Kansas City Royals outfielder Nelson Velazquez went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI in a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins. After recording only one home run and seven RBI in April, Velazquez found his power stroke in May, with five home runs and 11 RBI recorded. His .221 batting average lies right around his .224 career average, but if you require some power in your lineup, Velazquez is a solid add. His 19 RBI are little to be desired, but he makes for a solid deeper league add especially while he's hitting in the middle of a Royal's lineup that is much improved this season.

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Atlanta Braves pitching prospect Spencer Schwellenbach fared well in his big-league debut on Wednesday versus the Washington Nationals. The right-hander tossed five innings and allowed five hits, three runs, one walk and struck out five batters. The 23-year-old fared well through four scoreless innings to open the game, but outfielder Lane Thomas hit a three-run homer in the top of the fifth inning to give the Nationals the lead and eventual victory. Overall, Schwellenbach pitched well, but it has not been confirmed if he will remain in the rotation or not. Should the Braves stick with the youngster, Schwellenbach would be lined up to face the Boston Red Sox on the road. If the Braves commit to Schwellenbach, he is worthy of rostering in deeper leagues.

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After making his big-league debut in Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader, the Detroit Tigers have sent pitching prospect Keider Montero back to Triple-A Toledo. It was an expected move for the club's No. 7 prospect, according to MLB.com. Montero worked 4 1/3 innings in his debut and was a bag of mixed results. Montero recorded five strikeouts, but also allowed five hits, four runs and one walk. Montero, 23, remains a bright spot on the farm for the Tigers, but will need an injury or two to make an impact at the big-league level in 2024. Montero can safely remain on the waiver wire.

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Washington Nationals outfield prospect Jeremy De La Rosa completed his rehab assignment in Single-A and has been activated to from the 7-day injured list. De La Rosa was assigned to High-A Wilmington on Wednesday and went 1-for-4 with a double in his season debut. The 22-year-old was removed from the club's 40-man roster prior to the season after dealing with a flurry of injuries and struggling offensively since signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2018. De La Rosa will need to improve his numbers if he wants to reach the potential that many scouts saw from him as a teenager, but for now can be left on the waiver wire in all formats.

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The Boston Red Sox recalled infielder Enmanuel Valdez on Wednesday to take the roster spot of outfielder Tyler O'Neill (knee) with the later being placed on the 10-day injured list. Valdez, 25, made will be making his second stint with the Red Sox this season and made his debut in 2023. Valdez performed well in 49 games for the BoSox in 2023 with a .266 batting average and six homers, but has struggled in 29 games this season for the big-league club with a .156 batting average and two homers in 29 games. Valdez has graduated from the Red Sox prospect lists, but it wasn't too long ago that he was one of the more exciting names on it. The infielder is likely to serve a bench role and offers minimal value. He is best left on the waiver wire for time being.

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Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (5-3) picked up the loss Wednesday night, giving up six runs in five innings with four strikeouts, no walks, and nine hits in a 6-1 loss against the Kansas City Royals. The big blow of his day was a four-run third inning in which he gave up a three-run homer to Nelson Velazquez, moving his ERA up on the season to 4.89. After having a 1.48 ERA in April, Ober struggled to the tune of a 5.46 ERA in May. He's also given up seven home runs in five starts this month compared to no home runs in April. Things won't get any easier as his first start of June will be against a hot Bronx Bombers, a team that leads the MLB in long balls this season.

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Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks (1-2) picked up the win after the Rays walked it off for a 4-3 victory in the ninth inning Wednesday night. Fairbanks was able to work around a leadoff double to Miguel Andujar to give up no runs and didn't even need a strikeout to do so. Since Fairbanks has returned from the injured list, he's been excellent, with a 0.63 WHIP in eight scoreless innings of work and eight strikeouts. Before his IL stint, the right-hander had allowed seven earned runs in only six innings pitched while blowing multiple saves. It was unclear whether he would return to the closer role upon activation, given how well Jason Adam has performed this season, but Fairbanks seems to have locked down the closer role for himself once again. Fairbanks is worth starting in most leagues, but you can expect manager Kevin Cash to throw Adam into the closer role occasionally.

