Thomas White, LHP, Marlins: After a few warmup turns at Low-A Jupiter, the Marlins’ top prospect landed back at Triple-A Jacksonville on Thursday. The lefty, who was one of the most dominant pitchers in the sport last season, had been dealing with an oblique injury that popped up during spring training. Over four innings, it didn't appear that White missed a beat. He finished his day against Charlotte with eight strikeouts and no walks over four two-hit, two-run innings. He threw 47 of his 72 pitches (65.3%) for strikes.

Juan Valera, RHP, Red Sox: Valera was removed from his start Thursday with High-A Greenville after just one inning because of right elbow inflammation, according to MassLive's Chris Cotillo. Valera, 19, was off to a strong start in 2026, first turning heads on the backfields of spring training before carrying it into the season, where he struck out 17 batters and surrendered just four hits over his first 9.1 innings. Valera joined Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects earlier this month. The hard-throwing righthander missed three months in 2025 with right elbow soreness as well.

Tai Peete, OF, Cardinals: Peete is still getting his feet wet in his new organization after the Cardinals acquired him from the Mariners in the February trade for Brendan Donovan, but as far as early impressions go, Thursday’s will be hard to top. Peete hit for the cycle in High-A Peoria’s 24-7 drubbing of Wisconsin, going 4-for-7 with four runs and four RBIs. Peete finished off the cycle with a ninth-inning triple to center field off a position player on the mound.

Yophery Rodriguez & Yoeilin Cespedes, Red Sox: If your first name begins with the letter Y and you play for the Greenville Drive, you probably had a nice night. Yophery Rodriguez, who came over from Milwaukee in the deal that sent John Holobetz to Boston, crushed two home runs as part of a 3-for-4 night that also included a pair of runs. Not to be outdone, teammate Yoeilin Cespedes added two home runs and five RBIs of his own. The pair's fireworks weren't enough, however, and Greenville fell to Bowling Green.

Dauri Fernandez, SS, Guardians: Fernandez has emerged as the best of a pack of talented infielders in their lower levels. The switch-hitting infielder was impressive during spring training, and he's started the regular season hot as well. On Thursday, he helped his Hill City club bum rush the Warbirds in Wilson. Fernandez rapped out four hits—three from the right side and another swinging lefty—including a pair of doubles in the Howlers' 14-1 win. He is now 13-for-47 (.277) with three doubles and a home run to begin the season.

Matthew Ferrara, SS, Phillies: Last summer, the Phillies chose Ferrara in the ninth round. On Thursday, he had the day of his career. Clearwater matched up against Dunedin, who sent rehabbing big leaguer Jose Berrios to the hill. No matter. Ferrara finished his day 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and a home run. The longball and one of the doubles came off of Berrios. In all, Ferrara finished with the four hits as well as three RBIs and three runs, and a day he'll likely remember for a long while.

Nestor German, RHP, Orioles: The Orioles have a host of interesting pitching prospects blossoming on the farm, and on Thursday night it was German's time to shine. Facing Durham, the righthander mixed and matched his way to 10 strikeouts over 4.1 innings of three-hit, one-run ball. The 10 strikeouts matched his career high, which he set on July 26, 2025. For the season, German now has 23 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Pedro Ramirez, 3B/2B, Cubs: If he keeps hitting like he has to open the season, Ramirez won't be under the radar much longer. The 10th-youngest player to open the season in the International League, Ramirez signed with the Cubs in 2021 and has matriculated through the system at a steady pace. Facing Columbus, Ramirez went 4-for-6 with a three-run home run and two stolen bases. Thursday's effort was Ramirez's sixth multi-hit game of the season and brings his ledger to 22-for-67 (.328) for the year.

Editor’s Picks

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

Ben Jacobs, LHP, Tigers: At Arizona State, Jacobs was known for his pitchability and four-pitch mix, but in his professional debut, his stuff has taken a step forward, leading to him missing a plethora of bats in his three appearances. He has struck out seven hitters in each appearance and recorded 14, 18 and 17 whiffs. 

Jacobs looks to have tweaked his delivery to better optimize his lower half and drive off his plant leg, which has added more extension. The difference is subtle but noticeable, and it has allowed him to evolve from being a short-strider in college to having above-average extension. In college, Jacobs averaged 5.84 feet of extension on his fastball. So far this year, his extension has ranged from 6.4 to 6.6 feet. 

In addition to his extension being up, Jacobs’ fastball velocity has increased considerably now that he is better incorporating his plant leg in his delivery. Through two appearances, his fastball has averaged 94.1 mph and maxed out at 96.1. Last year in college, he averaged 92.1 mph with the pitch and maxed out at 94.9. Encouragingly, the pitch’s intriguing traits have carried over with the added velocity—high induced vertical break, low release height and a flat approach angle—but now it is missing more bats, with a whiff rate of over 50% so far. 

The next step for Jacobs will be refining command of his secondary offerings. He’s been effective at getting chases with them but hasn’t consistently shown the ability to land them in the zone, especially with his breaking pitches. He’s thrown a trio of secondaries in a changeup, slider and curveball, with his change being his primary offering against righties and breaking balls against lefties. His changeup has been dominant, generating whiffs on 48% of swings.

If Jacobs can find more consistency locating his secondaries, he could be in line for a quick promotion to High-A, as his fastball alone has already shown to be enough to dominate Low-A hitters. 

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Diamondbacks infielder JD Dix homered twice for Low-A Visalia Thursday.

• Travis Bazzana is showing signs of heating up for Triple-A Columbus. He went 3-for-6 with two doubles Thursday. He has multiple hits in four of his last five games, including five doubles over that stretch.

• Pirates outfielder Edward Florentino has returned to extended spring training games as he rehabs an ankle injury, according to Jose Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports.

• Twins LHP Connor Prielipp fired five innings of one-run ball for Triple-A St. Paul with eight strikeouts.

• Braves LHP Cam Caminiti tossed five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts for High-A Rome. He has pitched to a 3.07 ERA with 19 strikeouts to just two walks through 14.2 innings.

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