Dayton Dragons GameDay, Game Notes, and Roster for April 2
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay, Game Notes, and Roster for April 2

Published on April 2, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, April 2, 2026 l Game #1

Jackson Field l Lansing, Mich. l 6:05 p.m.

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

TV: MLB App, MiLB TV, Bally Sports Live Ohio

Dayton Dragons (0-0) at Lansing Lugnuts (0-0)

RH Beau Blanchard vs. RH Steven Echavarria

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Lansing Lugnuts (affiliate of the Athletics) in the first game of the 2026 Midwest League season for both teams. This is the start of a three-game series.

A Look Back at the Dragons 2025 Season: The Dragons finished the season with a record of 52-76, going 21-44 in the first half and 31-32 in the second half. The season was highlighted by a club-record 15-game winning streak from August 17-September 3 as the Dragons finished the season by going 18-1 over their final 19 games. The Dragons winning streak broke the all-time club record of 13 set in 2002. The Dragons winning streak was the longest in the Midwest League since before MLB took over record-keeping in the Minor Leagues in 2005. The longest winning streak on record in the Midwest League prior to the Dragons 15-gamer was 13 by Bowling Green in 2018. According to unofficial media reports, the all-time Midwest League record is 17, by Cedar Rapids in 1965. The Dragons winning streak was the longest in all Minor League Baseball since 2023.

And a Look Ahead to 2026 for the Dragons: Julio Morillo re-joins the Dragons in his first year as manager after spending parts of the 2014 and '15 seasons with the Dragons as a player (catcher). The Dragons roster is headlined by elite prospect Alfredo Duno, the highest-rated prospect currently in the Reds farm system. Duno is listed as the #2 on the Reds prospect list by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, trailing only former Dragon Sal Stewart, who was the Reds opening day starting first baseman on March 26. The Dayton roster includes 18 players who spent all or part of the 2025 season with the Dragons, including the team's home run and RBI leader last season, John Michael Faile. Two starting outfielders from last season's Dragons team, Yerlin Confidan and Anthony Stephan, also return, along with starting second baseman Peyton Stovall and starting shortstop Carlos Sanchez. Also back from last season are catcher/first baseman Ryan McCrystal, first baseman Jack Moss, corner infielder Carter Graham, outfielders Ariel Almonte and Esmith Pineda, utility man Johnny Ascanio, and pitchers Cody Adcock, Luke Hayden, Brody Jessee, Nestor Lorant, Graham Osman, Jimmy Romano, and Dylan Simmons.

More on Duno: Alfredo Duno was selected as both the Most Valuable Player and Best Major League Prospect in the Single-A Florida State League in 2025 while playing for the Daytona Tortugas. Duno led the league in eight of the most important categories including home runs (18), runs batted in (81), extra base hits (52), runs (78), doubles (32), on-base percentage (.430), slugging percentage (.518), and OPS (.948). He finished second in the league in batting average (.287) and base hits (112). Duno is the top-rated prospect ever to play for the Dragons at the catcher position, surpassing future Major League stars Devin Mesoraco and Tyler Stephenson, who were Reds top-10 prospects with the Dragons but not as high on the list as Duno.

Alfredo Duno is the first player to play for the Dragons after winning a league MVP award the previous since Chris Valaika played with Dayton in 2007 after winning the Pioneer League MVP in '06.

Starting pitcher J.P. Ortiz had the best ERA (2.81) in the Reds farm system in 2025 with Daytona among pitchers with at least 80 innings.

First baseman Jack Moss batted .337 in 31 games for the Dragons in 2025 in an injury-shortened season. This was the highest batting average of any player in a full-season league in the Reds farm system with at least 100 plate appearances.

Outfielder Kien Vu is in his first full season of pro ball after completing his college career at Arizona State, where he led the led the PAC 12 in batting as a sophomore in 2024 at .413. His OPS over his three years at ASU was 1.062 with a career batting average of .351.

John Michael Faile is the NCAA Division II all-time career leader in both home runs (81) and RBI (337). Faile has hit 17 home runs in his Dragons career and would equal the team's career record of 30 this season if he matches his home run with the Dragons in 2025 (13).

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM)

Friday, April 3 (6:05 pm): Dayton RH Nestor Lorant at Lansing RH Zane Taylor

Saturday, April 4 (1:05 pm): Dayton RH Reynardo Cruz at Lansing RH Tzu-Chen Sha

Tuesday, April 7 (7:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton TBA

Wednesday, April 8 (7:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton TBA

Thursday, April 9 (7:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton TBA

Friday, April 10 (7:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton TBA

Saturday, April 11 (1:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton TBA

Sunday, April 12 (1:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton TBA

How to Watch/Listen: Dragons radio broadcasts of all home and road games are also available on FOX Sports 980 WONE (980 AM), at daytondragons.com, and via the Dragons Mobile App. Additionally, the Dragons will televise 15 games locally over-the-air on Dayton's CW (Channel 26; Spectrum Cable channels 13 and 1013). First telecast is May 15. All 2026 home and road Dragons can be viewed free of charge on the Bally Sports Live app (look for Bally Live Ohio) or on the internet at Ballysportslive.com (click on Bally Sports Live Ohio or the MiLB Zone). All games are also available by subscription on the MLB App and the MiLB App. Games in Dayton will be Dragons productions; games on the road will be produced by the opposing team.

Dragons Ticket Information: daytondragons.com/tickets Dragons 2024 Schedule: milb.com/dayton/schedule

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from April 2, 2026


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