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Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson smacked a grand slam on Wednesday night versus the Boston Red Sox, going 1-for-4 in a 6-1 victory. Henderson crushed his 18th home run on the season and has continued to provide plenty of power out of the leadoff spot for the Orioles. Despite his power consistency, his overall consistency with the bat has taken a huge dip in May, with a .218 batting average after batting a solid .280 in April. To this date, the 22-year-old has a modest .254 batting average, along with those 18 long balls, 41 RBI, and seven stolen bases on the season. If he can get that batting average back up into the .280 range or higher next month, Henderson should be right back at the top of the American League MVP race.

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Kansas City Royals outfielder Nelson Velazquez swatted his seventh home run of the year, a three-run homer, Wednesday night while going 2-for-4 with a second run scored in a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins. After recording only one home run and seven RBI in April, Velazquez found his power stroke in May, with five home runs and 11 RBI recorded. His .221 batting average lies right around his .224 career average, but if you require some power in your lineup, Velazquez is a solid add. His 19 RBI are little to be desired, but he makes for a solid deeper league add especially while he's hitting in the middle of a Royal's lineup that is much improved this season.

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Kansas City starting pitcher Seth Lugo (9-1) picked up his ninth win Wednesday, allowing one run on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks in a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins. The ninth win leads the American League in that category and ties him for the MLB lead with Philadelphia Phillies starter Ranger Suarez. Safe to say, Lugo has been a bargain for the Royals after signing the veteran right-hander to a three-year $45 million contract in the offseason. He currently lies at the top in wins, ERA, and innings pitched on the season while having an impressive 1.01 WHIP as well. His next start will put him against the red-hot Cleveland Guardians next Tuesday, whom he has yet to match up against this season.

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Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames clubbed his ninth homer of the season of the two-run variety while going 2-for-3 with an RBI single and another run scored in a 10-6 win over the Chicago Cubs Wednesday night. Adames is currently riding an eight-game hit streak in which he's gone 12-for-31 with two home runs and 10 RBI. The 28-year-old has been productive out of the cleanup spot this season for the Brewers with his .255 batting average, nine home runs, and 39 RBI. That RBI total is tied for 10th in MLB this season. The hot-hitting shortstop will look to continue his hitting streak with matchups against the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies to begin the month of June.

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Washington Nationals' SP MacKenzie Gore recorded 10 strikeouts in 5.1 innings getting the win in a 7-2 win over Atlanta on Wednesday, May. 29.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (elbow) is scheduled to toss live batting practice again on Thursday in Tampa Bay, manager Aaron Boone said prior to Wednesday's game against the hosting Los Angeles Angels. It'll be Cole's third session facing hitters, with a two-inning, 30-pitch outing set to follow on Saturday. Cole still has a chance to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list sometime in June as long as he starts a minor-league rehab assignment sometime in the next week or two. The 33-year-old reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is obviously a must-stash fantasy asset, but the Yankees will have a tough decision to make regarding the odd man out when their ace returns from right elbow discomfort. Right-handers Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil have done an admirable job in New York's rotation, and they remain close to must-roster players at this point in time.

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Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Ty Blach threw seven strong innings in Wednesday's victory over the visiting Cleveland Guardians, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts for his second win of the campaign. After giving up two runs on three hits and two walks in the first inning for the brunt of the damage to his ledger, Blach found a groove with six scoreless innings from that point on. The 33-year-old veteran left-hander will bring an ordinary 4.15 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and a 17:7 K:BB across 34 2/3 innings (five starts) into his next scheduled start against the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field on Tuesday. Severely lacking swing-and-miss stuff, Blach is nothing more than a low-upside fantasy streamer under the most favorable conditions.

