Over the past couple of days, I've started the newsletter off with a look at my biggest rankings risers and fallers from the start of the season through the end of April, and we're ready for more rankings moves. Because Tuesday and Wednesday are the days that we here at Fantasy Baseball Today HQ dive deep into our rankings and make our adjustments, and there's been plenty to change, as we talked about on today's Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. 

The biggest risers I talked about today were: Salvador Perez, Ryan Jeffers, Willy Adames , Gunnar Henderson, Jo Adell, Shota Imanaga, Jack Flaherty, Nick Lodolo, Mason Miller, Reynaldo Lopez . And the biggest fallers were: Nico Hoerner, Henry Davis, Cristopher Sanchez, Michael Kopech. I wrote about some of those guys over the past couple of days, so you don't really need to hear much more from me about them. 

Instead, go check out Scott White's piece on his biggest rankings movers here. Scott wrote a ton about the state of starting pitching this preseason, and the idea of the "glob" at the position – a gigantic, largely undifferentiated group of pitchers after the difference makers were off the board. And a funny thing has happened in the early going this season: The glob no longer looks like an insulting term.

Last season, the starting pitcher landscape was dominated by mostly similar, mediocre options beginning in the SP40 range of the rankings. And, while the SP40 range is today dominated by pitchers who are tougher to differentiate from one another, the difference right now is that most of those pitchers are actually good. Or, at the very least interesting, depending on how quickly you are willing to buy into the likes of Jack Flaherty, Nick Lodolo, Mackenzie Gore, and others. 

Scott wrote about that group and a whole bunch more in his rankings movers piece, and you can see the full rankings from Scott, Frank Stampfl, and myself here. Plus, my Trade Values Charts have been updated here, so you can see what the overall landscape looks like in both H2H and Roto, too. 

And now that that's out of the way, here's what you need to know from Wednesday's action around MLB, starting with the top waiver-wire targets: 

Jurickson Profar, OF, Padres (68%) – We had a long conversation about Profar that wasn't really just about Profar on today's Fantasy Baseball Podcast, and the general point was fairly straightforward: Profar almost certainly won't sustain his current hot streak. He's 31 years old and very well established as a major-leaguer, and you just generally shouldn't bet on those types of players suddenly establishing a new level of performance. But … Profar is hot right now, with the best underlying numbers of his career, so while I wouldn't drop anyone I have high hopes for – which includes disappointments like Nolan Jones – I don't mind adding Profar and playing the hot hand until he cools off. 

Luis Gil, SP, Yankees (63%) – Gil entered this start with a combined walk and strikeout rate of 50%, so seeing him pitch into the seventh inning with just five strikeouts and one walk was one of the surprises of the season. The stuff is phenomenal, obviously, with the massive strikeout rate and very good quality of contact metrics, and if he can just throw more strikes like this, there's a considerable ceiling here. He's well behind other early-season breakouts like Erick Fedde or Reid Detmers, but if you want to add Gil just in case, I don't mind it. 

Jose Butto, SP, Mets (41%) – I'm not sure I buy it in the long term, but Butto is generating pretty massive whiff numbers, especially with his slider, which generated six swinging strikes on 12 swings today and has a 60% whiff rate overall. The Cubs aren't the toughest matchup right now, but this also isn't the first good start we've seen from Butto, who has a 2.57 ERA and a useful 3.70 FIP. Is he a must-roster pitcher? Nah. But Butto's got the Cardinals up for his next start, and I would be willing to stream him for that one – though probably not the Braves the next time around. 

Connor Wong, C, Red Sox (33%) – Seeing as Wong is hitting .366/.387/.620 in 75 PA so far this season, I fully expected to open his BaseballSavant.com page and see a bunch of red, indicating he's as locked in as Profar has been. Nope. And, even in his two-double, three-hit game Wednesday, he had one batted-ball hit over 100 mph, while one of his doubles had an expected batting average of just .280. He has snuck a few homers over the Green Monster this season, but doesn't hit the ball hard consistently, nor does he really pull it enough to think he can maximize his limited raw power. If you want to play the hot hand at catcher, the bar is so low for No. 2 catchers that he might be helpful. But I don't expect this to continue for long. 

