Shohei Ohtani is the most “must-see” rookie in the American League. Well, Gleyber Torres is challenging that sentiment with his recent performance. At 21 years, 163 days old, Torres’ seventh-inning solo shot - his sixth homer in the last six games - at Yankee Stadium on Friday night made him the youngest player in A.L. history to homer in four consecutive games. Not only has he been tearing it up over the past week, but with a .338/.397/.754 slash line, nine home runs and 22 RBI over 19 games, Torres has been incredible throughout the month of May.

 

Streaking

Torres is not the only rookie on fire at the plate, as Pirates outfielder Austin Meadows has been sensational over his first week-plus in the bigs. After Friday evening’s 2-for-4 performance that included a triple and two runs scored, Meadows has now hit safely in five straight games and turned in five multi-hit efforts over his first seven MLB contests. Reportedly, the plan was for him to be on the 25-man roster in place of Starling Marte (oblique), who could return as early as Saturday, for just a short stint, but with a 1.345 OPS, three homers and two steals already, Meadows could be forcing the Pirates’ hand.

Michael Brantley just keeps right on rolling, as his pair of hits on Friday has his total at 22 during his current MLB-best 14-game hitting streak. Over the course of that stretch, the veteran outfielder has put up a 1.007 OPS with three home runs and four doubles while striking out only six times.

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman went just 1-for-5 with a run scored in Friday night’s 11-2 win in Cleveland, but his fourth-inning single extended his hitting streak to nine games, during which he is 12-for-34 with four doubles and two roundtrippers. Similarly to his first full season in the bigs last year, Bregman seems to be heating up with the weather.

 

Saturday on the Hill

With every outing this month, Daniel Mengden has looked more and more like a quality, big-league hurler. Through 24.2 innings (four starts) here in May, the 25-year-old righty is sporting a 1.46 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 14-to-2 K/BB ratio. Notably, that span includes matchups against the Astros and Red Sox. Mengden will face the Diamondbacks in Oakland on Saturday afternoon.

Jack Flaherty had shown flashes of brilliance before, but he officially staked his claim to an MLB mound during last Sunday’s start versus the Phillies in which he surrendered only one run on two hits while punching out 13 across 7.2 innings. The 22-year-old righty will be back on the bump for his follow-up performance in Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.

 

You can follow Nate Miller on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad or hear him every Monday & Thursday hosting the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Podcast along with Colby Conway.