Minor League Notables & Draft Pick Tracker - April 16th, 2026
40+ write-ups across all four levels & our draft pick tracker rolls on
LOW-A ARMS
Spencer Strider | RHP | Atlanta Braves | Rome Emperors (Rehab Assignment) 4.1 IP / 1 H / 0 ER / 2 BB / 3 K / 50 NP
Strider is back on a mound and that is the only headline that matters. Three scoreless rehab innings, two walks, three strikeouts, 50 pitches. The results are secondary to the event — Strider working his way back and getting through it cleanly is the number the Braves care about. If it counts, Strider was around 95-97 in the first inning, although the fastball command was a bit wonky after the 2nd. Tonight was a step in the right direction, however.
Nolan Perry | RHP | Toronto Blue Jays | Dunedin Blue Jays 5.0 IP / 1 H / 0 ER / 0 BB / 12 K / 60 NP
Twelve strikeouts. Zero walks. One hit. Five innings. Sixty pitches. That is one of the most dominant individual pitching performances of the entire season at any level and it came from a name that most people aren’t talking about yet in the Blue Jays system. Maybe he should piggyback Jose Berrios more often. Berrios got rocked because that’s what Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde does. Nolan Perry, however - Twelve strikeouts on 60 pitches means Perry was retiring hitters in two pitches and finishing them on three. Zero walks paired with twelve strikeouts is a pitcher operating with complete command of every pitch in his arsenal. The Blue Jays need to be talking about promotion because all work and no promotion makes Perry a dull boy. That performance demands it.
Tyler Boudreau | RHP | New York Yankees | Tampa Tarpons 5.0 IP / 3 H / 2 ER / 2 BB / 6 K / 70 NP
We’ve written up Boudreau on several occasions now this season and he was a part of the MY GUYS series in which I went over 18 pitching prospects to target outside consensus top 100s.
2.89 ERA on the season and another quality start from Boudreau who keeps showing up in the Tampa box score with results that validate the heavy conviction. Six strikeouts, two runs, five innings. The fastball profile with 19-plus inches of IVB at 94 mph is the thing that makes this arm work and the results keep backing it up. The Yankees have something real in Tampa.
LOW-A BATS
Matthew Ferrara | SS | Philadelphia Phillies | Clearwater Threshers 4 AB / 3 R / 4 H / 2 2B / 1 HR / 3 RBI
4-for-4 with two doubles, a homer, three RBI, and three runs scored. Let me tell you something about Matthew Ferrara before I get into the line — 9th round pick out of Toms River High School East in New Jersey. Not the Todd Frazier one, but close enough. Signed for an overslot $600,000 — that’s fourth to fifth round money in a ninth round slot. When an organization writes a check that size for a prep bat in that round, they are telling you something about what they think they saw. Ferrara is 18 years old and the Phillies gave him an aggressive assignment straight to Low-A. Last night was validation of everything that went into that decision. Not sure he sticks around at short full-time as he does have the speed and athleticism to play center down the line. Four hits in four at-bats including two doubles and a home run from an 18-year-old in his first full-season assignment is not supposed to happen this early. The Phillies saw something before the draft and after. Consider this the first public receipt.
Eli Willits | 2B | Washington Nationals | Fredericksburg Nationals 5 AB / 1 R / 1 H / 1 HR / 1 RBI
The first overall pick is quietly putting the baseball world on notice. Willits hit an opposite field home run last night — a day after he went inside the park. Back-to-back games with a home run, two completely different shapes of power, and a player who plays a strong shortstop and is now producing with the bat at the professional level. The approach was always there. The zone recognition was always there. Now the power is showing up in back-to-back games in completely different directions and that is not something you can manufacture. There is a lot of upside here. The development arc is pointing in exactly the right direction and the baseball world is starting to take notice.
Yeremy Cabrera | CF | Washington Nationals | Fredericksburg Nationals 4 AB / 2 R / 2 H / 1 2B / 1 HR / 2 RBI / 1 SB
Three homers in his last six games. A stolen base tonight to go with the homer and the double. I covered Cabrera in my International Series Part 2 back in March of 2024 — signed for $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic, now in Washington’s system at 20 years old, firmly making himself part of the conversation in D.C. over the next few years.
The glove can get him to the big leagues alone even if he manages to hit .240 with some decent pop. We’ve seen it before — Juan Lagares types who make it work with the leather and give you just enough with the bat. But Cabrera might just be a bigger hitting version of Lagares with more power to go with it, and right now the bat is showing up in ways that expand the ceiling considerably. Three home runs in six games from a player who signed for ten thousand dollars is not something you see very often. He deserves every bit of this. It’s a testament to the work ethic that he’s here and producing at this level. Love everything about this story.
Juneiker Caceres | RF | Cleveland Guardians | Hill City Howlers 5 AB / 2 R / 3 H / 1 HR / 4 RBI / 1 BB