El Paso Chihuahuas (Won series over Reno Aces 4-2)
Samad Taylor watched a few balls fly away this week. (Photo: El Paso Chihuahuas)
Players of the Week: El Paso manager Pete Zamora had a great response when asked why he supported the offseason free agent signing of Samad Taylor: “I’m tired of this guy beating me, and I want him on my team.” Taylor, 27, was a big part of the Chihuahuas’ success against Reno this week, with 11 hits – five of them for extra bases, including two that went over the fence. He drew four walks and struck out only once en route to a 1.675 OPS across six games. He’s played all three outfield positions and at second base this year and has his overall OPS up to .936, good for ninth in the PCL. Taylor has had brief stints in the big leagues with Kansas City and Seattle, and, with his defensive versatility and offensive production, could be in line for another. … Evan Fitterer had the Chihuahuas’ best start of the week, though he didn’t get the win. The former Marlin threw four shutout innings, fanned four, and didn’t walk a batter in the Chihuahuas’ loss on Saturday. After his longest outing of the season, 25-year-old from Orange County has a 1.23 ERA through 14.2 innings.
Evan Fitterer looked good on Saturday. (Jorge Salgado/AP Content Services for The Brigid Alliance)
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Three other Chihuahuas who played in at least four games posted an OPS above 1.000 for the week. Nick Schnell blasted three home runs and a double in 19 plate appearances on his way to a 1.250 OPS. The 26-year-old is bouncing back from a slow start and now has a slash line of .211/.357/.544 on the year. … Clay Dungan hit .429 with a home run and a double to go along with a pair of walks. This season, the left-handed hitting Dungan has already seen time at shortstop, third, and second base, along with center and left. … Pablo Reyes hit .438 to round out the week’s offensive leaders, collecting seven hits, including two doubles, in four games. Reyes, 32, like seemingly everyone on El Paso’s roster, can play multiple positions in the infield and should see some time in the outfield later this season. … Jase Bowen slowed down a bit in the fifth series of the year, batting .292/.320/.542 with seven strikeouts in 25 trips to the plate. … After a so-so start in the first game of the series, where he needed 61 pitches to get through two and two-thirds innings, Jackson Wolf came back for the win on Sunday when he threw five solid innings in an extremely hitter-friendly environment. The 7.2 innings he contributed were very needed by a team leaned on 17 different pitchers in the week. … Misael Tamarez had a nice series, allowing just one run over 4.1 innings in two appearances with four strikeouts against two walks. Tamarez, 26, who was released by the Astros in 2025 and immediately signed with San Diego, has always struggled with walks, but has big-time stuff with a fastball that sits in the upper 90s and a lethal slider. He has a 2.70 ERA with 15 strikeouts against six walks in 13.1 innings on the season. … Eli Villalobos, another pitcher the Padres grabbed on the open market, appeared in three games, throwing 3.1 innings with four strikeouts against one walk. The 29-year-old also features a high-90s fastball to go along with a splitter. (John Conniff)
San Antonio Missions (Lost series to Amarillo Sod Poodles 1-5)
Ethan Salas turned in a stellar week at the plate. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
Players of the Week: Ethan Salas had the week the organization and its fans have been waiting for as he hit .438/.526/.938 on the week. The 19-year-old had seven hits in his four starts including his first two home runs of the season. Salas caught 50% of would-be base-stealers on the week, going 3-for-6. The Padres’ top prospect entered the week with a sub .600 OPS and closed the week with an .858 mark. After coming into the year with many questions about health and production hanging over his head, everyone around Salas has to be feeling relief about the showing, even if he’s been able to keep an even keel. … After starting the year piggy-backing out of the bullpen, Eric Yost received his first start of the season and kept his strong production going. The 2023 17th-round pick matched a season high by throwing four innings, and allowed just one run on three hits while striking out a season-best six strikeouts. While Yost took the loss, the 23-year-old has a 1.32 ERA on the season, and Texas League batters are hitting .200 off him.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Leandro Cedeno continued to rake as the 27-year-old went 6-for-19 on the week with a double, triple, and two walks. Cedeño, who spent the last three years in Japan, has an .859 OPS through his first few weeks as he gets back into game shape after signing just before spring training opened. … Tirso Ornelas broke a 2-for-19 stretch by collecting two doubles and a home run. After notching just one RBI entering the week, he picked up six more. He is still hitting just .220/.262/.373 on the season. … Jagger Haynes had one of his better starts of the year, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings. While he walked three, he struck out a season-high six batters. The 23-year-old is showing better movement on his pitches, but struggling to command those pitches. … After giving up 13 earned runs just 1.2 innings in his previous two starts, righty Victor Lizarraga rebounded with a much better outing. The Imperial Beach native went four innings, allowing one run on four hits. He walked four and struck out a season high of six batters- better than his total across his first three starts combined. The 22-year-old has walked 15 in 10.2 innings in 2026. … Righty Johan Moreno had himself about as good a week for a reliever as possible. The Venezuelan pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five. The 23-year-old picked up his second career save on Wednesday. (Ben Davey)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost Series 1-5 to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers)
