Minor League Notables & Draft Pick Tracker - April 23rd, 2026
write-ups across all four levels and our draft pick tracker rolls on
LOW-A ARMS
Julio Mendez | LHP | Age 21 | Miami Marlins | Jupiter Hammerheads 5.0 IP · 2 H · 0 ER · 1 BB · 11 SO · 68 NP
Mendez is 21 years old out of Venezuela, repeating Low-A with Miami, and to great results. More interesting than his 1.29 ERA through three starts, however, is the stuff. Mendez sits low to mid-90s with his fastball touching 96 and it’s a decent two-plane four-seamer. The separator is the slider — roughly 2600 rpm with 16 inches of break to the arm side, offering an especially nasty offering to left-handed and right-handed batters alike. Last night he induced a 75% whiff on the pitch. Pair that with a cutter sitting roughly 8 mph harder at 88 mph that induced a 67% whiff, and you’ve got yourself a combination that allows the fastball to play up — which it did, inducing a 56% whiff of its own. Eleven strikeouts in five innings. The cutter-slider pairing is the engine here. Mendez is on a fast track to High-A at this rate.
Nolan Perry | RHP | Age 22 | Toronto Blue Jays | Dunedin Blue Jays 3.2 IP · 2 H · 2 R · 1 ER · 1 BB · 7 SO · 69 NP
Struck out the side in his first inning and ran into some flimsy trouble later on. Wasn’t hit particularly hard. Perry looks rather nasty in the early going — sat 94.2 with 18 inches of IVB, and there’s a legitimate velocity separation between the fastball and the slider. The slider’s low IVB, low horizontal break profile, and mid-80s velocity give it genuine downward and late-breaking characteristics. Pair that with a curveball sitting 80 mph with over 50 inches of drop and you’ve got an arsenal worth a serious look. Not to mention Perry easily passes the eye test. The Blue Jays need to be having the promotion conversation.
Reese Wissinger | RHP | Age 22 | Toronto Blue Jays | Dunedin Blue Jays 1.1 IP · 4 H · 2 R · 2 ER · 0 BB · 2 K · 29 NP
Came in for Perry and raised some eyebrows with the fastball metrics. Not blazing 99-101 gas — but the numbers were so good I thought the readings were a mistake. Averaged 93.9 on the fastball with an average of 21 inches of IVB. Averaged. A few pitches came in at 23 and 22 inches of ride, which is a head-scratching amount of vertical movement. The results didn’t back it up tonight but the stuff profile was worth the mention. Name to keep an eye on in the Dunedin bullpen.
LOW-A BATS
Edward Florentino | CF | Pittsburgh Pirates | Bradenton Marauders 4 AB · 2 R · 2 H · 1 2B · 1 HR · 1 RBI · 1 BB
Another day, another home run. Florentino has now gone deep back-to-back nights and looks like he isn’t missing any time getting back to the same level of pedigree and pop he showed last year. The homer was 106.4 off the bat. Florentino is looking every bit of the top 10-15 prospect status he catapulted himself to last year, and with more graduations taking place from prospect status, look for him to climb even further. The Pirates have something real in Bradenton and Florentino is the headliner. Greensboro soon?