The Dodgers have a new Class-A affiliate in the California League this season. After 15 years linked with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 2026 is the inaugural season for the Ontario Tower Buzzers.

Ontario’s first roster is headlined by shortstop Emil Morales, who was named to top-100 prospect lists this offseason by Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, ESPN, The Athletic, and MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old headlined the Dodgers’ international signing period in 2024, and later that year won Dominican Summer League MVP. Morales impressed last season in his first taste of Class-A, hitting .339/.420/.548 with a 160 wRC+, 11 doubles, five home runs in 30 games for the Quakes. If he follows outfielder Eduardo Quintero’s path from last year, Morales’s stay in Ontario might not be a long one.

Morales is one of 13 players on Ontario’s roster this year who played for Rancho Cucamonga last year, including infielders Joendry Vargas and Chase Harlan, and pitcher Marlon Nieves.

Nine 2025 draft picks by the Dodgers are on Ontario’s roster, including second-round pitcher Cam Leiter and third-round outfielder Landyn Vidourek. Vidourek played briefly for the Quakes last season. Leiter will be making his professional debut in 2026, one of nine players on the Tower Buzzers roster set to debut this year.

This group will be managed by the Dodgers’ captain of player development John Shoemaker, in his 50th year in the organization.

Ontario’s first game is this Thursday, April 2, at home against the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres), at the brand new ONT Field.

The 2026 Major League Baseball regular season is officially underway, and the Yankees have begun their “run it back” season without a hitch after a three-game series sweep against the Giants. The first two games, including the first MLB game of 2026, were shutouts in favor of the visiting Bombers. Max Fried continued his dominance from 2025, and so did a pitcher who joined the party late last year but certainly made an impression: Cam Schlittler.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander started 14 games for the Yankees last season and posted an ERA of 2.96 in 73 innings pitched, along with 84 strikeouts. His best performance was, as many recall, in a do-or-die American League Wild Card Series finale against the Red Sox, where he pitched eight scoreless innings and posted a dozen strikeouts to advance the Yankees into the Division Series.

Coming into the 2026 season, the now-25-year-old Schlittler had big plans in the Yankees’ rotation, and his first start built an excellent foundation for him. Tasked with starting the second game of the season due to injury recoveries from the likes of Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón—no easy assignment for a sophomore player—he pitched 5.1 innings and allowed only one hit with eight strikeouts and came out with his first victory of the campaign.

But this win, there were two particular aspects about Schlittler and his approach that people around baseball paid attention to as the outing went on, concluded, and lingered: his cutter and fastball arsenal.

Of course, when Schlittler came on the scene, the first thing that was noticeable (outside of his physical attributes) was his high-powered fastball that can reach up to 100 mph and more. But Schlittler is unique in that he uses multiple fastball pitches, including a sinker and a cutter, along with his four-seam. Yet there were a couple of changes evident in his cutter and in his usage of those two pitches relative to last season.

First, Schlittler enters the 2026 season with a new grip on his cutter, which has helped him immensely. The numbers speak for themselves after just one outing.

Not only did we see a jump in movement on the pitch, but the overall velocity Schlittler was able to harness made it that much more lethal. A three-mph jump on a single pitch is simply ridiculous, and it paid dividends, as he threw the pitch 22 times and, outside of a fly out and a couple of foul balls, contact was hard to come by.

But the interesting part about Schlittler’s outing wasn’t just the jump in velocity and movement from the cutter; it was the usage of his secondary fastball pitches, and how they helped lead him to success.

Last season, Schlittler’s four-seam fastball dominated his mindset on the mound. He threw the pitch 55.9 percent of the time, with his next-highest pitch being the cutter at 19.7 percent. However, in his first outing of 2026 against the Giants, the usage changed drastically. Instead of relying on his four-seam — a pitch that’s still very hard to hit — Schlittler mixed things up, throwing the four-seam and cutter the exact same number of times (22). He followed that up by throwing his sinker 23.5 percent of the time, which he threw at only 6.1 percent in the entirety of last season.

