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 is brought to you by Scott Chiusano.

When the Mariners’ mountainous prospect Lazaro Montes went deep in his debut last night, he returned to the dugout, turned the team’s celebratory trident sideways, and made like Jimi Hendrix on it.

If you didn’t know better, you might have thought he’d done this hundreds of times before. 

But no, this was Montes’ first big league homer, in his first big league game, something that has become a surprisingly common occurrence this season. Historically common, actually. 

When Montes left the yard at Fenway Park, he became the 15th rookie this season to homer in his Major League debut, the most in any season in baseball history. In fact, he wasn’t even the only player to do it last night. Nationals rookie Yohandy Morales also went deep about a half hour earlier, and his was the one that set the record, surpassing the previous high of 13 in 2022. Both of their homers traveled a Statcast-projected 407 feet.

This has been a trend from Day 1 of the 2026 season, when four debuting rookies went deep. They are names you’ll probably recognize: Munetaka Murakami, Carson Benge, JJ Wetherholt and Chase DeLauter, all of whom are mentioned as contenders in our latest Rookie of the Year poll. 

DeLauter, who was actually making his regular-season debut after a brief cameo in the 2025 playoffs for the Guardians, hit two homers on Opening Day. Arizona’s Jose Fernandez matched that in his first game on March 31, and then Joshua Báez of the Cardinals surpassed them all a few weeks ago with a three-homer debut, the first in MLB history. 

You can check out the full list of 15 players here.

As for Morales and Montes, they’re hitting the bigs with big expectations. Morales comes already armed with the 80-grade nickname of “YoYo.” Montes is a towering presence at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, a monster prospect who took a trip underneath the Green Monster pregame yesterday with his head nearly scraping the ceiling. 

The kids just come up with a new kind of confidence and swagger these days. Let Montes tell you himself.

“Everybody knows I have the power,” he said.

Three elite aces from three top playoff contenders take the mound tonight -- Jacob Misiorowski (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB Network Showcase / MLB.TV), Cam Schlittler (9:38 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) -- and we want to show you something they have in common. 

Misiorowski, Schlittler and Yamamoto have three of the best fastballs in the Majors. They're all top-five in terms of runs prevented.

Most valuable 4-seam fastballs in 2026

1-T. Jacob Misiorowski: +25 runs prevented  

1-T. Parker Messick: +25 runs prevented 

3. Cam Schlittler: +18 runs prevented 

4. Yoshinobu Yamamoto: +16 runs prevented 

We think that's interesting, because their heaters are also pretty different from one another. 

Misiorowski throws straight gas. He is averaging 100.6 mph, the fastest of any starting pitcher this season, and has topped out at 105.5 mph; only Aroldis Chapman has thrown a pitch faster since pitch tracking began in 2008. He's reached triple digits almost 1,000 times in 2026, by far the most of anyone in a season in the pitch-tracking era. So it makes sense he's throwing his four-seamer more than any other regular starter.

Schlittler throws gas, too -- his four-seamer sits at 98.0 mph -- but he doesn't dominate with just that one pitch. He's the AL Cy Young favorite because he pairs his four-seamer with two other elite fastballs, a sinker and cutter, that also come in hot but move very differently.

Schlittler throws his four-seamer 44% of the time, his sinker 20% of the time and his cutter 26% of the time. Together, that means 90% of his pitches are fastballs in one form or another. No starter throws more heat, not even Misiorowski.

Yamamoto doesn't have the raw velo of Miz and Schlittler, but he has impeccable command and can locate his fastball with the best of them. He averages "only" 96 mph on his four-seamer, but opponents are batting just .133 against it -- the lowest among all pitchers with at least 100 plate appearances ending on four-seamers. 

Yamamoto knows how to mix and match his heater with wipeout offerings like his splitter and curveball. That's why his fastball can be so effective, right alongside his fellow Cy Young contenders who throw harder than him. And you have the rare opportunity to watch all three of them pitch tonight.  -- David Adler

Blue Jays @ Guardians (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)

Were you thinking that three Cy Young contenders was simply not enough for one night? Well, you’re in luck, because there’s another one taking the mound, and with his team needing a win in the worst way. Dylan Cease enters with a 2.33 ERA that is second only to Schlittler in the AL, and the Blue Jays sit 2 1/2 games behind the Guardians for the third Wild Card spot after a loss yesterday. It’s make or break time for Toronto, and there’s nobody better to hand the ball to. 

Giants @ Pirates (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)

Last night, a game that featured a starting pitching matchup of Logan Webb vs. Paul Skenes ended with a 13-12 final score. There were two five-run frames for the Giants, a nine-run inning for the Pirates, 35 hits in total and ultimately Pittsburgh walked off on an error. So what wackiness awaits in this one?

White Sox @ Astros (8:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)

Davis Martin returns from the injured list for the start tonight, and he’ll be greeting some unfamiliar faces in the dugout. Only because many of his teammates have started growing various types of facial hair as they gear up for the final month of the season. It’s all part of the fun for this first-place White Sox team, which will try to keep Triple Crown contender Yordan Alvarez at bay. 

Only three more 250 for 250 lists left to go. And this one is a fun one: the top 10 most iconic bat flips.

Bat flips are an art form, and some sluggers have mastered it. Since they've become a much more accepted part of the game in recent years, we've seen some really, really good ones. 

What's more satisfying than a triumphant bat flip after a huge home run in a big moment? These players would say, nothing.

See all 10 bat flips here >>

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