Los Angeles Dodgers catcher/outfield prospect Dalton Rushing went 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs during his MLB debut on Thursday evening against the Athletics. Rushing hit two singles. He got the starting nod behind the dish and was in the seven-hole. This was a promising debut for the top prospect in the Dodger system. While Rushing got the start at catcher in this contest, fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status, as he could work out a role in left field, especially if Michael Conforto were to continue to struggle. At Triple-A this season, Rushing was very productive, posting a strong .308/.424/.514 slash line with five doubles and five home runs. However, given that Rushing appears to only be viewed as a catcher, his upside will be limited, serving as the clear No. 2 behind Will Smith.

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Atlanta Braves catching prospect Drake Baldwin went 3-for-4 with an RBI during their victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. Baldwin knocked an RBI single in the fifth inning, which scored Nick Allen. The young backstop has begun to earn more playing time over Sean Murphy, given his recent surge at the plate. Over his last eight contests, Baldwin has posted an incredible .684/.684/1.105 slash line with two doubles and two round-trippers. During this stretch, he has only struck out twice. However, prior to this stretch, Baldwin was operating as the clear No. 2 option behind Murphy and posted a modest .250/.323/.393 line. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status as he appears to be earning the 1A role on the depth chart. If he continues to see stable playing time, he would be a viable No. 1 catcher in standard formats.

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Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates will activate first baseman Spencer Horwitz (wrist) from the injured list on Friday. Horwitz has been shelved since spring training after he underwent surgery to repair an extensor tendon in his thumb. Pittsburgh acquired him by trade last December in hopes that he'd solve their issues at first base, and he projects to be their everyday option there for the foreseeable future. The 27-year-old has only appeared in 112 games, with a bulk of that experience coming last season with the Blue Jays. He was solid for Toronto with 12 home runs, 19 doubles, 40 RBIs, and a .790 OPS over 97 contests. Horwitz didn't do anything too special during his rehab stint in the minors, but he did bat .323 with a double and a homer over 31 Triple-A at-bats.

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Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in his team's 7-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. He singled, scored twice, and struck out once. The Dominican Republic native was experiencing a slight cold spell earlier in the month, but it appears he's breaking out of it, launching three long balls over his last five outings and two multi-hit efforts in his previous three. De La Cruz crushed his eighth dinger on Thursday, getting a hold of a Bryse Wilson curveball that he sent 395 feet to left-center field. The 23-year-old is batting .256 (45-for-176), with six doubles, 31 RBI, 30 runs scored, and 14 steals. He's still striking out quite a bit (28.1%), but offers one of the better blends of power and speed amongst batters.

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Cincinnati Reds outfielder Will Benson went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in his team's 7-1 win against the Chicago White Sox. The former first-round pick rejoined the team a few days ago to fill in for the injured Jake Fraley (calf) in right field and has done well in his stead. In five games, Benson has more extra-base hits than singles (three), smacked his first homer, stole a base, and has drawn more walks (three) than strikeouts (two). It's encouraging to see him producing right away, particularly after he hit .187 in 2024 over 343 at-bats and struck out four times in his first outing with the Reds back in April. The 26-year-old performed well with Triple-A Louisville this season, so if he can continue getting on base, maybe he sticks even after Fraley returns. His quality of contact is looking excellent right now, albeit over a small sample.

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Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and two walks in Thursday's 8-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. The 26-year-old hasn't displayed much power recently, with four extra-base hits in May (two doubles, two homers), but he's still been productive. Through 13 games in the month, Guerrero Jr. is batting a white-hot .354 (17-for-48), with 11 runs, six RBI, and as many walks as strikeouts (11). Furthermore, he's recorded a hit in 17 of his last 18 appearances. The Montreal native started the year off a little sluggish, but has really turned it on -- similar to how he did in 2024 before he hit .376 with a 1.128 OPS after the All-Star break. He's up to .294 now, with eight doubles, 20 RBI, 24 runs scored, and the highest walk rate of his career (14.2%).

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Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a double, and an additional run scored during Thursday's 7-1 win over the White Sox. McLain has gotten off to a slow start in 2025, slashing .182/.308/.341, but the 25-year-old seems to be turning a corner. In his last nine games, McLain is 8-for-32 with a pair of home runs, six runs scored, and four stolen bases. He's now up to six home runs on the season. McLain missed all of 2024 with a shoulder injury, and he may have needed some additional time to get back into the swing of things. In 2023, during his rookie season, he slashed .290/.357/.507 in 403 plate appearances, so the production is in there, it's just taking more time for fantasy managers than they had hoped for when drafting him. McLain is a strong buy-low candidate, and those who have held on, hopefully, this recent stretch can show a sign of better things to come.

