Boston Red Sox first baseman Garrett Cooper (shoulder) has been scratched ahead of Wednesday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The right-handed slugger was in the original lineup, but has been pulled out due to right shoulder discomfort. Now, Dominic Smith will cover first base and bat sixth versus right-hander Ryan Pepiot. Fantasy managers should adjust their lineups accordingly.

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Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans looked impressive during Wednesday's outing against the Detroit Tigers. The left-hander recorded 12 strikeouts over six scoreless innings during Wednesday's win. Ragans allowed only one hit while walking three batters during this outing. He'll carry a 3.34 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 76/12 K/BB ratio across 11 starts this season. His next start will be against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

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Seattle Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco (hamstring) is returning to second base and will bat seventh for the M's on Wednesday against the New York Yankees and left-hander Nestor Cortes in the Bronx. Polanco returns to action for Seattle after missing over a week with a right-hamstring injury. The 30-year-old veteran switch-hitter has struggled to get things going at the plate in his first year with the team in 2024, as he's hitting .192/.298/.308 with five home runs, 13 RBI, one stolen base and 15 runs scored in 146 at-bats. Polanco has been better in May, though, going 11-for-46 (.239) with a homer and three RBI in 11 games. His fantasy managers will be hoping he can pick up where he's left off this month after missing the last week. Polanco has two hits and an RBI in 10 career at-bats off of Cortes.

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Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen is being rested on Wednesday versus the visiting Chicago White Sox. Alejandro Kirk will do the catching for right-hander Chris Bassitt and will bat seventh in the batting order against White Sox rookie right-hander Nick Nastrini, who is making only his third career start. Jansen got a late start to the 2024 season due to a fracture in his hand, but it hasn't slowed him down at all, as he's currently slashing .319/.390/.653 with a 1.043 OPS, five home runs, 12 RBI and 14 runs scored in his first 72 at-bats. He's been even better so far in May, going 16-for-46 (.348) with three homers and 10 RBI. Jansen has earned more playing time over Kirk early in the year as Toronto's primary backstop. Kirk, meanwhile, is under the Mendoza Line at .198 with a homer and 12 RBI in 81 at-bats.

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Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia (forearm) is back in the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Phillies and right-hander Taijuan Walker, serving as the designated hitter and batting cleanup. Derek Hill is making another start in right field and will hit in the eight-hole for the Rangers. Garcia injured his right forearm during a collision with second baseman Marcus Semien and was held out for the team's last two games. But the injury wasn't serious, and the 31-year-old right-handed slugger needs to be returned to all fantasy lineups as he takes on Walker, who he has never faced in his career. The two-time All-Star has opened his 2024 campaign with a .251/.297/.491 slash line with 11 home runs, nine doubles, 35 RBI, four stolen bases and 24 runs scored in 46 games. However, he's slumping a bit in May, going 13-for-69 (.188) with three homers, 10 RBI and 24 K's in 17 games.

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San Diego Padres second baseman Xander Bogaerts (shoulder) is heading to the injured list, and it appears that veteran outfielder David Peralta will replace him on the active roster. Bogaerts is dealing with a fracture in his left shoulder, although there's no indication of a labrum tear or a need for surgery. He will just need some time for the bone to heal and he intends to play again this year, perhaps by late summer. The Padres are planning for more tests on Bogaerts on Wednesday. The 31-year-old injured his shoulder diving for a ball early in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday against the Atlanta Braves and will now be forced to miss significant time. Luis Arraez should now handle the keystone on a daily basis, leaving Donovan Solano, Tyler Wade and Jose Azocar to battle for DH duties in San Diego. Bogaerts was already off to a weak .219/.265/.316 start with four homers and 14 RBI.

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The Chicago White Sox placed right-hander Steven Wilson (back) on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to May 20) on Wednesday with a back strain and recalled right-hander Nick Nastrini from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move. In his first year with the White Sox in 2024, Wilson has been a key contributor out of their bullpen, going 1-2 with a 2.84 ERA (6.25 FIP) and 1.26 WHIP with 14 walks and 19 strikeouts in 19 innings over 21 relief appearances. However, unless the 29-year-old is able to limit the free passes when he returns from his injury, he'll be hard-pressed to be as fortunate the rest of the season. Nastrini will make his return to the big leagues and will join Chicago's starting rotation on Wednesday to face the Toronto Blue Jays for only the third start of his young major-league career.

