Happy Thursday, everyone! We'll start today off by talking about a Fantasy Baseball player who is as close as we'll get (though not quite there) to this year's Vlad Guerrero Jr. Everyone was searching for the next Vlad in their Fantasy drafts this past spring, and we won't end up finding a fourth-round draft pick to emerge as a consensus top-six pick overall -- most likely -- at least not on the hitting side. What we will find is a player who shot up boards and went as early as Round 7 but as late as Round 10 or 11 depending on your home league who may now be a borderline or consensus late first-round pick next spring in Bobby Witt Jr.

The Royals hit the jackpot with Witt and so did Fantasy managers. On Wednesday, Witt crushed a game-changing three-run homer to propel Kansas City to a 5-3 win. Witt is batting .252 with 18 homers, 64 RBI and 24 stolen bases through 444 at bats and has now homered in three of his past six games. Witt is a threat for a 25-30 season -- potentially better -- and will be a 30-30 threat next year for sure. This is only the beginning and he has the type of profile that will shoot up draft boards next spring.

We'll dive into more key takeaways from Wednesday's action, but first make sure you're all caught up on Scott's prospects report -- you can find that here. Also check out Scott's most recent takes on the waiver wire.

You probably didn't expect to be reading about Lars Nootbaar in your Fantasy Baseball Today newsletter, but here we are. Nootbaar connected on his fifth home run of the season on Wednesday and he continues to flash power. Nootbaar is up to 49% rostered in CBS Leagues and that number appears to be on a steady trajectory up. If you need a source of power and upside, Nootbaar makes sense to scoop up and stash.

Matt Manning isn't exactly the name you think of when you're picturing your perfect Fantasy lineup but is it maybe time to start considering him to make a late-season run? Manning was excellent again on Wednesday and threw six shutout innings. He allowed just five hits, no walks and he struck out eight. The biggest difference here was his velocity was up on both his slider and curveball. And he threw the slider with greater frequency. 

Do you think the Texas Rangers enjoy playing at Coors Field or what? They racked up 16 runs and 18 hits at Coors on Wednesday. Nate Lowe ripped his 20th homer and had five RBI, Corey Seager cracked two doubles and two RBI of his own, and even Martin Perez got in on the party with six shutout innings to really seal this one for Texas.

If you're looking for a deeper SP play off your waiver wire, Spenser Watkins might just be your guy. He threw six innings of two-run ball on Wednesday against the White Sox. Watkins allowed just two runs, five hits and two walks while striking out five. Since returning to the Orioles, he's made nine appearances and eight starts. Watkins has a 2.83 ERA over those nine appearances. He's 14% rostered with a two-start week coming up vs. the A's and at the Guardians.

J.D. Martinez is batting .178 with zero homers and a .506 OPS since the All-Star break. It may finally be over for Martinez as a consistent Fantasy contributor.

For a complete recap of every injury, update and more, make sure you're locked into the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast where Frank, Scott and Chris dive deep into every player note. For the CliffsNotes version, we'll recap the biggest news and notes you need to know right here:

• Aaron Boone confirmed that Giancarlo Stanton is on track to return Thursday in Oakland.
• Juan Soto has missed the past two games with back tightness.
• Wander Franco said his surgically repaired right wrist didn't bother him while he took swings in the batting cage and fielded grounders on Tuesday. He expects to resume his rehab assignment within the coming days. 
• Kris Bryant received a PRP injection Wednesday to help with his plantar fasciitis. 
• Ryan Pressly has been unavailable the past two days with neck stiffness.
• Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley is likely to rejoin the team Friday against the Braves. 
• Eloy Jimenez was out of the lineup after getting hit by a pitch on his elbow Tuesday. 
• Zack Greinke was placed on the IL with right forearm tightness, retroactive to August 21.
• Brandon Belt was placed on the IL with right knee inflammation.
• Josiah Gray will have his turn in the rotation skipped this week as the team looks to manage his workload.