Pitching coach Matt Blake—or someone else within the Yankees staff—seems to have pointed out that Schlittler’s fastball is his bread and butter, so why not use the three he has in his arsenal to make him even more lethal than he was before? The three pitches all move different ways but at around the same speeds, and then, if he really needs it, he can use his curveball and slider to mix things up.

It’s also worth pointing out the caveat that, yes, this is just one game of a 162-game season, and one where Schlittler is conservatively projected to pitch around 22 games and 118 innings per FanGraphs. However, if these numbers stay true—and the different profiles of these pitches stay true to what we saw in his first outing as well—Schlittler is in for one heck of a 2026, and it will be fun to watch.

Editor’s note: Now reread this entire article with “The Way” playing in the background for even more enjoyment.

The Atlanta Braves are looking to stay above .500 here in the infancy of the season and they’ll likely need a strong start from Bryce Elder if they’re going to pick up their third win in four games so far.

The Athletics are coming into this game licking their wounds a bit. The defending American League champions Toronto Blue Jays opened up their season in style with a three-game sweep over this A’s squad. In fact, Toronto’s pitching was a bit too much for the A’s to handle at times, as the Blue Jays ended up recording a whopping 50 strikeouts across the three-game series — which is an MLB record for the first three games of the season.

With that being said, whenever the Athletics did manage to make contact with the ball, they made some noise. The A’s had a Hard-Hit percentage of 36.5 percent across the first three games of the series, which placed them in fourth behind the Dodgers (sure), White Sox (actually makes sense), and the Marlins (they played the Rockies). The biggest culprit over the weekend was Shea Langeliers, who had a Barrel rate of 37.5 percent and clubbed three dingers over the course of the three games North of the border. Of course, the Braves will have to worry about guys like Nick Kurtz and Lawrence Butler waking up and also guys like old nemesis Jeff McNeil continuing to be annoying while wearing a different uniform but the onus will be on Bryce Elder to cool down Langeliers and his bat.

Speaking of Elder, this’ll be his first start of the season and if we’re being honest, he ended spring training on a high note. He struck out six Red Sox batters while only giving up one run on one hit and two walks over five innings of work. Sure, he had a blip against the Rays right before that start but he also didn’t have “mechanical issues” like Reynaldo López did, so maybe this’ll be a case of Elder peaking at the right time. It’s also been over two weeks since we’ve seen Elder pitch and while I’m sure that he’s probably had bullpen sessions between now and then, we’ll have to see how the layoff effects Elder as he gets his season going. Maybe all of these elements will translate into a shutdown performance, which would be a lovely way to mark his first time making the Opening Day roster.

Elder’s equivalent for the A’s will be Jacob Lopez, who is coming off of a successful first season with the A’s where he ended up with a 4.08 ERA (97 ERA-) and 4.26 FIP (100 FIP-) across 92.2 innings of work in 2025. “But Demetrius, those ERA- and FIP- numbers suggest that he was very average! Why was it successful and considered to be a breakout season?”

Well, the main numbers suggest that he was perfectly okay but the underlying metrics suggest that Lopez is extremely tough to deal with. His xERA in 2025 was 3.64, his xBA was .211, his average exit velocity against was a leisurely 86.9 mph, his Hard-Hit percentage placed him in the 94th percentile of all starters and he had a strikeout rate of 28.3 percent. Those are some very good numbers (as evidenced by all of the red on his Baseball Savant page) and indicate that he’s a lot better than his ERA and FIP would suggest.

He’ll also have the benefit of being a very new face for this current Braves squad to deal with. Only three current Braves players have faced Lopez before and surprise, surprise, they were the three players who have arrived here from the American League: Mike Yastrzemski, Jonah Heim (2 AB each) and Mauricio Dubón (5 AB). With Lopez being a lefty as well, that means that we likely won’t be seeing Yaz get a crack at him so that’s another thing to take into consideration. As such, Lopez’s mix of a four-seamer (35 percent usage, 91-mph average velocity), slider, cutter, change-up and sinker will be something new for the vast majority of this Braves lineup to deal with.

