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David Shields, LHP, Royals: Making his third start for Low-A Columbia, 18-year-old Royals lefthander David Shields struck out seven and walked none in five one-hit innings against Fayetteville on May 26. That continued a streak of fine pitching for the 2024 second-rounder, who now owns an 0.69 ERA through 13 innings with 17 strikeouts and one walk in the Carolina League.

Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Pirates: The Pirates called up Ashcraft for his major league debut on Monday. He pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen in a 5-0 loss to Arizona. Pirates manager Don Kelly said prior to the game that he’ll deploy Ashcraft out of the bullpen in a long relief or bulk innings role, which is a change after he predominantly started in the minor leagues. The 6-foot-5 righty pitched to a 5.03 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 48.1 innings this year for Triple-A Indianapolis. Ashcraft pitches in a fiery manner, deploying a mid-90s heater and two potentially plus breaking balls, and showed renewed confidence in his changeup earlier this spring. The Pirates will opt to let him settle in over shorter stints in the majors, as it appears for now that fellow prospect Mike Burrows, who they called up last week, will remain in the rotation, and Bubba Chandler continues to wait in the wings in Triple-A.

Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox: Smith is dealing with elbow soreness, but an MRI came back clean and he is expected to resume throwing soon. According to Scott Merkin of MLB.com, Smith will work on his biomechanics while sidelined at Double-A Birmingham. White Sox farm director Chris Getz is quoted as saying the White Sox want Smith to stay back over the rubber longer and not rush forward with his delivery. Drafted fifth overall out of Arkansas last year, Smith has logged a 2.10 ERA through seven starts this season, striking out 42 and walking 20 in 25.2 innings.

Chase Meidroth, SS, White Sox: Meidroth was regarded as something of an afterthought in the offseason Garrett Crochet trade between the Red Sox and White Sox. But the 23-year-old Meidroth has emerged as a key member of the 2025 White Sox as everyday shortstop and leadoff batter. In the month of May, he is batting .305/.387/.390 with one home run and seven stolen bases. His trademark batting eye has survived the move from Triple-A to MLB. Meidroth has 16 walks to 16 strikeouts through his first 31 MLB games.

Carson Benge, OF, Mets: The Former Oklahoma State two-way standout and Mets 2024 first-rounder has swung a hot bat for High-A Brooklyn in May. Through 20 games, the 22-year-old hit .343/.489/.643 with three home runs, six doubles, three triples and seven stolen bases. His 19 walks on the month push his on-base percentage to the best at the High-A level. As a former collegian dominating the South Atlantic League, Benge is a prime candidate to receive an in-season promotion to Double-A.

Check out the link below for additional wires on Trey Yesavage, Braxton Bragg, Travis Sykora, Chase Burns & plenty more from the weekend.

Editor’s Picks

Hot Sheet: In case you missed it on your day off, here’s this week’s ranking of the 20 hottest prospects in baseball. Read more…

NCAA Tournament Winners & Losers: Peter Flaherty details who won big, who got snubbed & more from Selection Monday. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

Victor Figueroa, 1B, Padres: We reported Figueroa as an under-the-radar player making noise in his first week of ACL play, and he’s kept right on rolling. He was promoted to Low-A soon after and left the ACL as one of its best hitters, leading the league in nearly every major category while hitting over .600. At 22 years old, however, he was one of the older players in the desert. The new level didn’t seem to faze him either. Figueroa slugged two homers in his first week at Low-A and looked like he belonged. An 18th-round pick out of Florida SouthWestern State College, he’s showing the same mix of power, speed and contact that made him successful in the junior college ranks.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Walker Jenkins (ankle) is still weeks away from returning, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

• Nick Kurtz is day-to-day with a hip flexor injury he sustained on Saturday.

• The Twins placed LHP Connor Prielipp on the development list late last week.

• Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski struck out eight more batters over four innings yesterday. He has a 0.96 ERA over his last 37.2 innings with 50 strikeouts during that stretch.

• Pirates RHP Carlson Reed threw three scoreless in the complex as he returns from a back injury.

• Chase DeLauter hit his first Triple-A homer of the season yesterday.

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