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Philadelphia Phillies shortstop prospect Aidan Miller went 2-for-3 with a walk for Single-A Clearwater on Wednesday. Miller's two hits both went for extra bases, one for a double and the other for a grand slam, finishing the day with four RBI and two runs scored. The 19-year-old is having a fine season thus far, slashing .319/.437/.569 with five home runs, 25 RBI, 25 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases. The 2023 first-round draft pick appears poised for a promotion, although he won't see the big leagues for a couple of years. Still, with a good power-speed combo, dynasty managers need to have him on their radar.

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Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano logged his eighth save of the year with one strikeout in the ninth inning of Wednesday's win over the hosting Chicago White Sox, but not before he allowed a solo home run in the victory. Romano served up a solo homer to White Sox catcher Korey Lee, but he still locked down the save fairly comfortably on Wednesday. The hard-throwing 31-year-old right-hander has gone 8-for-9 on save chances this season, but fantasy managers will want to see him sharpen up on his 6.59 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 13:4 K:BB over 13 2/3 innings after the hurler's late start to the campaign due to injury. While Romano is still Toronto's preferred ninth-inning man, he'll need to cut down on the homers if he wants to avoid losing out on save opportunities, as he's already given four long balls.

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Washington Nationals starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore tallied double-digit strikeouts for the second time this year in Wednesday's victory over the division-rival Atlanta Braves, allowing a lone run on six hits and one walk over 5 1/3 innings for his fourth win of 2024. It was a dominant outing from Gore, who shut down the vaunted Braves offense on Wednesday. Over his past four appearances, the 25-year-old former No. 3 overall pick owns a 2.19 ERA with a scintillating 30:5 K:BB for the Nationals. Gore lines up to get the ball next on Monday at home against the visiting New York Mets, a team he owns a 2.40 ERA and 15:8 K:BB over three starts against in his career. He's a must-roster fantasy player with the way he's throwing right now.

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Chicago White Sox catcher Korey Lee accounted for the entirety of the team's offense in Wednesday's loss to the visiting Toronto Blue Jays, smashing his fifth home run of the season in the defeat. Lee skied a solo homer to left field off Jays closer Jordan Romano to score Chicago's first run of the evening in the bottom of the ninth inning, but it wasn't enough to spark a rally. The 25-year-old former first-round pick has stolen three bases over 41 games this year, but his uninspiring .274/.309/.427 triple-slash line with five round-trippers, 12 RBI, and 11 runs scored for the White Sox render him a deep-league fantasy option at best. Lee doesn't have a ton of upside on this last-place club, so fantasy managers can do better.

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Washington Nationals outfielder Lane Thomas filled up the box score in Wednesday's win over the division-rival Atlanta Braves, going 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, a double, a walk, two runs scored, and two stolen bases in the victory. Before making an awesome sliding catch in right field to retire Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies in the fifth inning, Thomas hammered a three-run homer to left field to give the Nationals a 3-1 lead in the top of the frame. Although the speedy 28-year-old right fielder is still slashing a poor .210/.273/.330 with three big flies, 13 RBI, and nine runs scored over 100 at-bats overall this year, he's stolen 13 bases across 25 outings overall and gone 5-for-13 with four-extra base hits since returning from the injured list. The buy-low window in fantasy appears to be swiftly closing.

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Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop prospect Jordan Lawlar (thumb) began his rehab assignment on Wednesday with the team's Arizona Complex League affiliate, going 0-for-2 with a walk in his first game of 2024. The 21-year-old will be eligible to come off the injured list in a couple weeks but may begin with Triple-A Reno once activated. The former first-round pick hit well enough in Double-A and Triple-A last season to earn a promotion to the big-league club but wasn't able to do much with his playing time. He went 4-for-31 (.129) in 14 games, even picking up a pair of plate appearances during the postseason for Arizona (0-for-1 with a walk). Lawlar ranks as the team's top prospect and ninth overall prospect in all of baseball. Despite the initial showing in the majors, he still has offensive upside and should continue to be stashed where possible.

From RotoBaller