Roddery Muñoz, SP, Marlins (3%) – I'll admit, I had never heard of Muñoz before he made his MLB debut last week, and his minor-league track record is nothing to be excited about – he has a 5.20 career ERA with a 12.1% walk rate. The stuff is actually somewhat intriguing, but I just don't buy the three walks in 11 innings across his first two starts – he definitely benefited from facing the Rockies on the road this time around. And his next start is against the Dodgers (if he remains in Miami's rotation), so even if you wanted to take a flier just in case, it would have to be an incredibly deep league to justify it. 

Aaron Boone said that Gerrit Cole had a "heavy day" of throwing off flat ground Tuesday, but they're unsure when he'll be ready to throw a bullpen session. Boone was asked if the All-Star break is a realistic date to return, and he responded: "I wouldn't even want to guess on that." I'm still expecting Cole to be back before mid-July, but I guess now I should say I'm hoping he'll be back by then if Boone won't even say he expects it. I suspect he's just playing coy, but still. 

Grayson Rodriguez was placed on the IL with right shoulder inflammation, in a move that genuinely came out of nowhere. It doesn't sound like this is too big of a concern, but it's a young, hard-throwing pitcher with an arm injury, so we can't just ignore it either. John Means was activated as the corresponding move, and while my expectations aren't exactly high, given his 8.68 ERA on his Triple-A rehab assignment, means, did at least go seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts in his last warmup outing. He was a very good Fantasy pitcher back in 2021, and that was before the Orioles made the leap as a team – and, more importantly, before they moved their fences back in left field. That move seemed tailor-made to unlock another level for Means (who has a 1.7 career HR/9), and it still could. 

Tyler Glasnow has been cleared to make his next start Saturday against the Braves. He left his last start with a cramp in his right hand.

Zac Gallen will not start Friday in an effort to provide him extra rest. He left his last start with a hamstring injury but apparently he isn't having any issues. Torey Lovullo just wanted to get Gallen more rest. It's not clear when he will start, but it doesn't sound like an IL trip is coming, so it should be next week at the latest. 

Walker Buehler threw five innings of one-run ball in his rehab start on Tuesday. Dave Roberts indicated his next start could be with the Dodgers, though with Buehler's velocity down 2+ mph during his rehab stint, I'm not expecting ace-level production from him. But if he's 80% of his pre-injury form, he can still be a must-start Fantasy option. 

Francisco Lindor was removed Wednesday due to flu-like symptoms.

Josh Lowe will resume a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Thursday. He was close to being activated last weekend and then tweaked his hamstring, and as long as he avoids a setback, should be back soon. 

Zack Gelof fielded grounders and played catch Wednesday, his first time doing baseball activities since landing on the IL.

Both Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Tyler Stephenson have missed four straight with hand injuries. 

Chas McCormick was placed on the IL due to right hamstring discomfort. The Astros had Joey Loperfido, Mauricio Dubon and Kyle Tucker in the outfield on Wednesday.

Masataka Yoshida was placed on the IL with a left thumb strain. The Red Sox started Rob Renfsnyder, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu in the outfield with Tyler O'Neill at DH.

Byron Buxton was removed Wednesday due to right knee soreness. He'll receive an MRI, so we'll just hold our breath. 

Vaughn Grissom is hopeful to return from the IL Friday.

We had multiple suspensions handed out for that Rays-Brewers brawl on Tuesday night. Jose Siri was given a three-game suspension, while Fredy Peralta was suspended for five games and Abner Uribe for six games. Uribe was also optioned to Triple-A Wednesday after struggling mightily with his command, a long fall from opening the season as the team's closer. 

Kyle Hendricks will begin a rehab assignment at Double-A on Thursday. 

