National parks preserve our landscapes, history and culture — but without their continued protection and support, the heart of the American story is lost.
NPCA’s new President and CEO Tiernan Sittenfeld will lead a conversation with Alan Spears, Senior Director of Cultural Resources, and John Garder, Senior Director of Appropriations, about the current state of parks, how NPCA is fighting for their protection and how you can join us to make your voice heard.REGISTER
Event Details
WHEN: March 24 at 7:00 PM ET
WHERE: Online via Zoom; a link will be provided upon RSVP
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Dear Friend, As I write this, the Middle East is on fire. Once again, Israel is defending itself from the radical Islamic regime of Iran and its terrorist allies. Now is the time to pray.
Both the people of Iran and the people of Israel are thankful for President Donald Trump’s decisive action against the fanatical Islamic government that has funded terrorism across the Middle East and brutally oppressed their own people for over four decades. The wicked leadership of Iran is responsible for the deaths of countless numbers of their own citizens, as well as Americans, Israelis, Iraqis, and others.
EQUIPPED FOR EMERGENCY: Samaritan’s Purse has provided dozens of ambulances, many of them armored, to Israel’s emergency services.
I visited Iran back in 1976 with Bob Pierce, the founder of Samaritan’s Purse, and we met with church leaders there, never dreaming the Islamic Revolution would occur just three years later. Nevertheless, the church in Iran is growing rapidly, even in the face of severe persecution, and we can pray for their continued boldness. During the 1979 revolution, the church was small. In recent years, the church in Iran is among the fastest growing in that part of the world, with reports that there may be more than 1 million followers of Christ. …Read More
Sincerely,
Franklin Graham President, Samaritan’s Purse
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled.” Matthew 24:6
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition was written by David Adler.
There are six Spring Breakout games today, and three have already kicked off — the top Marlins prospects vs. the top Astros prospects, the Guardians vs. the Angels and the Phillies vs. the Twins.
You can still catch all these games later today:
Nationals prospects vs. Cardinals prospects (4:30 p.m. ET)
Rays prospects vs. Mets prospects (7:10 p.m. ET)
Reds prospects vs. Giants prospects (9:05 p.m. ET)
Four of MLB Pipeline’s top five overall prospects are playing in Spring Breakout this year (all but Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle), and Wetherholt is the first one you’ll see take the field. He’s the best contact hitter at Spring Breakout.
On the other side is Willits, the 2025 No. 1 overall Draft pick. He’s just 18 years old, a future five-tool star and was the youngest top overall pick since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1987.
2) Reds C Alfredo Duno (MLB No. 38) vs. Giants SS Luis Hernández (SF No. 3)
These are two of the top international prospects at Spring Breakout.
The 20-year-old Duno signed in 2023 out of Venezuela and is now a top-five catching prospect in baseball. Hernández, also from Venezuela, was the headliner of the 2026 international class and is the youngest player at all of Spring Breakout. He just turned 17 years old in December.
3) Rays (No. 10-ranked prospect system) vs. Mets (No. 7)
Rays-Mets is the first Spring Breakout matchup of two top-10 farm systems, so there will be a ton of prospects worth watching.
The Rays have prospects participating like outfielder Theo Gillen (MLB No. 76) and their 2025 first-round Draft pick, 19-year-old shortstop Daniel Pierce, who has yet to make his pro debut.
The Mets won’t have Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong or Carson Benge in the game, but they will have interesting names like A.J. Ewing (MLB No. 97) and 18-year-old shortstop Elian Peña, who was one of the top international prospects last year after Roki Sasaki.
OCTOBER PHENOM TO START ON IL
Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage stole the show last October when he dominated during Toronto’s AL pennant run — despite having made only three career starts entering the postseason.
But news broke today that the 22-year-old right-hander, who’s ranked MLB’s No. 12 overall prospect entering 2026, has a right shoulder impingement and will start the season on the injured list.
Hopefully, Yesavage won’t be out for too long. There’s not yet a timeline for his return to Major League games, but the Blue Jays expect him to keep throwing to build up for the season, and he’s currently scheduled to pitch again next Wednesday. This is an issue Yesavage reported to Spring Training with, but he’s been feeling better. There’s just not enough time for him to be ready by Opening Day.
Still, this stinks for everyone. Yesavage is one of the most fun young pitchers to watch in baseball — not just because he was awesome in the playoffs, but because he has one of the most unique deliveries in MLB.
Yesavage throws from such an extreme over-the-top release point that people say his signature pitch, an extremely nasty splitter, looks like it “comes from the sky.” That arm angle also makes his slider break the wrong way — moving toward his arm side instead of breaking to his glove side like basically every other slider in the world. Get back soon, Trey.
IN CASE YOU FORGOT … SHOHEI’S NASTY
Shohei Ohtani — Pitcher Shohei Ohtani, that is — made his first Spring Training start for the Dodgers yesterday. And in case you got distracted by Ohtani smashing home runs as a hitter for Japan at the World Baseball Classic … he’s still just as filthy as ever on the mound, too.
Ohtani pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings against the Giants with four strikeouts. His fastball topped out at 99.9 mph. His splitter got up to 90.6 mph. His sweeper was breaking up to 16 inches.
Check out some of Ohtani’s nastiest pitches from yesterday:
Fuentes has thrown nine total innings over his three outings, allowed a grand total of zero hits and racked up 17 strikeouts. That’s just ridiculous.
So what kind of stuff is this kid throwing? Fuentes has a 97 mph fastball, an 89 mph splitter and an 87 mph slider. But it’s the fastball-slider combo that’s really dominated this spring.
Fuentes has 11 of his 17 K’s on his heater, which is generating a 43% swing-and-miss rate. And he has the other six on his slider, which is generating a 64% swing-and-miss rate. Good luck hitting either one.
Just record a video of yourself singing the baseball classic and submit it to Netflix for a chance to be featured on the Opening Night broadcast of the Yankees vs. the Giants (Wednesday, March 25 at 8:05 p.m. ET).
Fans can submit their “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” renditions here. But hurry up — the deadline for entries is tomorrow.
DAILY WALKOFF
Put your baseball brain to the test with Daily Walkoff, where you can find 30 brand-new trivia puzzles every day, one for each team. Play Daily Walkoff >>
It is with a heavy heart that I share that John “Buck” Buchanan passed away peacefully last evening, surrounded by his family and several members of his Brophy family.
Buck joined the Brophy staff in the fall of 2007 as the Director of Security and ever since has been a fixture on our campus and in our community. Buck was known for his joyful smile and for the affection with which he greeted each and every student who crossed his path. He would often tell us that, because of the students, he never wanted to retire. Students knew of his affection for them which is why Mr. B is beloved by an entire generation of Brophy students. He was also a cherished colleague and a friend to practically every parent and visitor who ever set foot on campus.
Yesterday, when we learned of his failing condition, we invited students to come to the chapel after school and several hundred of them gathered to pray for Mr. B. When he was told about the chapel-full of students, he whispered, “I love you all.”
John Buchanan is survived by his sons Mark and Scott, his siblings, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and a generation of grateful Broncos.
As we mourn his passing, we also celebrate his years of generous service and all the joy he brought to so many.
RJ Hamster 