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Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (elbow) was forced from Wednesday's game early against the Houston Astros with right-elbow soreness. Before leaving the game early, Neto was hitless in his two at-bats with one strikeout to drop his season average to .249 with a .722 OPS. Kyren Paris moved from second base to shortstop after Neto's injury. It's believed that the 23-year-old injured his right elbow on an errant throw to first base in the bottom of the fifth inning in Houston. We'll pass along an update on Neto's condition when we have one, but for now, fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day. Neto entered the day hitting .251/.306/.425 with six home runs, 18 RBI and six stolen bases in 167 at-bats. If he were to need a trip to the injured list, Paris and Cole Tucker would be the primary options to handle playing time at the 6 in Anaheim.

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The Chicago White Sox placed outfielder/designated hitter Eloy Jimenez (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with a left-hamstring strain and recalled outfielder Zach DeLoach from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move. Jimenez will head to the sidelines after straining his hamstring on Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays. Given the 27-year-old's lengthy injury history, fantasy managers shouldn't expect him to be ready by the end of his 10 days on the IL. It's already Jimenez's second trip to the IL in 2024. He hit 31 homers in his rookie season in 2019 but has not surpassed the 20-homer mark in four seasons since then and has only played in 100-plus games in two of his five MLB campaigns. It's becoming harder to justify holding him in shallow mixed fantasy leagues because of the fact that he's a non-entity in the stolen base department (just three in his career).

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Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang and outfielder Sal Frelick are both out of the starting lineup on Wednesday with a left-hander on the mound. Turang and Frelick are on the bench for the third straight day with the Miami Marlins just bombarding the Brewers with lefty starters. With the two lefty hitters out again for Milwaukee, Andruw Monasterio is playing second and batting leadoff, with Blake Perkins in center field and in the nine-hole against Marlins lefty Jesus Luzardo. Even in the leadoff spot on Wednesday, the 26-year-old Monasterio is a deep DFS sleeper while entering the day with a .182 average (4-for-22) with a homer, two RBI and two steals in just 12 games. Perkins is even more of a DFS long shot at the bottom of the batting order for the Brew Crew. Perkins has four homers while hitting .233 (31-for-133) in 2024.

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Boston Red Sox outfielder Tyler O'Neill is starting Wednesday's game against the Rays in Tampa on the bench. With O'Neill starting on the bench for this one, Rob Refsnyder will serve as the team's designated hitter and will bat fifth against Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot, who is returning from a stint on the injured list. O'Neill started his first year off in Boston strong in April, but so far in May he's gone just 11-for-66 (.167) with two home runs, five RBI and 30 strikeouts in 75 plate appearances and 18 games. It's dropped his season line to .248/.358/.525, but O'Neill remains a lineup regular for Boston and has still provided fantasy managers with a very useful 11 home runs, 17 RBI and 29 runs scored in 141 at-bats. Refsnyder has minimal power but is hitting .333 (20-for-60) on the year. He's never faced Pepiot in his career.

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Atlanta Braves pitching prospectAJ Smith-Shawverfinished April with a 7.11 ERA over 12 2/3 innings. He'd struck out 16 batters but allowed 12 hits and eight walks. After his first appearance in May, he left his struggles behind. On May 1, he threw five shutout innings and struck out five, allowing just three hits and a walk. However, the 21-year-old righty hasn't been sharp since. Over his last three outings, he's thrown 13 1/3 innings, allowed 11 runs (7.43 ERA), punched out 14 batters, and surrendered 15 hits and eight walks. On the season, he's sporting a 6.10 ERA over 31 innings with 30 hits, 17 walks, and 35 strikeouts. Smith-Shawver likely won't rejoin the Braves until he improves his control.

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Milwaukee Brewers third base prospectTyler Blackstarted the 2024 season in Triple-A Nashville. Before getting promoted to the big-league roster on April 30, he slashed .303/.393/.525 with a double, three triples, five home runs, 18 RBI, and three steals. In 23 plate appearances with the Brewers, Black went 5-for-22 with two doubles and two steals. He was sent back to Triple-A on May 9 becauseChristian Yelich(back) returned from the injured list. Since then, Black has gone 9-for-30 with a double, a homer, six RBI, and four steals. Based on his performance so far in 2024, it seems that Black is a top candidate for promotion once someone on the Brewers goes down with an injury.

