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Diamond Diplomas: Emerson Transcends

Prospects Live May 19, 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 18):

Report Card

Called Up :

Colt Emerson, SS/3B (SEA): Though it took just over six weeks from the day he signed a long-term contract extension with the Mariners, Emerson finally made his MLB debut over the weekend. The 20-year-old infielder notched his first big league hit (and home run!) on Monday night, and he should see plenty of time at third base as the M’s look to help him settle in at the sport’s highest level. Emerson does not have game-breaking power or speed, and may end up a better real-life player than fantasy asset, but he still should be picked up in most fantasy formats given his potential to be a solid contributor across the box score right away.
Dylan Crews, OF (WAS): The prodigal son returns! Crews’ demotion out of spring training took many by surprise, but after a strong recent run of form, he will rejoin the Nationals outfield after their off-day. Keep an eye on his ground ball rate, but the former second-overall pick could provide some sneaky fantasy value over the remaining months of the season if he can consistently pull the ball in the air.
Carson Williams, SS (TB): The Rays’ most high-variance prospect also came back to the big leagues this week, and should play a good bit of second base for Tampa now that Ben Williamson has a back injury to worry about. Williams has both power and speed in abundance, but strikes out more than just about anyone, so proceed with caution in shallower fantasy leagues.
Zebby Matthews, P (MIN): Fact: Zebulon is one of the game’s coolest names (even if it is his middle name, technically). Also a fact: Matthews cooked in his first start for the Twins in 2026, tossing seven shutout innings and tallying five strikeouts. A rotation spot seems to be his for the taking if the righty can keep up the momentum over his next few outings. Though not an urgent pickup priority, Matthews should be on your watchlist in all formats where he remains unowned, just in case his 2026 does begin to look like a breakout season in progress.
Robert Gasser, P (MIL): Milwaukee’s pitching factory just keeps churning out big league arms, year in and year out. Gasser is the latest Brewer hurler to get the call to the majors, and he delivered a solid outing on Sunday, going four innings and allowing just two runs to the Twins. He is just a deep league target for now, as a likely back-end starter on a team with a number of fringe-rotation types, but he has flashed significant strikeout upside all throughout his minor league journey, which is worth noting.
Brandan Bidois, P (PIT): Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Bidois is a personal favorite prospect for this writer, thanks to his ridiculous stuff and high-leverage potential. He will need to keep the walks in check, but so far, so good on that front through his first three outings with Pittsburgh. Deep dynasty managers should consider scooping Bidois as a holds play if bullpen depth is an area of need.

Locked In :

Joshua Báez, OF (STL): Though strikeouts have been a much bigger problem for Báez in 2026, his immense fantasy upside remains obvious. The outfielder pummeled four home runs this past week, including one off of one of the game’s top left-handed pitching prospects, Thomas White. The Cardinals will likely want to see Báez tone down some of his swing and miss tendencies before any big league call-up, but he is swinging a hot bat right now, nevertheless.
Kemp Alderman, OF/1B (MIA): Speaking of hot bats, Alderman did not look too shabby himself last week, hitting three home runs and driving in six runs total. He did end his weekend on a sour note, though, colliding with the aforementioned Báez at first base while defending his position, and going down in what looked to be serious pain holding his wrist. While no update has been reported yet, an extended stay on the injured list would bring Alderman’s call-up momentum to an unfortunate halt.
Jacob Gonzalez, UTIL (CWS): Quietly, without much fanfare, Gonzalez has begun to look more and more like a former 15th-overall selection this season. The former Ole Miss standout has played all over the infield at Triple-A in 2026, and just had his best week at the plate yet, hitting four homers and racking up twelve runs batted in. The White Sox have been a surprisingly competent team from an offensive perspective this year, and are tied for the fifth-best team OPS in the majors, but Gonzalez may force a big league debut soon anyway if he keeps obliterating baseballs.
Gage Jump, P (ATH): Jump has been hot and cold this season, but looked plenty sharp on Thursday. The A’s talented southpaw struck out six batters over four clean innings of work, allowing just five baserunners in total. The PCL is brutal for all pitchers, but if Jump can string a few more solid starts together, he may find himself in an Athletics uniform before the summer winds down.
Gage Wood, P (PHI): What a great week for pitchers named Gage! The Phillies’ most recent first-rounder has been overpowering Single-A hitters all season long, and his latest outing was so good that the organization decided to jump him over High-A entirely and send him to Double-A instead. The hard-throwing righty threw four innings of one-run baseball in his final Single-A start, punching out six batters and walking none.
Luis Perales, P (WAS): Two-start weeks are more of a rarity in the minors, but Perales made the most of his double-dip. The right-hander threw nine and 2/3 shutout innings across two appearances, recording four hits, four walks, and four strikeouts in total. Keep reading for more on what Perales has to offer at the big league level later on in 2026.

Dropped Off :

Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF (MIN): Rodriguez has been on the injured list since May 6 with a thumb issue, and though he had been performing well when healthy, this is the latest in a series of concerning injuries that the outfielder has dealt with in his young career. If he comes back healthy and hitting well, he will jump back up near the top of the Diamond Diplomas list, but for now, he falls off.

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