In his first outing since returning from the injured list, New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz earned his second victory of the year. Diaz pitched the top of the ninth inning as the Mets were down 2-1 at the time and recorded a strikeout in what was otherwise a clean frame of work. The veteran would be awarded with the victory when outfielder J.D. Martinez hit a walk-off two-run home run off Tanner Scott in the bottom of the ninth inning. Diaz missed the previous 15 games with a shoulder impingement, but looked like his old self on Thursday. Moving forward, Diaz should remain one of the best closer options in the game.

Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Tanner Banks earned his second save of the season in an extra-innings contest versus the Seattle Mariners. Banks came on in the bottom of the 10th inning to lock down the victory and sent Tyler Locklear and Josh Rojas to the bench with strikeouts before getting Luke Raley to pop-out to end the contest. Banks has appeared to be second in command behind Michael Kopech for the closer job, but regardless, Banks doesn't hold much value without that title and even so, the White Sox save chances are few and far between. He can safely remain on the waiver wire moving forward.

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt put together a quality start to earn his third victory of the season versus the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday evening. Pfaadt went six innings and allowed six hits, one run, and three walks. He also recorded eight strikeouts in the contest. Pfaadt has had a rollercoaster of a season as he struggled in April, but got back in track in May, only to start June off on a sour note before Thursday's start. When Pfaadt is going well, he offers managers a good source of strikeouts. Moving forward, Pfaadt will look to keep the momentum going when he squares off versus the Washington Nationals on the road in the favorable matchup.

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan improved his record to 5-5 by defeating the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. Ryan tossed seven innings and allowed three hits, two runs, one walk and recorded five strikeouts. All of Ryan's runs came off a Tyler Soderstrom two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning. The right-hander has been putting together a strong season on the hill and remains a consistent option near the top of managers rotations. Ryan will carry a 3.24 ERA into his next start versus the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday. Managers shouldn't hesitate to start Ryan when it's his turn in the rotation.

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez continued his impressive season by earning his fourth victory of the season on Thursday versus a tough Baltimore Orioles lineup. The right-hander earned his eighth quality start of the season by tossing six scoreless innings of two-hit ball. He also issued one walk in the process of striking out eight batters. Lopez has been one of the biggest success stories this season and his conversion back to a starting pitcher has been a big success thus far in 2024. As good as Lopez has been, managers should be aware that the 69 1/3 innings he has thrown this more is already more than he has tossed in any season since 2019, a season in which he threw 184 innings. As big of a success story that he's been this season, managers should consider if his arm will be able to hold up for a full season as he makes for a good sell-high candidate. Next up for Lopez will be a date against a favorable Detroit Tigers offense on Tuesday.