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Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy was seeing the baseball well Thursday night as he went 3-for-4 with four RBI, one home run, and two runs scored and helped the Dodgers win comfortably, 19-2. Muncy got the party going for the Dodgers in this contest, hitting the first home run of the evening and putting them ahead 3-1 in the first inning. Muncy has now homered in back-to-back contests, and over his last seven games, he's gone 9-for-27 with nine RBI. The third baseman has gotten off to a brutally slow start, slashing .207/.323/.341, but he has turned it around of late. During this stretch, he has been wearing prescription glasses to help improve his vision at the plate, as he was recently diagnosed with astigmatism. Regardless of the reason behind his recent hot stretch, he is starting to find a groove and would be worth a waiver wire pickup for those looking for a corner infielder.

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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder James Outman hit his second long ball of the season on Thursday night in the sixth inning off Mitch Spence to extend the Dodgers' lead to 16-2. During an evening in which the Dodgers' offense exploded and hit five home runs, Outman joined the party later in the game and finished his evening going 2-for-4 with three runs scored, one RBI, and one walk. Outman has cracked the Dodgers' lineup due to injuries to Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman, and thus far through eight games has a .143/.250/.429 slash line with two home runs, five runs scored, and four RBI. Fantasy managers can lean on Outman as a fill-in for injuries or a streamer if he has a hot bat, but he would not be a recommended play for the long haul. Next up for Outman and the Dodgers is a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers' shortstop Mookie Betts went 1-for-1 on Thursday with two walks, three runs scored, and two RBI. The Dodgers jumped on top of the Athletics early in this contest, scoring 15 runs in the first four innings and holding on to win 19-2. After the fourth inning, the Dodgers' manager, Dave Roberts, entered some of his bench players, and Miguel Rojas entered the game for Betts, which prevented Betts from stuffing the stat line even more last night. Nonetheless, Betts is slashing .269/.352/.429 on the season with six home runs, 36 runs scored, 28 RBI, and four stolen bases in 179 plate appearances. The 32-year-old showed some signs of doubt early in the season when he was losing all of that weight and didn't make the trip with the team to Japan, but has settled in nicely to start the season, and fantasy managers should not question whether to start Betts or not. He is a set-and-forget kind of guy. Next up for the Dodgers is a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.

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Arizona Diamondbacks right-handed pitching prospect Cristian Mena turned in his best start of the Triple-A campaign on Thursday against Sugar Land. The right-hander logged five 1/3 innings of work and did not allow a run. He served up just two hits and one walk. He struck out seven batters. This was a strong bounce-back outing for Mena as he posted a high 8.53 ERA with a 1.74 WHIP over his last 19 innings (four starts). During this stretch, the No. 13-ranked prospect in the Arizona system held a 24:8 K:BB and allowed five long balls. Mena was given a brief taste of the majors this season and logged three 2/3 shutout innings. If Mena continues to find his footing at Reno, he should be in the mix to have a more extended stint in the majors.

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Philadelphia Phillies outfield prospect Justin Crawford went 2-for-5 with a home run and a stolen base during Thursday's contest against Triple-A Syracuse. This was Crawford's first long ball of the Triple-A regular season. This outing also extended his current hitting streak to three games. During this stretch, he has tallied at least one extra-base hit in each contest. Through 36 games this season, Crawford has been swinging a hot bat at Triple-A, holding a stellar .316/.379/.428 slash line with 10 doubles and two triples. Crawford has swiped 13 bags and held a 35:16 K:BB. The former 17th overall pick should be in the mix to make his MLB debut in the coming weeks given his impressive start to the season.

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Milwaukee Brewers pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski threw seven innings, allowing only one run on four hits and one walk while striking out five against Triple-A Memphis on Thursday. He did not factor into the decision. Following up on a dominant outing in his last start with a season-best 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings, the right-hander has lowered his season ERA to 1.46 to go with a 0.89 WHIP. He's also been more efficient with his pitch count as he needed just 86 pitches for seven frames. An encouraging sign for the 23-year-old is his continued improvement in limiting walks. While his 11% walk rate is still not a strength, it's a notable improvement from 14.4% last season. The flame-thrower continued to light up the radar gun, as he sat at 98.3 MPH on the fastball and maxed out at a blistering 103 MPH. MLB.com's number 72 overall prospect should be expected to be promoted at some point this summer and is worth stashing in standard leagues.