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Seattle Mariners outfield prospectJonatan Clasewas promoted to the big-league roster on April 15. Before that, he was 14-for-45 in Triple-A Tacoma with four doubles, two triples, four home runs, 11 RBI, and three steals. In the majors, he went 6-for-27 with a double and two stolen bases. However, he was sent back down to Triple-A at the end of April. Since his demotion, he's 13-for-60 with three doubles, a triple, two homers, five RBI, and three steals. Some of the differences in production can explained by a disparity in BABIP. Before getting called up, Clase had a .375 BABIP, well above the league average of .300. Since being demoted, his BABIP is .275. Despite the dip in production, Clase still has an impressive .373 OBP and .400 SLG since rejoining the Triple-A squad. The 21-year-old is on the taxi squad and could be promoted to the big leagues soon.

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St. Louis Cardinals outfielderVictor Scott II started the 2024 season on the big-league roster. He hit .085/.139/.136 in 65 plate appearances and was sent down to Triple-A Memphis on April 21st to improve his offensive production. Unfortunately, Scott has continued to struggle since his demotion. In 101 MiLB plate appearances, he's hitting .180/.270/.292 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, and nine stolen bases. Interestingly, his BABIP is just .206, much lower than the league-average .300. Scott may be getting unlucky when he does make contact. However, he's not making enough solid contact. Either way, he's unlikely to rejoin the Cardinals if his offensive numbers don't improve.

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Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca is not in the team's starting lineup on Wednesday in the contest versus the visiting Boston Red Sox. It's the second straight game that DeLuca has been on the after a stretch where it looked like he was taking over regular center field duties from Jose Siri. Josh Lowe is in center field on Wednesday and is batting second, while Richie Palacios is in right field and is hitting eighth against Red Sox right-hander Brayan Bello. DeLuca will continue to see chances in Tampa's outfield, but it looks like it will continue to be sporadic playing time and could mostly only come against left-handed starters. The 25-year-old former 25th-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019 out of Oregon has hit better than Siri this year, going 12-for-46 (.261) with two homers, 12 RBI and four stolen bases.

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Baltimore Orioles outfield/second base prospect Connor Norby is currently on a nine-game hitting streak with Triple-A Norfolk. During this stretch, he's slashing .412/.535/.706 with seven doubles, a home run, five RBI, and eight walks over 43 plate appearances. In total, he's hitting .292/.380/.518 on the season, with 14 doubles, eight homers, 29 RBI, and 22 walks over 195 plate appearances. Throughout the 2024 season, Norby has been alternating between second base, left field, and right field. The Orioles are stacked with young talent, making it hard for Norby to reach the big-league roster. However, they could be preparing him for a potential utility role when he's ultimately promoted.

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Cincinnati Reds outfielder Spencer Steer (ankle) is back in the starting lineup on Wednesday against the visiting San Diego Padres and right-hander Michael King, playing first base and batting sixth in the order. A sore ankle kept Steer out for the last two games, but he'll return for fantasy managers on Wednesday in the second game of the series. The 26-year-old right-handed hitter will be hoping to get on track at the plate after last appearing on Sunday as a pinch-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers. With Christian Encarnacion-Strand (wrist) currently on the injured list, Steer is likely going to continue seeing most of his playing time at first base. Steer is batting .224 (36-for-161) with four homers, 31 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 161 at-bats on the year. He remains useful in all fantasy formats for his power/speed combination in a dangerous Reds lineup.

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Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jake Fraley (hand) is not in the team's starting lineup for the second game of the series on Wednesday against the visiting San Diego Padres. Fraley was hit by a pitch on his right hand in the first inning of Tuesday's win over the Friars and was forced to leave the contest. The good news is that X-rays came back negative, but Fraley will take a seat for this one and yield right-field duties to Nick Martini, who was recalled from the minors on Tuesday. Martini is hitting seventh in the batting order against Padres right-hander Michael King. Fantasy managers that have been deploying Fraley in starting lineups will need to bench him and check back on Thursday to see if he's active for the series finale. Martini comes into Wednesday's game hitting just .177 (14-for-79) with three homers and 15 RBI this year for the Reds.

From RotoBaller

Detroit Tigers right-hander Shelby Miller (elbow) completed a successful bullpen session on Tuesday. It was the first time that he had thrown off a mound since going on the injured list on May 13 with right ulnar nerve inflammation. The 33-year-old veteran will need to slowly build his arm back up with several more bullpen sessions before he's cleared to face live hitters in batting practice sessions or on a minor-league rehab assignment. Given the fact that Miller is now in a relief role, it shouldn't take him as long to return, which means he has a shot to come off the injured list before June. Miller isn't really on the fantasy radar at all and is currently 3-4 in 2024 with a 4.41 ERA (4.37 FIP) and 1.04 WHIP with six walks and 15 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings pitched in 15 appearances out of Detroit's bullpen.

From RotoBaller