It’ll be the first trip to the majors for Espino, who three years ago was considered one of the game’s top three pitching prospects before being derailed by injuries. Moved to the pen this year, has a 5.30 ERA and a 29/15 K/BB in 18 2/3 innings for Triple-A Columbus. He’s hasn’t pitched on back-to-back days at any point, he’s worked on one day of rest just once and he’s yet to get more than three outs in an appearance this year, so it’s hard to see how he fits right now. Still, he’s dealt with a whole lot, and it’s great to see him get the opportunity.

Ohtani felt something in his knee during a stolen base attempt on a foul ball earlier in the game on Thursday and the Dodgers wanted to be proactive and give him a few innings off to end the game rather than pushing it. They’ll wait and see how he feels on Friday, but the expectation is that he’ll return to the lineup. Either way, he shouldn’t be looking at any sort of extended absence.

This is what Dave Roberts said would happen last night, and so it comes to pass. It’s backdated to June 8, so Smith is only guaranteed to miss the next seven days. Dalton Rushing figures to get most of the playing time in Smith’s absence and is a recommended pick up in the short term if you need catching help.

It’s a pretty remarkable turnaround for Skubal, who had elbow surgery to remove a bone chip a little over five weeks ago. He looked good in his rehab start at High-A thjs week with velocities that were in line with what we saw from him during the year. He can be fired up with confidence this weekend.

The long ball was only his second of the year, but his bat has come alive lately. Tatis entered the day having hit .397/.433/.508 over his past 67 plate appearances, though it came with a .453 BABIP. Fantasy managers will still take it. He’s pulling the ball in the air less than ever this season, with a strangely low launch angle. Adding second base eligibility has helped soften the blow, but it’s wasted if he doesn’t begin to hit like he historically has.

Eldridge also added a walk and a second run scored, homering for the second time in as many days. The 21-year-old first baseman/DH entered this one having hit .447/.512/.737 over his past 43 plate appearances, and Thursday’s performance will only juice those numbers. Eldridge was playing sparingly when he was first recalled from Triple-A, but he’s been in the lineup for 15 of the Giants’ past 16 contests. He’s yet to bat higher than fifth, but manager Tony Vitello will have no choice but to move him up if he continues to slug like this.

Not good. Crochet remains without a return timetable and no immediate plans to resume throwing after suffering a lat strain back in late May. The 26-year-old fantasy ace was diagnosed with a low-grade lat strain initially, but clearly the situation was much worse than preliminary imaging revealed. He’s clearly worth stashing in deeper mixed leagues, but fantasy managers shouldn’t anticipate Crochet returning anytime soon. It’s another glaring indication that the Red Sox are likely to wind up as sellers as the trade deadline in early August.

Weiss expressed confidence earlier this week that Acuña’s latest hamstring injury wasn’t as serious as the one that cost him nearly three weeks back in early May. The 28-year-old fantasy superstar hit the injured list prior to Wednesday’s game against the White Sox after an MRI revealed a low-grade strain. It sounds like there’s a strong possibility that he makes it back to Atlanta before the end of June. However, there isn’t an official return timetable from the club yet.

Cruz is expected to miss at least one month, reports Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It’s a massive loss for the Pirates and fantasy managers, as Cruz was putting together a monster campaign, slashing .264/.350/.472 with 14 homers, 44 RBI and 21 steals in 283 plate appearances over 64 games. He’s still striking out a ton, but has made some serious strides against left-handed pitching, evolving into an upper-echelon fantasy contributor in the process. There isn’t an official timetable from the Pirates, but fantasy managers should anticipate Cruz remaining sidelined until after next month’s All-Star break.

All signs point to Smith hitting the injured list later this week. He’s sitting out his fourth consecutive game on Wednesday night against the Pirates while he continues to deal with neck stiffness. The Dodgers are obviously prioritizing the postseason over everything else, which is why they would rather give their 31-year-old star backstop some additional time off to put the issue to bed rather than take any chances. It’ll be Dalton Rushing handling the bulk of the catching duties in his absence, which is a definite short-term boost to his fantasy appeal.