Minor League Notables & Draft Pick Tracker - April 15th, 2026
50 write-ups across all four levels & our draft pick tracker rolls on
LOW-A ARMS
Gage Wood | RHP | Philadelphia Phillies | Clearwater Threshers 4.0 IP / 1 H / 0 ER / 3 BB / 4 K / 58 NP
0.79 ERA on the season. Four innings, one hit, zero runs, and a stuff profile that is considerably more interesting than the surface numbers suggest once you look at what the four-seamer is actually doing to hitters.
The fastball is the foundation and it’s a legitimate one. 95.6 mph average with 17 inches of IVB and 7 inches of arm-side run — from a right-handed arm that 64% of the time is throwing this pitch, hitters are dealing with a four-seamer that is rising through the zone at a plane that Low-A lineups are not equipped to handle when the command is working. The avg EV against the four-seamer was 68.5 — that is a number that stops you in your tracks. Hitters aren’t squaring this pitch up. They’re getting on top of it, rolling over it, or swinging under it entirely. When you have 17 inches of IVB at 95-plus and hitters are producing a 68.5 avg EV against it, the pitch is playing significantly above its already impressive raw numbers.
The curveball at 81.3 mph is the separator. Sixty-two inches of drop with 11 inches of glove-side break — a true 12-to-6 shape with sharp two-plane movement that changes the hitter’s eye level completely after back-to-back four-seamer sequences. It posted a 30% CSW and the 20% called strike rate tells you hitters are identifying it late enough to take it but not early enough to lay off entirely. A curveball with that much drop from a pitcher who can also sit 95-plus with 17 inches of IVB is a devastating combination when the tunnel is right.
The slider at 86.3 mph with 26 inches of glove-side break gives him a third shape — harder and with more horizontal movement than the curveball, different enough that hitters can’t sit on either breaking ball. The changeup at 88.3 mph with 7 inches of IVB and 14 inches of arm-side run rounds out a four-pitch arsenal that has something for every count and every handedness.
Max EV against tonight was 102.0 — that was the one ball that got hit hard. Everything else was weak contact or swings and misses. Three walks are the developmental variable worth monitoring as the season progresses. But a 0.79 ERA and a four-seamer producing a 68.5 avg EV against tells you there is something very real happening in Clearwater. The Phillies have an arm worth watching closely.
Rubén Menes | RHP | St. Louis Cardinals | Palm Beach Cardinals 3.0 IP / 1 H / 0 ER / 0 BB / 5 K / 41 NP
Zero walks. Five strikeouts. Three innings on 41 pitches. And a max EV against of 89.3 that tells you not a single hitter did anything meaningful with the pitches Menes threw tonight.
Start with the four-seamer. 95.0 mph average with 19 inches of IVB and 12 inches of arm-side run — and a 47% CSW rate on 15 pitches. Nearly half the four-seamers thrown tonight generated either a called strike or a swing and miss. That is an elite CSW for any pitch at any level and the 40% zone rate paired with a 67% in-zone swing rate tells you hitters are respecting the fastball enough to swing at nearly everything in the strike zone. The avg EV against the four-seamer was 89.3 — the hardest ball hit tonight — and that was the only hard contact he allowed across the entire outing.
The changeup at 84.7 mph is where this profile gets genuinely interesting. Thirty-one inches of arm-side run with 11 inches of IVB — a pitch that starts off the four-seamer tunnel and then dives away from right-handed hitters at a rate that makes the swing decision nearly impossible when the fastball and changeup are sequenced correctly. It posted a 42% CSW on 12 pitches and the avg EV against was 66.4 — that is not a pitch that is getting barreled. That is a pitch that is generating weak swings from hitters who are timing 95 and getting something completely different.
The cutter at 87.4 mph with 24 inches of drop and 9 inches of glove-side break adds a third shape that cuts back against right-handed hitters — different arm-side direction than the four-seamer and changeup, different velocity than the curveball. The 43% CSW on the cutter is the number that separates a pitcher with three genuine weapons from a pitcher with one good pitch and two fillers. Menes has three genuine weapons.
Zero runs. Zero walks. Three innings. 41 pitches. The Cardinals have something worth knowing about in Palm Beach and his name is Rubén Menes.
James Ellwanger | RHP | Minnesota Twins | Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 4.2 IP / 0 H / 0 ER / 3 BB / 6 K / 67 NP
No hits. Zero runs. 4.2 innings. Six strikeouts. And a 0.00 ERA on the season that is becoming impossible to dismiss as a small sample story.
The curveball is the pitch that defines this profile and the data makes clear exactly why. 80.6 mph with 55 inches of drop and 13 inches of glove-side break — a true power curve with an exceptional drop rate that gives it two-plane break simultaneously. It was thrown 36% of the time tonight and posted a 46% CSW on 24 pitches. Forty-six percent CSW on a breaking ball in Low-A is a pitch that hitters have no answer for. The 42% whiff rate on swings tells you the overwhelming result when a hitter commits to this pitch is a miss, not a barrel.
The four-seamer at 95.2 mph average — max 97.4 — with 16 inches of IVB and 5 inches of arm-side run is the pitch that makes the curveball work. When you can sit 95-plus with 16 inches of rise and then follow it with a curveball dropping 55 inches the other direction, the hitter’s plane of vision has to cover the entire zone from top to bottom simultaneously. That’s an equation most Low-A hitters cannot solve, and the avg EV of 60.8 against the four-seamer tonight tells you they aren’t squaring it up when they try.
The cutter at 91.5 mph with 10 inches of IVB and 32 inches of drop gives him a third pitch that plays off both the four-seamer and the curveball — harder than the curve, with more vertical drop than the four-seamer, different movement plane than both. It posted a 38% CSW. The changeup at 91.5 mph sits at the same velocity as the cutter, which creates its own sequencing problems — two pitches at identical velocities moving in completely different directions is a nightmare to track in real time.
Three free passes in 4.2 innings on 67 pitches is a pitcher working through command moments, not a pitcher who can’t find the zone. The stuff profile at this level is overwhelming. If the walk rate tightens even slightly as the season progresses, this is a name that will be generating significant noise league-wide by midseason. Heavy conviction and it keeps building.
Kendry Chourio | RHP | Kansas City Royals | Columbia Fireflies 5.0 IP / 3 H / 0 ER / 1 BB / 5 K / 76 NP