thompson (Rockies) had the best stats for their series from last week. Mike Sirota, OF – Great Lakes Loons (A+, Dodgers) Sirota is an outfield prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and an MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospect. He is ranked at No. 50 in all of baseball. Currently in his first season at High-A, Sirota is off to a breakout start, hitting well through 25 games, including in Great Lakes’ series against the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals). He hit .533/.682/1.467 with a 2.149 OPS. In five games, he went 8-for-15 with four home runs, one double, seven RBIs, eight runs scored, six walks, and struck out just twice. In the series opener, he drove in three RBIs, and on May 2, in the final game of the series, he scored three of Great Lakes’ nine runs. It was a standout week for the outfielder, who is having a great season overall. Over the course of the season as a whole, Sirota is hitting .329/.486/.671, with a 1.157 OPS, and a .386 BABIP. He has nine doubles, one triple, and six home runs. On top of that, he has walked 23 times, driven in 15 RBIs, and has 27 runs scored for Great Lakes. John Peck, SS – Erie SeaWolves (AA, Tigers) After 93 games in High-A in 2025, the Detroit Tigers promoted shortstop John Peck to Double-A Erie to finish out the season. After 25 games to end the season, the Tigers kept Peck in Double-A to begin his 2026 campaign. Last week against the Chesapeake Baysox (Orioles), he hit .526/.550/1.368, with a 1.918 OPS. In five games, he was 10-for-19 with four home runs, nine RBIs, and two stolen bases. He also had two doubles and nine runs scored. It was a great week for Eerie as they defeated Chesapeake in five of the six games. In the opening game of the series, Peck drove in four of Eerie’s five RBIs. Over the course of the season so far, the right-handed hitting shortstop is batting .287/.318/.554, with a .872 OPS, and a .348 BABIP. He has nine doubles, six home runs, and 23 RBIs. Along with that, he has 10 stolen bases and 24 runs scored through 24 games. Luke Cantwell, 1B – Lake Elsinore Storm (A, Padres) Luke Cantwell, 23, from Pittsburgh, is the third-best performing player from April 28 through May 3. Currently playing for the Padres’ High-A affiliate Lake Elsinore Storm, he had a standout series in Lake Elsinore’s series against the Ontario Tower Buzzers (Dodgers). He hit .714/.800/1.000, with a 1.800 OPS. In five games played, he was a very impressive 10-for-14 with a home run, one double, seven RBIs, three walks, and four runs scored. Lake Elsinore took five of the six games from Ontario. Over the course of the 2026 season, Cantwell is batting a total of .345/.493/.483, with a .976 OPS, and a .422 BABIP through 21 games. In 58 total at-bats, he has one home run, five doubles, 12 walks, 15 RBIs, and 10 runs scored. He also added three stolen bases. Ethan Holliday, SS – Fresno Grizzlies (A, Rockies) 19-year-old Ethan Holliday, the son of former big leaguer Matt Holliday, is making a name for himself in his first season of following in his dad’s footsteps. Drafted in 2025 out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, the brother of Jackson Holliday is also ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 17 prospect in minor league baseball and is having a huge first season in Single-A with the Fresno Grizzlies. In Fresno’s most recent series against the Stockton Ports (Athletics), Holliday hit .500/.682/1.083, with a 1.765 OPS. In five games, he was 6-for-12 with two home runs, one double, eight walks, driving in 11 RBIs, and five runs scored. In game two on April 29, Holliday had five of the Grizzlies’ nine RBIs and on May 2 he had four of their nine RBIs. Fresno won three of six against Stockton. Over the course of his first season in Fresno, the No. 4 draft pick in the 2025 draft is hitting .257/.412/.486, with a .898 OPS, and a BABIP of .326. He has a total of three doubles, one triple, four home runs, and has walked 17 times, showing true discipline at the plate and a great eye as well. He has 21 RBIs, 15 runs scored, and one stolen base in his first season. Sterlin Thompson, OF – Albuquerque Isotopes (AAA, Rockies) Another Rockies prospect, Sterling Thompson, is a left-handed hitter and outfielder with the Albuquerque Isotopes. Drafted in 2022 by the Rockies, Thompson is in his second season with Triple-A Albuquerque. In their latest series against the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), Thompson hit .647/.750/.941, with a 1.691 OPS. In five games, he went 11-for-17 with a home run, two doubles, nine RBIs, seven