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Diamond Diplomas: The Bryce Man Cometh

Prospects Live May 5, 2026

Welcome to Diamond Diplomas! Whether you compete in the deepest of dynasty leagues or want to win the office redraft title, Prospects Live has you covered. Before we dive in, here is a quick overview of the tier system. Both the hitter and pitcher lists feature three “tiers” of prospects. These tiers loosely correspond to the PLive Dynasty prospect rankings of these players relative to one another, but the author (yours truly) will often place and move names around to more accurately reflect both their real-time dynasty value and their potential for major league fantasy production in 2026. For a full breakdown of the tier system used to prioritize players, take a look at the first article in this season’s series here:

Diamond Diplomas 3/31/26: A Quero’s JourneyLucas Morel (@theprospectprof) delivers a rundown of all the players getting their caps and gowns ready for graduation to the major leagues. Class is in session, time to find out who you need to add to your roster or watch list this week.Prospects LiveLucas Morel

Check out the standout performers from the past week in the latest Report Card (all statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference, Baseball Savant , Fangraphs, Milb.com, and TJStats , updated as of the conclusion of play on May 4):

Report Card

Called Up :

Bryce Eldridge, 1B (SF): In a move that Giants fans will feel comes over a month too late, Eldridge got the call to rejoin the big league club on Monday. San Francisco has the second-worst team OPS (.642) in the majors, and its star first baseman, Rafael Devers, has struggled in his first full season with the team, so Eldridge should get plenty of game time as Tony Vitello looks to change his squad’s fortunes.
Joe Mack, C (MIA): In one of the more surprising moves of the season thus far, the Marlins chose to option catcher Agustín Ramirez to Triple-A and bring up Mack to the majors for the first time. Mack provides elite defense behind the dish and has taken strides offensively this season as well, making him an intriguing fantasy pickup in two-catcher formats, especially.
Petey Halpin, OF (CLE): Halpin made his major league debut over the weekend, and while the early returns from his bat have not been too interesting, he did flash some leather by robbing Tyler Soderstrom of a home run in center field. That does little to encourage fantasy managers, however, who should likely wait and see how he adjusts at the plate moving forward.
Didier Fuentes, P (ATL): Fuentes returned to the majors again to start the month of May, but this time appears to be pitching in a relief capacity. He has held opponents scoreless in his two most recent appearances, but the righty’s fantasy value takes a significant hit for 2026 if he continues to operate out of the bullpen exclusively. Long term, dynasty managers should still feel confident in his mid-rotation upside as a starter.
Trey Gibson, P (BAL): Gibson was handed quite a difficult debut on Sunday, facing the AL East-leading Yankees. All things considered, his four-inning start in which he gave up three earned runs was a relatively solid performance. The O’s did option him back to Triple-A on Monday, though, which means redraft managers can safely keep him on the watch list for now.
Logan Henderson, P (MIL): Henderson returned to the Brewers on Sunday and delivered a quality start, striking out eight batters over six innings of two-run baseball. His changeup remains one of the sport’s best cambios , and the recent injury to Brandon Woodruff means that Henderson has a longer leash in the rotation this time compared to his earlier April appearance, which was a one-and-done. Both dynasty and redraft managers should consider him an intriguing FAAB acquisition / trade candidate, especially if his next start keeps up the momentum.
Elmer Rodriguez (NYY): The Yankees have both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón returning from rehab assignments soon, but that did not stop them from calling up Rodriguez to make his MLB debut last Wednesday. Four walks and a hit batter marred an otherwise decent first appearance in the bigs for Rodriguez, who allowed two runs in four innings of work. Expect him to return to Triple-A once New York gets their frontline veterans back healthy, but consider Rodriguez for a streaming spot start in redraft this week if he gets the chance.
Cade Povich, P (BAL): Povich, like Gibson, benefitted from the Orioles pitching staff being short-handed this weekend, and got to make his third MLB start of the year on Friday. Unfortunately, it was his worst outing of the season, as he conceded five runs on seven hits across four innings. Still, he too seems set to get at least one more outing with the O’s before any potential demotion.
Chase Petty, P (CIN): Petty only threw two and 1/3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Chattanooga last Wednesday, but he now joins the Reds for his first taste of big league action in 2026. He fell just one out short of a quality start in his Monday outing, and could be a sneakily useful depth arm for contending fantasy managers if he stays up with the big league club.
Jake Bennett, P (BOS): If you missed out on Payton Tolle in your fantasy leagues, Bennett serves as a decent consolation prize. The 25-year-old southpaw looked solid in his big league debut last week, holding Houston to just one run in five innings. He projects to remain in the Red Sox rotation for the time being and ought to be scooped up in dynasty leagues with 250+ prospects rostered.

Locked In :

Kaelen Culpepper, SS (MIN): Culpepper is still finding his footing at Triple-A, but he looked confident and comfortable at the plate last week. The shortstop crushed three longballs, swiped a base, and brought his OPS for the season up to .783. If he stays hot, Minnesota could give him a call before too long, and he has underrated power + speed upside for fantasy.
Spencer Jones, OF (NYY): The pendulum swings of Jones’ performance are among the streakiest in all of baseball, but to say he is coming off a good week would be an understatement. Five of the outfielder’s ten hits were home runs, and he drove in eleven runs as well. The Yankees still have a logjam in their outfield, so Jones remains in a bit of a holding pattern as far as fantasy relevance for 2026.
Kevin Alcántara, OF (CHC): Four more home runs for Alcántara last week bring his season total up to twelve thus far, the leading total in all of the minor leagues. To make a major league jump sustainable, though, he will need to curb his alarmingly high 36.1% strikeout rate. His power upside is the real deal, however, so fantasy managers in all formats should keep a close eye on his status over the next month in case of a call-up.
Robby Snelling, P (MIA): Snelling has now featured in the Locked In portion of this series three of the last four weeks, thanks to yet another ace-caliber outing. The lefty fanned nine batters across five hitless innings of work, allowing just one baserunner via walk. Miami should put him in its rotation immediately.
Jonah Tong, P (NYM): Tong has looked like a shadow of his 2025 self so far this season, but showed glimpses of his immense upside last week. The young righty punched out six batters over six innings of work, allowing just one earned run on one hit, while walking two. If he strings together a few more encouraging outings, Tong could still make an impact at the MLB level as soon as this summer.
Jack Wenninger, P (NYM): Triple-A Syracuse had multiple arms cooking this past week, as Wenninger joined Tong in delivering a stellar outing. The 24-year-old threw 5 and 2/3 shutout innings and racked up seven strikeouts in the process, showcasing his excellent stuff that had Mets fans excited all spring. He should be penciled in for a 2026 MLB debut as soon as the need arises in Queens.

Dropped Off :

Harry Ford, C (WAS): Ford’s move to Washington from Seattle via trade was seen as a huge opportunity for him to assert himself as a big-league-ready backstop, but he has failed to do so in the early weeks of the 2026 campaign. To date, Ford has a woeful .500 OPS with zero homers or steals in 22 Triple-A games. He now has quite the hole to dig himself out of in order to make his MLB debut later this season.
Tanner McDougal, P (CWS): McDougal was on pace to join the White Sox in the first half of this season, but suffered a flexor strain injury this past week. Now that he has hit the shelf, McDougal will need to build back up to a starter’s pitch count after a significant time away from the mound, though it sounds like surgery is not imminent. Nevertheless, he falls off the Diamond Diplomas list in the meantime.

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