San Diego Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta was solid on Wednesday, hurling six one-run innings in a 4-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. Pivetta allowed just four hits and a walk while striking out six in this one. After a rough start against the Cubs on April 5, Pivetta has bounced back with back-to-back good starts, including this one against that same Cubs lineup. The 32-year-old's numbers look excellent too, with a 1.57 ERA and 0.83 WHIP backed by his 24 strikeouts in 23 innings. Pivetta is looking like a steal in fantasy, as he was going fairly late and is pitching like a stud so far.

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Oakland Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler made an impact on the basepaths Wednesday, stealing two bases in a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Butler ended up going 1-for-5 in this one, but still contributed with his speed. It's been a mediocre start to the season for the popular breakout pick, who now has a .288 AVG and .784 OPS with a homer and four steals. Fantasy managers certainly expected more in terms of a power/speed combo, but it is still early and Butler is a fairly streaky hitter. He is at least contributing to AVG and steals and could go off at any time, so holding tight is likely the best option for his fantasy owners.

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Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Bailey Falter was excellent on Wednesday, pitching seven shutout innings and picking up his first win of the season in a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Falter allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out two. While it was a good start, the advanced metrics don't really back it up. The 27-year-old lefty hasn't been awful this year, but he hasn't been good either. He has a 4.91 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 15 strikeouts in 22 IP. This start is likely just an aberration, and Falter doesn't need to be added anywhere outside the deepest leagues.

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Washington Nationals starting pitcher Mitchell Parker continued to pitch well on Wednesday, tossing six innings of one-run ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Parker allowed just four hits and a walk while punching out six in this one. Although he took a hard-luck loss, this start makes it four quality starts in a row for Parker to start the 2025 season. He also has a terrific 1.85 ERA and 1.11 WHIP to go along with 16 strikeouts in 24 IP. While some regression is expected, Parker might be worth a look in deeper leagues and could make for a decent streamer against the right matchups in standard leagues.

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Colorado Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia finally got the monkey off his back on Wednesday, hitting his first homer of the season in an 8-7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Toglia did it in dramatic fashion, too, smacking a grand slam to pull the Rockies within one run in the third inning. Unfortunately for the 26-year-old, that is about the only thing that has gone right for him this season. He is hitting .172 with a .475 OPS and has struck out an abysmal 32 times in just 64 at-bats. Yup, he's striking out 50% of the time. He even struck out three times in this game. He was a fairly popular sleeper in drafts this season, but at this point it might be time to move on, at least until he shows some signs of life for more than one at-bat.

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Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager had a solid day at the dish on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with two RBI. While all three of Seager's hits were singles, it is still nice to see him getting on base. The veteran lefty now has five multi-hit performances in his last seven games, raising his AVG to .288 after a slow start to the season. He's still looking for consistent counting stat production, with only five runs scored, three homers, and five RBI to his name so far. That said, he's appearing to turn it around and has a long track record of being one of the best four-category contributors in fantasy. His managers should stay patient and hold on, as better days should come.

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Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper was terrific on Wednesday, going 2-for-3 with a homer and a pair of walks in an 11-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Harper also scored twice and cashed in two RBI. The 32-year-old former MVP hasn't been his usual world-beating self this season, but he is now up to a .269 AVG and .873 OPS to go with 11 runs, four homers, nine RBI, and four swipes. Those are solid numbers, even if slightly underwhelming for someone of Harper's caliber. Still, he is a must-start fantasy option and will likely improve as the season continues.

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Athletics relief pitcher Mason Miller earned his fifth save of the season on Wednesday in a 3-1 win over the White Sox. He pitched a flawless ninth, striking out the side in 12 pitches. He's yet to allow a run through six appearances so far this year and has given up only three hits and one walk compared to 12 strikeouts in the six innings. The flamethrower continues to look like one of the most dominant relievers in all of baseball and should get more save chances in 2025 with an improved A's team.

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Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt was solid on Wednesday, allowing one run over 5 innings in a 6-2 win over the Marlins. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out six. He finished one out shy of making this his fourth consecutive six-inning outing to begin the year, and he now holds a solid 3.04 ERA. It was nice to see his strikeouts back, as he had only 12 in 18 innings through his first three starts. He'll look to keep things rolling in his next time out, currently set to be against the Rays.

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Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday broke out of his slump with a grand slam in Wednesday's 9-1 victory over the Guardians. He had gone hitless in his previous five games entering the day, and the grand slam was only his third extra-base hit of 2025. He's now slashing .216/.231/.392 with two home runs, eight RBI, five runs, and a stolen base in 14 games this season. The top prospect is still clearly a work in progress, but he still has some of the highest upside in the game at only 21 years old. It's worth holding onto him in fantasy to wait for him to figure things out.

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Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz went 2-for-4 with a single and a grand slam in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Nationals. It was his third home run of the season, and his slash line now sits at .222/.343/.426. The batting average has been disappointing so far this season, but Cruz has been a star on the base paths. He has eight stolen bases in 15 games played, which would put him at a pace of over 80 in a full season. That might be asking for a lot, but it's safe to say that he's trending towards blowing past his 22 steals from 2024.

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Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller picked up the win on Wednesday, striking out eight batters over five scoreless innings in a 5-3 victory over the Reds. He allowed three hits and walked two. This was his first win of the season and his best start so far. He cruised through five and was pulled from the game with 78 pitches, so he may have had room for even more. He'll carry a 3.43 ERA into his next start, currently lined up to be against the Red Sox at Fenway.