As far as the recent history goes, the Braves actually dropped the series out in Sacramento when these two teams last locked horns with each other. The one win for the Braves was a 9-2 laugher where the starting pitcher nearly went seven innings while striking out seven and only giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk. That pitcher? Bryce Elder, of course. While we’d certainly like to see fewer baserunners for Elder to deal with, a repeat performance would be very nice to see, thank you very much.

Can the Braves keep their good start to the season going with another series-opening win? Will the Athletics break out from a frustrating trip to Toronto with a breakout win tonight? I think we’re all rooting for the first scenario there so let’s see that one tonight happen, please.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, March 30th, 7:15 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: Braves.TV

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

After covering 32 prospects last week, we’re back to do the top 8. Today, four pitchers in the upper minors with different ceilings and 2026 outlooks.

8. Fernando Perez, RHP, age 22 (DOB: 2/12/2004), grade: 40+, 2025: 10th

Signed out of the Domincan Republic in 2022, Perez was a steady one-level-a-year guy until 2025, when he outclassed the Northwest League (3.05 ERA, 81:19 K:BB ratio over 20 starts and 94 innings) and forced his way up to AA New Hampshire as a 21 year old

Perez is a hard player to rank. He sits 92-93 and touches 95 with his fastball without exceptional movement, neither of his breaking balls are MLB average, and while his change-up will flash it’s not a plus pitch. However, his easy, almost casual looking high three quarters delivery generates exceptional, maybe 70 grade command. He can put any of his four offerings anywhere he wants with regularity.

As a result of his excellent placement, he doesn’t issue walks (5.6% for his career) and doesn’t give hitters anything over the heart of the plat to work with (0.52 HR/9 in 2025 and similar in previous years). He doesn’t miss a ton of bats, but he does everything else about as well as you can.

There’s a risk that Perez’ approach simply runs out of road, and that MLB-calibre hitters can square his ho-hum stuff up even when it’s on the black. Without a true out pitch, there’s also something of a cap on his upside. The best hope is that they Jays’ strength and conditioning staff, which I’ve seen multiple outlets describe as among the best in the game right now, are able to get a little more out of his 6’3” frame. He doesn’t look gangly or physically immature the way players who are about to add a bunch of strength usually do, but he is young and he isn’t a small guy, so it’s certainly possible. In the dream scenario, extra muscle gets him up into the mid-90s more consistently while adding bite to his breaking balls, in which case he could be a #2/3 starter. A mid-level outcome is a #5 starter who’s vulnerable to good hitting but who can limit base runners enough to churn through innings, while the downside is that he just isn’t able to get outs against MLB hitters and stalls out in AAA.

7. Adam Macko, LHP, age 22 (DOB: 12/20/2000), grade: 45, 2025: 8th

Every year there’s a guy I don’t think I’m going to have all that high in my rankings who, once I sit down and put together the probabilities that we use to underpin the expected value scores, just has to be up there. This year it’s Macko. He didn’t perform great in Buffalo’s rotation last season, but he held batters to a 73% contact rate overall and just under 82% inside the zone, both of which are solidly above average and represent steps forward over his superficially more impressive 2024.

Macko grew up in Slovakia, a noted baseball hotbed, and learned to pitch from watching YouTube. He moved to Canada and was drafted by the Mariners in the 7th round of the 2019 draft out of the noted baseball hotbed (but mostly not sarcastic this time) of Vauxhall High School in Alberta. He worked his way up to A+ in the Seattle organization before coming to Toronto in the Teoscar Hernandez deal. From there he’s gone one level at a time, establishing himself in Buffalo in 2025. He’s been maddeningly inconsistent, dealing with both actual injuries and fluctuations in his stuff and command. On the right day, he’ll spot 94-96 with a crisp slider and promising change, while on the wrong day he’ll be missing the zone entirely and sitting 91 with shaky secondaries. Things seemed to click a bit in the second half last year after a demotion to a long relief role. He sat closer to the top of his velocity range in three inning appearances and allowed just a 64% contact rate, generating 29 Ks and 61 swinging strikes in 26.0 innings while keeping his walks (6) under control.

