St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore recorded eight strikeouts without allowing a run across six innings of work, picking up his second win of the year during his start against the Atlanta Braves in Wednesday's doubleheader. Drawing the start for the Cardinals on short notice in Game 2 of Wednesday's twin bill, Liberatore was stellar in what was easily his best display of the season. The 24-year-old left-hander has plenty of untapped potential; he was the top pitching prospect in St. Louis' farm system just three years ago. Although it's unclear how manager Oliver Marmol will elect to use Liberatore going forward, he's suddenly someone to monitor closely in fantasy leagues moving ahead. Liberatore now carries a 3.86 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 36 punchouts and 16 walks over 44 1/3 innings (five starts), tentatively lining up to start next week in a favorable spot on the road against the division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge continued his historic pace in Wednesday night's blowout Subway Series loss to the crosstown-rival New York Mets in Queens, becoming the first player in the major leagues to reach 30 home runs this year. After ripping a single in the fourth inning, Judge took a Danny Young sweeper right down the middle for a ride out of the ballpark to left field to cut the Yankees' deficit to 7-2 in the sixth frame. The 32-year-old superstar is matching the pace he set during his 2022 American League MVP campaign, slashing a video game-like .309/.433/.712 with 77 RBI, 23 doubles, 60 walks, and five stolen bases over 285 at-bats (80 games) for the Yankees in 2024. One can only imagine how much sillier Judge's numbers would be had he not gotten off to such a sluggish start in April.

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani skied a leadoff home run in Wednesday's shutout victory over the hosting Chicago White Sox, setting a club record of 10 straight games with an RBI and making it 1-0 in the first inning. Ohtani's homer was a gargantuan 437-foot shot off White Sox right-hander Erick Fedde, his 26th long ball of the season. The 29-year-old two-way superstar cooled off a bit during late May, but he's slashing a spectacular .310/.425/.736 with 11 round-trippers, 23 RBI, and three stolen bases through 87 at-bats in the month of June. It's unfortunate he won't take the mound in 2024, but we're also catching a glimpse of what Ohtani is capable of accomplishing with the bat without having to worry about the burdens of pitching.

New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez remained red-hot in Wednesday night's blowout Subway Series win over the crosstown-rival New York Yankees in Queens, whacking his fourth home run of the year. Before sharply lining an RBI double to right field and plating Brandon Nimmo to extend the Mets lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning, Alvarez lifted an opposite-field two-run home run to bring Nimmo around to score and extend New York's lead to 3-0 during the third frame. The hard-hitting 22-year-old backstop is on fire right now, slashing .415/.500/.732 with three bombs, four doubles, and 11 RBI in 41 at-bats since coming off the injured list on June 11. He was one of the top prospects in all of baseball for 2023, and Alvarez is starting to look the part, albeit during limited action overall in 2024.

New York Mets left-hander Sean Manaea picked up the win in his team's 12-2 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday. Manaea threw five scoreless innings while allowing two hits, striking out three, and walking five in the outing. While the many walks are concerning from a fantasy perspective, fantasy managers will take the win from the lefty. Manaea now has a 5-3 record, 3.89 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and 76 strikeouts over 76 1/3 innings of work this season.