St. Louis Cardinals starting pitching prospect Quinn Mathews bounced back on Thursday with six shutout innings and allowed just three scattered hits with no free passes. He struck out six. In his previous start, he allowed a season-high five earned runs and five hits. Overall, the 23-year-old has looked quite strong in his first look at High-A with a 2.84 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, and 3:24 BB:K ratio. Mathews opened the season with Single-A but only needed to log 30 innings to the tune of a 1.47 ERA and 0.82 WHIP to prove he was ready for High-A. MLB Pipeline projects the Stanford product to reach the majors next season. The southpaw is worth following closely in dynasty leagues as he has yet to hit a significant roadblock through his first season of professional ball and is showing that he can round back into form following a disappointing start.

Oakland Athletics right-hander Luis Medina (knee) gave up two runs and struck out six in 3 2/3 innings in his third minor-league rehab start with Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday, throwing 44 of his 72 pitches for strikes. Medina's fastball averaged 97 mph and topped out at 100.2 mph. He rejoined the big-league club on Thursday and made it through a bullpen session prior to the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Medina could now be activated from the injured list during this weekend's series against the Braves in Atlanta. The hard-throwing 25-year-old appears to have recovered from his Grade 2 MCL sprain, but it remains to be seen if the A's will use him as a starter or reliever when he's back. Medina has intriguing pure stuff, but his lack of control is pretty concerning.

San Francisco Giants shortstop Nick Ahmed (wrist) started taking batting practice on Wednesday and has also started taking ground balls on the field as he ramps up his baseball activities. Ahmed was forced from the game on May 9 in the loss to the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning after he took an awkward swing in his previous plate appearance. The 34-year-old veteran had been experiencing pain in his wrist since taking a 108 mph liner off his wrist during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 27. An MRI exam on May 10 revealed his wrist sprain. It's uncertain if Ahmed will go on a minor-league rehab assignment before returning to the Giants. With Marco Luciano (hamstring) day-to-day, Brett Wisely heads into this weekend's games as San Fran's primary shortstop with Ahmed still on the IL. When healthy, Ahmed is more of a glove guy than a fantasy asset for his offense.

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder James Outman has been performing well since being moved down to Triple-A and should be back up in the major leagues fairly soon. Through nine games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, the 27-year-old has posted a .333/.524/.567 line with two home runs, four RBI, two stolen bases, and a 10:13 BB:K ratio. Outman had a big game on Thursday where he tallied three hits, including a home run, and brought in two runs. The former seventh-round pick struggled at the plate during the early part of the season and posted a poor .147/.250/.266 line, which resulted in his demotion. However, Outman is looking much more comfortable since taking some time in the minor leagues and is worth stashing in deeper redraft leagues as he could still provide fantasy managers with a solid combination of power and speed when he returns to Los Angeles.

San Francisco Giants outfielder Austin Slater (concussion) cleared the concussion protocol and started a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday. Slater suffered a concussion after running into the center-field wall while trying to make a catch in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Oracle Park on May 10. He continued to experience fogginess and blurry vision the next day, which prompted the Giants to put him on the seven-day concussion injured list. After missing more than two weeks due to his head injury, the 31-year-old is finally feeling better and has returned to game action. If he continues to progress, Slater could be an option to be activated and rejoin the team this weekend. When healthy, Slater is an option for the short side of a platoon in San Fran's outfield against lefties. He's gone just 5-for-39 (.128) on the year with no homers.