Alex McCoy has been the offensive star in Fort Wayne through April. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Players of the Week: While he didn’t quite match his early-season production, Alex McCoy still had a strong week against a talented Timber Rattlers pitching staff. The big man’s hitting streak reached 15 games before he ultimately lost it Saturday, the longest streak by a TinCap since Fernando Tatís Jr. in 2017. McCoy went 5-for-19, which included his third and fourth home runs and two doubles to post a .826 OPS on the week. The Baltimore native did strike out seven times this week, but his strikeout rate for the year still sits at a manageable 25.3%. He remains aggressive, posting a 55.1% swing rate, but he’s also hitting .514 on first pitches this season. …The most impressive outing of the week, without question, came courtesy of left-hander Jamie Hitt. The 23-year-old Oklahoma alum twirled a gem on Saturday, punching out a career-high eight over five scoreless innings to earn Midwest League pitcher of the week honors. The southpaw also generated a 34.5% whiff rate in the outing. While he owns a 4.05 ERA for the year, his 30.9% strikeout rate means his FIP looks much more sound at 2.39.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: It was a very forgettable week for the TinCaps offense, but one of the standouts of the group was catcher Carlos Rodriguez. While he hit just .235 on the week, he did swat two long balls and a pair of doubles to help him post a 1.022 OPS. For the season the 23-year-old is hitting .211 with a .672 OPS and 74 wRC+. … Kash Mayfield allowed his first runs of the season during his Friday start, giving up three on three hits and two walks and striking out three while working four innings. All three runs came via a homer in the the fourth inning. Mayfield still had good swing and miss stuff, generating nine whiffs and a 25% whiff rate. His ERA sits at 1.69, despite a 3.84 xFIP. …After one of his best weeks in High-A the week before, Lamar King Jr. once again struggled, going 3-for-16 with no extra base hits and two walks. King does have a strong 12.5% walk rate and 79.7% contact rate. However, while he’s getting bat to ball consistently, he’s failing to make impactful contact with regularity…. Switch-hitting Dylan Grego had his best series of the season against Wisconsin, going 4-for-16, headlined by a home run and two doubles. For the season, he’s still just hitting .193 with a .428 OPS. … Tucker Musgrove got onto his regular schedule, making a pair of relief appearances, but failed to finish the inning in either appearance. In each outing, he struck out two, but wavered with command, also walking two batters in each. His stuff was again strong, generating a 30% whiff rate in his two showings with the fastball topping out at 98, but he owns a 10.80 ERA and 8.11 FIP through his first four appearances this season. … Right-hander Abraham Parra was solid on Sunday going 4.2 innings. While he coughed up three earned runs, the 2023 signee punched out a season-high seven and generated 11 total whiffs and a 30.5% whiff rate. Parra’s fastball sat in the low 90s, while his sweeper flashed some solid horizontal movement, seeing upwards of 17 inches of horizontal break. (Clark Fahrenthold)
Lake Elsinore Storm (Swept series from Visalia Rawhide, 6-0)
Ryan Wideman has taken big strides forward in 2026. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Players of the Week: After a disappointing series loss to Stockton, the Storm returned home and beat up on Visalia, winning all six games against the Diamondbacks’ Cal League affiliate. Thanks to the streak, Lake Elsinore is tied for first place with a 12-9 record. … Ryan Wideman had himself quite a series against the Rawhide, earning the California League player of the week honors. Last year’s third-rounder hit .478/.600/1.000 with four doubles, two homers (one was inside-the-park), eight RBIs, and a whopping ten runs scored as he stole eight bases. While the power-speed combo was impressive, the improved approach for Wideman cannot be ignored. He struck out just three times in 30 plate appearances and drew five walks. Through the season’s first four weeks, Wideman owns a wRC+ of 151, and his 16.2% K-rate is the ninth-lowest on the circuit. … Lefty Javier Chacon made two appearances out of the bullpen and tossed five shutout innings. He allowed just one hit, walking two, and striking out five. Opposing hitters mustered a .071 average against him. In seven outings this season, Chacon has a career-best 35.6% K-rate and a career-low 6.8% walk-rate. With the struggles that the Fort Wayne bullpen has endured, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chacon on the move sooner than later.
Top Performers and Others of Note: Through four weeks, Storm infielder Bradley Frye has been one of the best players in the Cal League, and that trend continued last week. Fyre posted a 1.265 OPS that included a triple, a homer, and six RBI. Frye leads the Cal League with a wRC+ of 174, which is propped up a bit with a .525 BABIP. Despite the good fortune with balls in play, Frye has hit the ball hard frequently. While some regression is overdue, the 23-year-old has been a surprising offensive force in April. He leads the league with a .414 average, and his .621 slugging percentage ranks fourth. The Padres signed Frye as an undrafted free agent last year out of Mercer University. … Catcher Truitt Madonna had a great week at the plate, notching five doubles, including three in one game. He added a triple and five RBI, slashing .409/.417/.727 in the process. The big week brought Madonna’s overall batting line to a league-average .264/.345/.431 for the season. He’s striking out at a 27% clip, but that’s not surprising for a 19-year-old who was playing high school baseball at this time last year. … System veteran Victor Duarte had one of the best weeks of his career, delivering a 1.188 OPS in four games last week. He homered and drew seven walks in 17 plate appearances. The 25-year-old is in his fourth stint with the Storm this season. In a small sample of 50 plate appearances, Duarte is hitting .306/.490/.444. … Shortstop Jorge Quintana had his best week of the season. He connected on his first homer of the season Sunday and delivered a .938 OPS in four games. … Lefty Kruz Schoolcraft turned in another uneven outing on Friday night, allowing four runs (three earned) in three innings. He gave up seven hits, two walks, and struck out three. Schoolcraft was in the zone more than in his previous three starts, but he still allowed some hard contact. In four starts, the 19-year-old former first-rounder has only been able to give the Storm 7.1 innings, and his 15.95 ERA is a cause for concern. For now, Schoolcraft will look to turn the page and move forward to May, which could represent an opportunity to reset a bit. … Former undrafted free agent Nick Falter pitched five scoreless innings over two outings. He allowed just two hits, striking out four batters without a walk. In seven outings, the Division II Denison University product out of Ohio has a 1.93 ERA. (Kevin Charity)