I think that’s Macko’s most likely role going forward: a high quality multi-inning reliever who can make the occasional 5 and dive spot start. If that brings out the good version of him, the one with three 55 grade pitches that he can locate, more often, he could be an actual weapon on a good team. There’s still some hope that he finds a way to harness that quality in the rotation, in which case there could be a #3 starter in there, but that would take achieving a consistency that we haven’t yet seen from him.

6. Jake Bloss, RHP, age 24 (DOB: 6/23/2001), grade: 45, 2025: 7th

Bloss was a third round pick by out of Georgetown by the Astros in 2023. He was rushed all the way up to the majors in 2024 as they dealt with a spate of rotation injuries, before ultimately headlining the return Toronto got for sending Yusei Kikuchi to Texas. He struggled in Buffalo after the trade, and also looked shaky in early 2025 before ultimately going down for Tommy John surgery in May.

Bloss takes a big, powerful stride down the mound and gets plus extension. That allows his four seam fastball, which sits 92-95 and touches 98, to play as a close to plus pitch in spite of average velocity and movement. He has two breaking balls, a sweepy slider that also looks to be above average and a big two-plane curve that’s good for stealing called strikes. There was some indication that he was working on redeveloping his change-up last year, going to a split grip and throwing it significantly more often. It’s a potential average pitch right now. Bloss struggled to find the plate last season, but that was likely a reflection of his injury and he generally displays average command. It’s a solid, well rounded arsenal without a standout weapon but with good depth and variety.

We’re basically punting on Bloss this year. We’re willing to write off his rough start last season to the developing elbow injury, and since the return rate is so high for TJ these days we we don’t meaningfully ding his future value at this point. The risk has gone up slightly, but it’s still the look of an MLB-ready #4 starter.

5. Ricky Tiedemann, LHP, age 23 (DOB: 8/18/2002), grade: 45+, 2025: 6th

Another year, another hope that Ricky Tiedemann finally gets healthy. The Jays’ 2021 third round pick out of Golden West College in California exploded onto the scene in post-draft workouts, showcasing a massive jump in velocity and a nasty arsenal that by the end of 2022 had vaulted him to AA and to a place among the top pitching prospects in the game. Then the elbow injury bug bit. He missed two and a half months out of the middle of the 2023 season and battled multiple issues in 2024 before giving in and getting surgery. He’s been back this spring, although the Jays are being ultra-cautious and shut him down for two weeks in early March after some elbow soreness.

When he’s healthy, Tiedemann might have the nastiest stuff of any lefty in the minor leagues. His fastball sits 94-96 and touches 98 with massive arm side run. Tiedemann pitches from the extreme first base side of the rubber and has a low and long arm action, meaning the ball comes out way on the left side of the plate. For lefties it feels like the ball is coming from behind their backs, while for righties the fastball seems aimed at their chests until that big run pulls it back into the zone. He pairs the heater with a slider that has big frisbee break the other way, eating lefties alive while stealing strikes from right handed hitters who think it’s going to be in the other batter’s box until it darts over the plate. His change is a clear third pitch, but it’s still got a shot to be average or a little better. Before the elbow injuries Tiedemann repeated his delivery smoothly and consistently and looked to eventually get to average command, no mean feat with stuff this bendy.

It’s all a question of health. If his body is able to withstand 150+ innings, Tiedmann’s ceiling is nearly unlimited. If he can’t do it, the upside is capped but he could be a true closer in the bullpen with the quality of his stuff. Unfortunately, at this point we have to consider the risk that he can’t even do that regularly. That said, he’s still just 23, and rather than a spate of separate injuries it looks like one big one that took a while to figure out. Now that his elbow’s cleaned up, he reportedly has better range of motion than he’s had since being drafted. Always a physical specimen, he’s worked on leaning his body out a bit, going from a power lifter-shaped 255 in camp in 2024 to a looser, leaner 235. Take all that with the usual grains of salt for “best shape of his life” stories in February, but for now we’re going to continue to dream.