Corbin Burnes, Orioles vs. NYY: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – Burnes hasn't quite rediscovered his pre-2023 form, but he's got an ERA nearly a full run below last season and is on pace for 15 wins anyway, because the situation he's in is so good. Is he far and away the best pitcher in Fantasy? No, but he's been my No. 1 SP since Gerritt Cole's injury, and I've seen no reason to move anyone ahead of him. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers @ARI: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K – Yamamoto doesn't have, say, Luis Castillo 's lengthy track record, but we had about 325 million reasons to have faith that he would be very good, and as it turns out, "Did the Dodgers give you the biggest contract in MLB history for a pitcher?" might be a pretty good predictor of how good a player is. Since his terrible debut, Yamamoto has a 1.64 ERA with 40 strikeouts and six walks in 33 innings of work. Yeah, he's an ace. 

Zach Eflin, Rays @MIL: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K – Eflin's 4.17 ERA through seven starts is pretty disappointing, but his 3.67 FIP isn't far off from his 3.50 ERA was last season. Of course, last season, he carried a 3.01 FIP, so I'm not sure how good that should make us feel. His quality of contact metrics and walk rate are right in line with last season, so the strikeout rate is the biggest change, dropping from 26.5% last season to 21%. If he doesn't fix that, Eflin should remain solid, but far from an ace. 

Chris Sale, Braves @SEA: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K – 21 whiffs on 100 pitches, including seven on the slider and nine on the fastball? That's vintage Sale stuff, and while the overall 29% strikeout rate isn't quite Sale at his best, it's pretty great. His 3.44 ERA and 3.03 FIP are both pretty easy to buy into, and Sale is a top-24 SP in my rankings yet again. 

Shota Imanaga, Cubs @NYM: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K – I keep expecting Imanaga to slow down, and it's going to happen at some point – he can't sustain a sub-3.00 ERA forever, obviously. But he's executing his gameplan at an incredibly high rate right now, peppering the top of the strike zone with his very good fastball and then burying splitters at or below the bottom of the zone. There will be times when he isn't quite as sharp as this, and opposing hitters will probably get used to his fastball eventually and start to turn some of those weakly hit fly balls into homers, especially as the weather warms up. But I've moved him into my top-30 starters, so I do think he's a must-start Fantasy pitcher moving forward. 

Joe Musgrove , Padres vs. CIN: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K – I was trying to avoid moving Musgrove down in my rankings today, and it was a lot easier to do with this start on in the background. Musgrove's velocity was up in this one, and maybe that was all he needed to fix the issues with his four-seam and cut fastballs, which had been absolutely horrible for him this season. Musgrove also ditched his sweeper here, a pitch he had been throwing about 14% of the time entering the start, and while it hadn't been a terrible pitch for him, maybe simplifying his arsenal allowed Musgrove to have a better feel for his other pitches. I don't know how much I buy that as an explanation, per se, but given Musgrove's pretty long track record of success before this season, I'm inclined to buy into this apparent bounceback. He remains in my top 30 at SP. 

Bailey Ober, Twins @CHW: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K – There was plenty of hype around Ober this spring, especially after he came out throwing harder than ever before. That velocity gain has been there in the regular season, and his new cutter has been a pretty good pitch, and yet the entire profile still just hasn't been quite as good as last season, let alone the leap many were hoping to see. In fairness, much of the damage against Ober entering this start came in that one rotten eight-run outing in his first start,as this was his first start allowing more than two runs since. So, maybe there's nothing to really worry about here after all. That's where I tend to lean, though I wish I felt more confident in that read. 

Justin Verlander , Astros vs. CLE: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K – Despite a 2.08 ERA through his first three starts, there are some real red flags in Verlander's profile we should talk about. For one thing, it's just 13 strikeouts in 17.1 innings of work, and Verlander's secondary pitches just haven't been especially effective so far – he didn't have a whiff with any non-fastball Wednesday and has seen his whiff rates drop considerably from last season. He also entered play allowing a .423 expected wOBA on contact, though he did a better job limiting damage on contact Tuesday, allowing just six hard-hit balls on 22 balls in play, with just six batted balls sporting an xBA over .300. I'm not ready to write Verlander off, certainly, and maybe we shouldn't be too harsh on him for not striking many Guardians hitters out, given their contact-heavy approach. But if you were hoping for improvement from Verlander after last season … well, that probably wasn't fair to expect from a 41-year-old, now was it? 

