Minor League Notables & Draft Pick Tracker — April 4th, 2026
40+ nightly notables across all four levels with write-ups & the freshly updated 2025 MLB Draft Pick Tracker(stat-line's & mini write-ups). Let's get into it.
Low-A — Arms
Donovan Zsak — Cleveland Guardians
Rutgers. RU-Rah-Rah, Hoo-Rah, Hoo-Rah, Rutgers-Rah. Upstream. Alright, let me stop before this gets out of hand. Left-handed. 99 mph. 20 inches of induced vertical break. Coming out of college.
Scratch that — let me say it again slower so it can sink in. A left-handed pitcher out of Rutgers University touching 99 mph with up to 20 inches of IVB. The reports out of New Jersey were loud before he ever threw a professional pitch and now he’s showing up in Low-A box scores making them look accurate. 1 IP, 0 ER, 3 strikeouts on 14 pitches last night. The Cleveland Guardians have themselves a future high-leverage bullpen piece and the stuff to back up every word of it. The Guardians find arms. It’s what they do. Zsak arrived with receipts already in hand.
Malachi Witherspoon — Detroit Tigers
The 62nd overall pick is averaging 96.1 mph on his sinker and touching 98.1 with 21 inches of drop and 15 inches of arm side run. That’s a heavy explosive offering generating weak contact — hitters averaged 70.6 mph exit velocity against the pitch. The velocity held through 4 innings without fading. 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 K on 52 pitches.
The cutter at 87.1 complements the sinker and the slider and curveball round out a four-pitch mix with legitimate mid-rotation appeal. I’ll stop short of declaring him a rotation lock — the bullpen door stays open depending on how the secondary stuff develops as he climbs levels — but the 62nd overall pick showing up with this arsenal in his first Low-A starts is a name worth knowing before anyone else is saying it. Detroit has something here.
Manuel Genao & Elier Morillo — Miami Marlins
Manuel Genao opened with 3 innings, zero earned runs, and 6 strikeouts. The sinker is mid 90s and the slider is kind of nasty. Potential break out arm in the Miami system. After Genao, Elier Morillo came out of the bullpen and threw 2 innings with 5 strikeouts on 38 pitches without allowing a hit. Five strikeouts on 38 pitches in a relief appearance is a ratio that belongs in a different conversation. The Hammerheads combined for 7 scoreless hitless innings and both Genao and Morillo deserve to be on your radar in the Miami system before anyone else is paying attention — especially Genao.
Karson Ligon — Toronto Blue Jays
4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K on 53 pitches. Zero hard hit balls.
Let me sit with that last number — zero hard hit balls in 4 innings of Low-A ball with 8 strikeouts. That demands full attention and the pitch data behind it makes it even more compelling.
The 4-seamer sits 95.7 mph with 18 inches of IVB and held velocity deep into previous outings. The slider at 84.7 mph generated 56% CSW — a legitimate put-away pitch hitters are waving at with alarming frequency. The cutter at 86.4 gives him a third distinct weapon tunneling off the fastball. The curveball showed up once at 77.1 mph and generated 100% CSW in its lone appearance.
The Blue Jays have a legitimate Low-A arm with a legitimate big league future when the time comes. Karson Ligon is a name people need to know. Flag planted.
Cam Tilly — New York Mets
5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 6 K on 58 pitches. And then the pitch data arrives and the performance makes even more sense.
The 4-seamer sits 92.2 mph with 19 inches of IVB — playing well above its raw velocity because the movement profile does all the heavy lifting. The changeup carries 34 inches of drop creating one of the more disorienting vertical differentials you’ll see at this level. There’s an unclassified mystery pitch which is generating a 44% CSW that hitters aren’t picking up cleanly. Whatever that pitch is — it’s working and that’s all that matters.
Cam Tilly is not a name enough people are talking about. The Mets have a legitimate starting pitcher here who misses bats with a below-average fastball because everything else does the work. Eric Jagers, if you’re reading this, keep doing the thing.
Hiro Wyatt & Shane Van Dam — Kansas City Royals
Wyatt opened with 3.1 innings and 6 strikeouts without allowing an earned run. Van Dam followed with 3 clean innings on 37 pitches. The Fireflies combined for a dominant pitching performance and both arms are worth monitoring in the Royals system as the season builds.
Low-A — Bats
Joendry Vargas — Los Angeles Dodgers
He might be the one.
I wrote that in 2024. And he hit a roadblock in 2025. What better day than Easter Sunday for a resurrection? Last night Joendry went 2-for-4 with a home run, 2 RBI, and a stolen base at Low-A as a 20-year-old with a 6’4 175 frame that still might have room for growth. Hit the back squats, hit the bench, maybe some deadlifts, and some speed work and now we’ve got some thickness and power to add to the athleticism. The power is showing up ahead of schedule. The speed is showing up alongside it. The Dodgers have handled him carefully and the patience may start to pay dividends.
I ranked him 9th in my top 61 hitting prospects for 2025. I said the price wouldn’t be cheap. I said the cat was already out of the bag. Most of that still applies. Conviction is still high here.
Brendan Tunink — Los Angeles Dodgers