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Minnesota Twins outfield prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez went 3-for-7 with two doubles, a triple, an RBI, and a run scored in Thursday's doubleheader against Triple-A Iowa. The 22-year-old has gotten off to a relatively slow start, slashing .242/.385/.384. Rodriguez cruised through multiple levels of the Twins' minor league system last season with a monster line of .280/.459/.567 with a 181 wRC+. The strikeout rate has been an issue for the top prospect as it has ballooned to 35.7% so far this season. However, he has begun to heat up a bit in May with a 1.020 OPS in 34 AB. He could make his debut at some point later in the season and presents an intriguing power and speed profile, although expectations should be tempered with his struggles making contact. Rodriguez is currently ranked as the number 32 overall prospect on MLB.com.

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Miami Marlins third base prospect Deyvison De Los Santos went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run against Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday. The slugger hit his fifth home run of the season to bring his season slash line to .252/.319/.401 with a 92 wRC+ over 39 games in Triple-A. De Los Santos has struggled more lately, batting just .174 and striking out 15 times in 46 ABs in May. The 22-year-old is still hitting the ball hard with a 47.9% HardHit% and has a path to making his big league debut sometime in the near future. His 70-grade power would make him an interesting speculative pickup in various formats. He is currently ranked as the No. 12 prospect in the Marlins system on MLB.com.

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Dodgers' DH Shohei Ohtani had six RBIs going 2-for-5 with two home runs in a 19-2 win over the Athletics on Thursday, May. 15.

Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim was all over the score sheet on Thursday, helping dismantle the Athletics in a 19-2 win. Kim had a fantastic all-around day, going 3-for-3 with a double, two walks, four runs scored, two RBI, and a stolen base. The 26-year-old has continued hitting the ball well after starting the season hot in the minors, slashing .429/.467/.571 with a homer and three steals in 28 at-bats. Although it is unlikely that Kim will continue to hit at this level, he might be able to sustain a decent batting average and steal a good amount of bases, which certainly has its value. He is also hitting in a loaded Dodgers lineup, which should help his counting stats. Don't expect anything crazy, but grabbing Kim in deeper leagues isn't the worst idea if average and speed are big needs.

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Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani had another huge day at the plate on Thursday, going 2-for-5 with a pair of homers and six RBI in a 19-2 demolition of the Athletics. Ohtani hit a three-run blast in the third and a two-run shot in the fourth, helping to put this game out of reach early. He has been scorching hot at the dish in May, going 19-for-53 with eight homers and 18 RBI. So much for the early-season "slump" he had. Ohtani is now up to a .310 AVG, 48 runs, 15 homers, 28 RBI, and 10 steals on the season. The 15 homers tie him with Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for the league lead. He is well on his way to a fourth MVP.

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Texas Rangers first baseman Jake Burger did all the damage on Thursday, smoking a solo homer in a 1-0 win over the Houston Astros. Burger finished the day 2-for-3, as he was one of two hitters to reach base for the Rangers in this one. The 29-year-old had a dreadful start to his season, getting sent to the minors in early May, but has gotten a hit in each of his four games since being called back up. His overall numbers still don't look good, as he holds a .214 AVG with 14 runs, four homers, and 15 RBI over 112 at-bats, but Burger is extremely streaky and could go on a home run binge at any point. He is worth picking up in any category leagues as he will likely provide you plenty of power at some point.

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Texas Rangers relief pitcher Shawn Armstrong slammed the door on the Houston Astros on Thursday, picking up his second save in a 1-0 win. Armstrong was tasked with finishing off Jacob deGrom's masterpiece, and succeeded in doing so by pitching around a two-out walk. With Chris Martin and Luke Jackson both nursing minor injuries, Armstrong has reaped the benefits by picking up the last two Rangers saves. The 34-year-old has performed well this year, so it is possible that manager Bruce Bochy decides to stick with Armstrong even when those two return. He's worthy of a speculative pick-up in deeper leagues where saves are valuable, just to see where this situation goes.

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