Kutter Crawford , Red Sox vs. SF: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K – It seems every game there's a standout from the Red Sox rotation, and Crawford in particular continues to dazzle. His ERA is down to 1.56, and while the underlying numbers don't back that up, they do suggest he has truly improved – his FIP is down from 3.83 to 2.54 this season. Much of that is the result of a 2.0% HR/FB rate, of course, so there's probably some regression coming here. But that doesn't necessarily mean I think Crawford should be viewed as a sell-high candidate. He's definitely a top-60 SP right now, and that might be underselling him. 

Triston McKenzie , Guardians @HOU: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K –. That's three pretty solid starts in a row for him now, with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings with six walks, and he especially had his curveball working Wednesday, with nine swinging strikes on 15 swings. The problem? He gave up a ton of hard contact, with a 95.4 mph average exit velocity on 19 balls in play, with nine of them sporting an xBA of at least .400 (he somehow recorded five outs on those nine balls, by the way).  If I had McKenzie on any of my teams, I would have been ready to drop him after the first few starts of the season, and I'll be honest, I still think I would right now, though I'm not sure there's an obvious candidate to add to replace him right now. 

Seth Lugo, Royals @TOR: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K – Hey, the strikeouts are back! Lugo got off to a very good start to the season, allowing just seven runs in his first four starts, but he did that with just 10 strikeouts in 25 innings. That made it pretty easy to dismiss him, but now he has 17 strikeouts in 14 innings over the past two starts, while allowing just one run in that stretch. I'm still not sure I view Lugo as a must-start or even must-roster pitcher, necessarily, but if you don't have anyone compelling available on your waiver wire, hanging on to him for what might be a two-start week next week is reasonable now. 

Graham Ashcraft, Reds @SD: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – We've seen stretches like this from Ashcraft before, and I just don't really see much reason this time will be different. He does have a higher strikeout rate than we're used to seeing from him, though it's worth noting that he does have just two starts out of six with as many strikeouts as innings, so I'm not sure how much I buy that, either. He's probably fine to use against the Diamondbacks in his next couple of starts if there's nothing better on the waiver wire, but I can't say I'm excited about Ashcraft yet. 

Jose Alvarado, RP, Phillies – Unfortunately for our purposes, I just don't think the Phillies really have a closer. Alvarado worked the eighth inning Wednesday with the 3-4-5 hitters up for the Angels , and then Gregory Soto worked the ninth for his second save. There will be plenty of times when the heart of the opposing order is up in the ninth inning and that's when Alvarado will pitch, but the Phillies clearly aren't going to just save him for every three-run lead in the ninth. He has half of the team's 10 saves, and is clearly a must-roster player given his upside and the potential for 20-25 saves. But if you're expecting him to be among the league leaders in saves or anything close to it, that's not going to happen. 

Willy Adames, SS, Brewers – The bounceback season is happening! Adames disappointed in 2023, but he's been especially locked in so far this season, as he homered twice Wednesday and now has six for the season while hitting .278/.373/.496. His underlying metrics don't quite back it up so far, but with his pull rate up to 51.2%, he might be able to keep outrunning them en route to a career year. It's possible. 

Jo Adell, OF, Angels – There's been a lot of optimism about Adell in Fantasy circles of late, so it's only right that we highlight when things don't go right, too. And they really didn't Wednesday, as he struck out four times in five hitless trips to the plate. His strikeout rate is still 26.5%, a significant improvement from his 34.2% career rate, and if he can keep it in that range, I do think optimism around Adell is warranted. But, given his track record, we can't just ignore the warts. This is still an incredibly risky profile.