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Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit two solo home runs in a 5-3 win over the Reds on Wednesday. It was his 7th home run of the season, and he is now slashing .217/.308/.565. He now has five home runs in his past five games. It's exactly what you'd expect from the slugger, who posted a poor .203 batting average in 2024 but hit 34 long balls. His exceptional power for a catcher continues to make him one of the best at the position for fantasy.

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Miami Marlins right-hander Eury Perez (elbow) threw 45 pitches to live hitters on Monday and got up and down three times, according to manager Clayton McCullough. It's looking like Perez is around a month from potentially beginning a minor-league rehab assignment as he makes his way back from Tommy John surgery that he had in April of last year. If the 22-year-old can avoid any setbacks in his long recovery, he could be an option to make his 2025 season debut sometime in the middle of May. He still has a ways to go, but the Dominican hurler is an intriguing fantasy stash because of what he did in his rookie campaign in 2023. Perez posted a sharp 3.15 that year to go with a 1.13 WHIP, 108 strikeouts and 31 walks in just 91 1/3 innings in 19 starts. Given his lack of experience, expect the Marlins to treat him with kid gloves upon his return from TJ surgery.

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Washington Nationals right-hander Michael Soroka (biceps) was scheduled to throw a simulated game at PNC Park on Wednesday, his first time facing live hitters since his March 31 season debut against the Toronto Blue Jays. Soroka left his debut in the sixth inning with a right-biceps strain but was able to resume throwing around a week later and is now ready for game-like situations. If the 27-year-old's sim game went well, he will likely head out on a minor-league rehab assignment and pitch at least once (maybe twice) to build his arm up before he comes off the 15-day injured list. The Canadian allowed four earned runs in five innings in his first 2025 start but should get another shot at a starting rotation spot when he's deemed healthy. In the meantime, righty Brad Lord has replaced Soroka in the Nats' rotation.

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The Chicago White Sox announced on Wednesday that they designated right-hander Mike Clevinger for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Steven Wilson from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move. There was talk of Clevinger potentially serving as the team's closer entering the 2025 season, but that never came to fruition and now he may be out of the organization completely after allowing five earned runs on five hits while walking eight and striking out three in 5 2/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Pale Hose. It was never a very pretty picture at the back of Chicago's bullpen, but things have gotten uglier in the early portion of the season. Fantasy managers desperate for save opportunities are the only ones with Jordan Leasure on their rosters. Wilson should work in a middle-relief role and isn't worth a waiver-wire pickup.

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Chicago Cubs right-hander Javier Assad (oblique) made his first minor-league start for Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday and had a decent performance, allowing an earned run on four hits while walking one and striking out four in 3 1/3 innings pitched. Assad has yet to make his 2025 debut due to an oblique strain that he suffered in spring training, but he's getting closer to being able to rejoin Chicago's starting rotation. The Cubs could certainly use the help after losing left-hander Justin Steele (elbow) for the entire season. In his transition from reliever to full-time starter in 2024, Assad held his own and went 7-6 with a 3.73 ERA (4.64 FIP) and 1.40 WHIP with 124 strikeouts and 63 walks in 147 innings over 29 starts. He's off to a bad start in 2025 due to his injury and he also doesn't have much strikeout upside, but he can serve as a valuable innings eater in NL-only formats.

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New York Yankees right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga (elbow) threw live batting practice at Yankee Stadium on Saturday and again on Wednesday. He is scheduled to throw another live batting practice session on Saturday and Sunday in Tampa, Fla., as he nears a minor-league rehab assignment. The 30-year-old was placed on the 15-day injured list on March 24 as he recovers from right UCL surgery, and he's not expected to return to the Yankees until around late May or early June. Loaisiga had an internal-brace procedure last April but is getting close to pitching in games. The Nicaraguan hurler has thrown only 21 2/3 innings in the big leagues since 2022 due to elbow issues, but he could return to being a high-leverage reliever in the Bronx if he can bounce back in 2025. For now, fantasy managers can continue to ignore him in all formats.

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New York Yankees right-handed reliever Jake Cousins (forearm) is "a couple of weeks" away from throwing live batting practice, manager Aaron Boone said on Wednesday. Cousins was moved to the 60-day injured list on March 27 with a right-forearm strain and isn't eligible to return until May 26. The 30-year-old has been nursing his forearm injury since February, but the good news is he recently was cleared to start throwing bullpen sessions. Barring a setback once he begins facing live hitters and eventually goes on a minor-league rehab assignment, Cousins will rejoin New York's bullpen in the first half of the season. In his first year in the Bronx in 2024, he had a career-best 2.37 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, his first career save, a career-high 53 strikeouts and 20 walks in 38 relief innings in the regular season. Cousins will be a potential late-inning relief option for the Yanks in another month-plus.

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New York Yankees right-hander Luis Gil (lat) was scheduled to resume a throwing program this week, but it has been pushed back around 10 days, according to manager Aaron Boone. Gil had an MRI exam, and Boone said the doctors want to see more healing before he resumes throwing. The 26-year-old injured his right lat in spring training and opened the 2025 regular season on the injured list. It's more bad news from last year's American League Rookie of the Year -- he already wasn't expected to be able to make a return this year until around late May or early June. Despite winning ROY honors in 2024, Gil did lead the league with 77 walks in 151 2/3 innings pitched over 29 starts. Before last season, Gil had made a combined seven starts with the Yankees in 2021-22, so he's certainly no lock to return to his form from a year ago when eventually makes his return to New York's rotation.

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