walks, and two stolen bases. He also had four runs scored in game three on May 1. May 1 was the best game of the series for Thompson. In Albuquerque’s mammoth 26-8 win over El Paso, he had five hits (home run, two doubles, two singles) with two walks, drove in four, and scored four runs. Over the course of the season, Thompson is hitting .343/.477/.495, with a .972 OPS. He has a total of five doubles, one triple, and three home runs. He has driven in 20 RBIs and has 23 runs scored through 30 games and a BABIP of .440. So far, he is on course to massively surpass his 2025 season if he continues to hit as well as he has been. MLB Pipeline Top-100 prospects Lazaro Montes, OF (No. 35 - Arkansas Travelers, AA), Caleb Bonemer, SS/3B (No. 51 – Winston-Salem Dash, A+), and Bryce Eldridge, 1B (No. 18 – Sacramento River Cats (AAA, Giants) also had huge performances in their latest series. Teams opened their latest series on Tuesday as MiLB continues its six-game series format that began in 2021. View full article

Image courtesy of © Allan Henry-Imagn Images As of April 16th, according to Baseball Reference, 273 total games have been played in the 2026 MLB season, with most teams playing anywhere between 17 and 18 games depending on off days. As of this date, it has become clear that pitchers and catchers have been more successful with the ABS (Auto ball strike) system this year. Per Baseball Savant, while hitters have won only 47 percent of ABS challenges, the defense has won 60 percent. League Challenge Rates Using ABS Across the league, there have been 1,082 challenges: 582 won and 500 lost. The league average is 54 percent of calls won when players challenge a call. The Minnesota Twins (61 challenges), Colorado Rockies (50 challenges), Miami Marlins (49 challenges), New York Yankees (44 challenges), and the Athletics (43 challenges) lead the entire league in number of challenges. Of those challenges, Minnesota and New York have won 57 percent of theirs, the Rockies and Athletics 56 percent, and Miami 55 percent. However, though those five teams lead the pack in number of challenges, there are five different teams who have been the most successful using the challenge system: The Cincinnati Reds have a challenge win percentage of 71 percent, with the Mets winning 65 percent of their challenges, Padres winning 64 percent, the Royals winning 63 percent, and the Cardinals winning 61 percent alongside the Chicago Cubs (perhaps the only time those two teams are comfortable being mentioned together). Out of the league-leading Reds, who have the highest win percentage in calls challenge, Sal Stewart leads that pack with three challenges, including two won calls. Tyler Stephenson, Will Benson, and Eugenio Suarez each have two challenges with two wins. Hitter Challenges Using ABS Hitters have challenged four percent of pitches this season. Through a total of 497 challenges at the plate, hitters throughout the league have won 232 challenges and lost 265 calls. They have eliminated 70 strikes and gained 35 walks as a result of calls overturned. Out of all batters in the league, Jose Caballero and Gary Sanchez lead the challenge in number of challenges with seven each; with Ivan Herrera, Kyle Schwarber, Josh Bell, and Ronald Acuna Jr. following behind with six challenges each. Caballero has won four of his challenges (57 percent), and Herrera has won five of his six (83 percent), showing consistency and his ability to read the ball at the plate. Outside of that group, Pete Alonso (4-4), Marcell Ozuna (3-3), Nick Kurtz (3-3), and Teoscar Hernandez (3-3) lead the league in being perfect (with at least three challenges this season). The ABS system shows that batters who see the ball well and are disciplined at the plate are most successful in getting calls overturned. It is also forcing batters to be smarter and more efficient with their time at the plate. Catcher Challenges Using ABS Catchers have challenged 2.1 percent of pitches thrown. Through 585 challenges, the catching group has won 350 calls and lost 235 calls. They have gained 98 strikeouts from challenges this year and lost 45 walks. Will Smith leads the catchers in the number of challenges, having challenged 21 calls by umpires. He has won 13 and lost eight, for a 62 percent overturn rate. Following behind Smith, Ryan Jeffers (20 challenges: 12 wins, eight losses, 60 percent overturn rate), Edgar Quero (20 challenges: seven won, 13 lost, 35% overturn rate), Salvador Perez (18 challenges: 13 won, five lost, 72 percent overturn rate), and William Contreras (18 challenges, 11 wins, seven losses, 61 percent