MLB Player News

Torkelson entered play on Wednesday with zero home runs on the season. He now has five after crushing a 421-foot (107.3 mph EV) solo shot off of Sam Moll in the seventh inning on Sunday. He also smacked a pair of doubles in this one, finishing the afternoon 3-for-4 plus a walk. He’s now hitting .236/.364/.472 with five long balls and 12 RBI on the season. He’s worth a look in deeper mixed leagues if any fantasy managers got frustrated and dropped him last week.

Baldwin clobbered a majestic 407-foot blast to straightaway center field off Red Sox lefty Connelly Early in the opening frame. The 25-year-old slugging backstop has homered three times in his last five games and is up to 12 round-trippers through 45 games after last year’s 19-homer rookie campaign. He’s been a certifiable middle-of-the-order force for Atlanta this season and a key reason why they hold the best record in baseball after seven weeks. He’s been a first-round fantasy asset this season, firmly cementing himself as the top young catcher in the league.

At some point, the Twins are going to have to give intriguing infield prospect Kaelen Culpepper, who is tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A St. Paul recently, a look at the highest level. The obvious move would be to jettison Royce Lewis from third base, especially since he’s hitting .165 overall this season. However, it’s worth noting that Keaschall is hitting just .224/.306/.292 with one homer and 10 steals through 44 games. The 23-year-old former top prospect hit at every rung of the minor-league ladder and looked impressive during last year’s injury-shortened rookie campaign.

Marsee’s abysmal start to the year caused some fantasy managers to jump ship, but he’s shown some signs of life at the dish recently with a pair of homers and three steals in his last six games. The 24-year-old speedster has 13 thefts through 44 games and should finish among the National League’s leaders this year.

Mullins put together his strongest all-around performance of an otherwise lackluster Rays debut, notching a season-high four hits, including his third round-tripper of the season. The 31-year-old center fielder also picked up his ninth stolen base of the season in this one. He’s been a complete non-factor fantasy-wise this year, but he’s putting up some impressive numbers recently, hitting .306 (11-for-36) with one homer and three steals in 11 games since the start of May.

Bleday’s latest multi-hit performance pushes his triple-slash line to a surreal .345/.465/.776 with six homers, 19 RBI and one steal in 17 games since coming up from Triple-A Louisville last month. The 28-year-old has done a remarkable job making hard contact at much more frequent rates than previously in his career with his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate skyrocketing to near-elite levels. He’s also pulling the ball in the air 39.5 percent of the time this season, per Statcast, which has enabled him to hit for much more power. He’s also chasing out of the zone less frequently and striking out less than ever before. Simply put, there’s a lot to like here. He was probably scooped up off waivers a couple weeks ago, but Bleday should be rostered in all fantasy leagues.

McGonigle is still getting on-base at an above-average rate, but he’s hitting just .182 (8-for-44) with one extra-base hit and five stolen bases in 12 games since May 1. The 21-year-old top prospect’s rookie campaign is off to a phenomenal start overall, but he’s going through a bit of a rough patch recently. It’s a small sample size with arbitrary end points, but it’s still worth noting. His minor-league track record suggests he’ll turn things around rather quickly, especially since his plate skills remain pristine during this latest cold spell.

It took a couple weeks for baseball’s top prospect to find his stride, but Griffin has been excellent in the early portion of May, hitting .294/.351/.471 with one homer, seven RBI and three steals across 13 contests during that span. The 20-year-old prodigy has the raw talent to eventually develop into a five-category fantasy force, but it may not happen this season. Context matters. Griffin is holding his own in the majors at an age when most of his peers are still in the lower minors or playing in college. His time as a perennial first-round fantasy selection is coming.

Cruz’s strong performance got lost in the process of teammate Brandon Lowe slugging two homers while Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber went deep for the ninth time in his last eight games. The 27-year-old power/speed combo threat is two steals behind José Ramírez and Nasim Nuñez for the big-league lead in the stolen base department this season. He’s still striking out a ton, but some strides against left-handed pitching have helped make his batting average a bit more palatable than last year’s abysmal .200 mark.

There’s no publicly available Statcast data from this contest, but Hader said afterwards that he felt good physically and was trying to work on his slider in this latest rehab appearance. The 32-year-old closer appears close to returning to Houston’s bullpen after missing the start of the year recovering from a biceps issue. There should be a definitive timetable for his season debut from the Astros at some point soon. He’s close.

Peña returned to action after sitting out a couple rehab contests earlier this week following an on-field collision that left him dealing with neck soreness. The 28-year-old shortstop played Friday’s entire game at shortstop and should be ready to return to Houston at some point next week. He’s likely to get a couple additional games under his belt this weekend prior to being activated.