overturn rate) are the catchers with the next highest challenge number. In terms of win percentage, Mitch Garver (4-4), Adrian Del Castillo (3-3), Adley Rutschman (2-2), PJ Higgins (2-2), Jeferson Quero (2-2), and Jake Rogers (2-2) lead the league (at least two challenges) in success rate of challenges behind the plate with perfect 100 percent rates. While batters are becoming more disciplined because of the ABS, pitchers are also focusing on being disciplined in throwing the ball in the strike zone, focusing on command over throwing as hard as they can, and catchers are improving in their ability to frame pitches in order to get better calls from umpires. ABS Is Slowing Games Down Again Looking deeper at ABS, according to David Brandtap of The Associated Press, after MLB aimed to make games shorter by implementing the pitch clock, the ABS system has once again slowed games down, slightly contradicting MLB’s attempt to speed them up. Through the first two and a half weeks of games, games are now ending closer to 2:42, opposed to 2:38 in 2025 and 2:36 in 2024. Though not a big difference, it is a sign that the ABS system is slowing games back down. However, though the system has been added, as Brandtap noted, games were up to over three hours (3:10) in 2021, so since implementing the pitch clock, and even with the newest addition of ABS, games are still quicker than they were five years ago. View full article

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images April 6th will be a very special day for the Tampa Bay Rays. The team will return home to play baseball at Tropicana Field for the first time since September 2024. On October 9, 2024, a very dangerous Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key as a powerful Category 3 hurricane. The stadium was set to serve as a place of refuge for members of FPL and first responders helping with hurricane efforts after the storm, but instead, officials in Tampa were forced to put responders elsewhere and eventually were faced with having to temporarily relocate the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2025 season after figuring out what to do with a storm-ravaged Tropicana Field. The fiberglass roof was ripped to shreds, and the stadium was deemed unsafe by officials after the storm. As the city of Tampa banded together, two AL East foes became one when the New York Yankees opened their spring training home, George M. Steinbrenner Field, to the Rays to play their 2025 season home games. The Rays finished the 2025 MLB regular season fourth in the American League East with a 77-85 (.475) record, failing to make the postseason for a second straight season. At their home away from home, however, they had a winning, 41-40 record. But April will be a long-awaited homecoming when the Rays get to return to St. Petersburg for the first time in nearly two years. Rays Notable Roster Moves When the Rays open their season on Thursday in St. Louis, they will do so with four notable new faces on the roster. This offseason, the Rays signed left-handed pitcher Steven Matz, right-handed pitcher Nick Martinez, center fielder Cedric Mullins, and right-fielder Jake Fraley. All four were signed as free agents by the Rays. Matz, who split the 2025 season between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox, was signed to a two-year, $15 million deal. The left-hander was 5-2 with a 3.05 ERA and a WAR of 0.9 in 2025. He had a .714 W-L% across 53 games (two starts, the rest in relief). Over the course of 76 2/3 innings, Matz gave up 26 earned runs on 73 hits (eight home runs), 11 walks, and struck out 59. He had a 1.096 WHIP, with an 8.6 H9 and a 1.3 BB/9. Of interest, Matz pitched better in the American League than in the National League. His ERA with the Cardinals alone in 2025 was 3.44 through 32 games; whereas, his ERA with Boston was 2.08. He will hope that trend continues now with a fellow AL East team, the Rays. The Rays secured Martinez for one year, $13 million, including a $4 million buyout and a $20 million mutual option for 2027. In 2025 with the Cincinnati Reds, the right-handed pitcher and Florida native was 11-14 with a 4.45 ERA. He threw in 40 games last season (started 26), striking out 116 over the course of 165 2/3 innings, with a 1.207 WHIP. He allowed 82 earned runs on 158 hits (22 home runs) and walked 42. He had a H/9 of 8.6, with a HR/9 of 1.2, and a BB/9 of 2.3. While he has a similar H9 to Matz, Martinez is able to get more swings and misses and has notably fewer runs allowed on his stats than Matz. Mullins signed with Tampa for one-year, $7 million, including a $500,000 buyout and a $10 million mutual option for 2027. After just a partial season with the New York Mets, Mullins became a free agent, leaving Mets fans with one less outfielder once again. In 2025, the outfielder split the season between the Baltimore Orioles and the Mets, though his playing time with Baltimore was interrupted by a 10-day stint on the injured list with a hamstring strain. Between the two teams, he hit .216/.299/.391, with a .690 OPS. He hit 23 doubles, one triple, clobbered 17 home runs, drove in 59 RBIs, and had 58 runs scored. The speedy lefty stole 22 bases and was caught stealing just four times. Opposing pitchers walked him 50 times. Fraley signed a one-year deal worth $3 million. He split the 2025 season between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves, hitting .241/.332/.382, with a .714 OPS. He hit nine doubles, six home runs, and drove in 23 RBIS. He stole four bases, was walked 25 times, and scored 31 runs. Fraley missed a significant amount of time in 2025 on the 60-day injured list with a strained right oblique muscle while he was with the Braves, and then was picked up on waivers by the Rays before being designated for assignment, and then re-signed him as a free agent. In total, the Rays spent $30.5 million in 2026, with a total of $38 million. Other notable roster moves this offseason include sending Eric Orze to the Twins for right-handed pitcher Jacob Kisting; acquiring Yoendrys Gomez from the White Sox in a trade that included receiving Steven Wilson as well, but sending outfielder Everson Pereira to Chicago with Tanner Murray; and sending infielder Brandon Lowe, outfielder Jake Mangum, and left-handed pitcher Mason Montgomery to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Jacob Melton and right-handed pitcher Anderson Brito. The Rays also acquired fan-favorite outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. from the Marlins for infielder Angel Bracho. Projected Rays Lineup (Per MLB.com) Yandy Diaz, DH Jonathan Aranda, 1B Junior Caminero, 3B Ben Williamson, 2B Cedric Mullins, CF Jonny DeLuca, RF Nick Fortes, C Chandler Simpson, LF Carson Williams, SS The Rays’ top three were described by MLB.com as one of the best top three in the league because of their “strong mix of contact, on-base ability and power.” Diaz hit .300/.366/.482, with a .848 OPS last season. The right-handed hitter was fourth in the American League last year for on-base percentage and sixth in batting average. He ranked ninth in on-base plus slugging (.848) and fourth in the AL for hits with 175. Those hits included 29 doubles, 25 home runs, one triple, and he drove in 83 RBIs and 79 runs scored. Last season, Aranda batted .316/.393/.489, with a .883 OPS and a 146 OPS+. He hit 22 doubles, 14 home runs, driving in 59 RBIs and 56 runs scored. Caminero was among AL leaders in many categories last season. The 22-year-old third baseman hit .264/.311/.535, with a .846 OPS. He ranked 22nd in the American League for games played (154), 10th in the AL for runs scored (93), third in the AL for home runs (45), 14th in the AL for hits (159), ninth in the AL for at-bats (602), and sixth in the American League in slugging percentage (.535). MLB.com calls it “likely” that Kevin Cash will keep these three in the top three of the lineup, but could move them around slightly depending on how the season goes and game-to-game. Projected Rays Rotation (MLB.com) Drew Rasmussen, RHP Nick Martinez, RHP Steven Matz, LHP Ryan Pepiot, RHP Shane McClanahan, LHP Two of the Rays pitchers in this rotation will be new to their rotation after they were signed this offseason (Martinez and Matz). McClanahan underwent Tommy John Surgery in 2024, and in an unlucky break, he was placed back on the injured list in 2025 with a left triceps nerve-related issue that sidelined him until November. Now back healthy, he looks to be a big contributor as a veteran in the Tampa rotation. With spring training complete, McClanahan was 4-3 with a 2.08 ERA over the course of four spring starts. He pitched 13 innings, giving up a combined three earned runs on just eight hits, walked five, and struck out 15 over the course of those 13 innings. There’s no question that he’s healthy, as he looks to be in mid-season form already. He had a WHIP of 1.000 this spring, a 5.5 H/9, 0.7 HR/9, 3.5 BB/9, and a 10.4 SO/9. The Rays will enter the season with momentum just by returning home to Tropicana Field. Tiem will tell what the full impact will be, but expect the Rays to have energy to start the season with a new-look lineup and rotation coming into 2026. View full article