San Francisco Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. will take a seat against a left-hander in Thursday's series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Casey Schmitt will start at first and bat fifth against Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sanchez. Wade just hasn't been able to find it at the plate early in the 2025 season despite San Fran's hot start, as he's hitting just .102 (5-for-49) with a homer, three doubles, a triple, seven RBI, eight walks and 20 strikeouts in 59 plate appearances. The 31-year-old could probably use a day off heading into a weekend series in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. Schmitt hasn't fared a whole lot better and will be a low-upside DFS play on Thursday. The 26-year-old has gone 4-for-19 with no homers, two RBI and a run scored as a bench option for the Giants. He has never faced Sanchez in his career.

Minnesota Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez (hamstring), who threw a 31-pitch bullpen session on Wednesday, is scheduled to make a minor-league rehab start on Saturday for Triple-A St. Paul. Lopez is on the 15-day injured list currently with a right-hamstring injury but is quickly progressing and might be cleared to rejoin Minnesota's starting rotation if he can get through Saturday's rehab start without any issues. It's possible fantasy managers will be able to use Lopez for a great matchup next week against the division-rival Chicago White Sox. The 29-year-old Venezuelan hurler was off to a good start before his hamstring injury, allowing six runs (three earned) on 15 hits while walking two and striking out 14 in 16 2/3 innings over his three starts. Lopez should be stashed in all fantasy leagues.

Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed reliever David Bednar had another scoreless outing and picked up his third hold in his appearance with Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday night, tossing a shutout inning with one hit allowed, no walks and two strikeouts. After allowing four runs (three earned) and four hits in just one inning of work for the Pirates to start the year before being demoted to the minors, the 30-year-old veteran has now posted five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and no walks for Indy. Bednar had a rough 2024 campaign, too, posting a bloated 5.77 ERA (4.80 FIP), a 1.42 WHIP, 23 saves, 58 strikeouts and 28 walks in 57 2/3 innings pitched. He appears to be regaining confidence in the minors, but it remains to be seen if he'll be able to regain the closer's role in Pittsburgh from Dennis Santana whenever he rejoins the big-league roster.

The Cincinnati Reds announced on Thursday that they recalled infielder Noelvi Marte from Triple-A Louisville and placed infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand (back) on the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move with lower-back inflammation. It didn't take long for Marte to rejoin the big-league roster after he was just optioned to Louisville on Tuesday. The 23-year-old Dominican only saw action in three games before being optioned and went 1-for-6 with a steal and a walk. Jeimer Candelario started at first base on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners, with Santiago Espinal manning third base. Even though Encarnacion-Strand is on the shelf, Marte's opportunities could be limited with the Reds with Spencer Steer (shoulder) getting close to playing first base, which would shift Candelario back to third. At best, Marte is a stash candidate in NL-only leagues for the time being.

MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports that the Milwaukee Brewers are calling up infield prospect Caleb Durbin from Triple-A Nashville on Thursday in order to try and generate more production from third base at the major-league level. Infielder Oliver Dunn was optioned to Nashville in a corresponding move. The 25-year-old Durbin was acquired from the New York Yankees in the Devin Williams trade in the offseason, and he's considered Milwaukee's No. 21 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. Dunn and Vinny Capra weren't getting it done offensively at third with a combined .429 OPS and .188 on-base percentage. Durbin slashed .278/.316/.482 with two homers, three RBI and three steals in 13 games for Nashville. He has 113 steals in 294 minor-league games and will be a waiver-wire option for fantasy managers in deep-mixed leagues that are seeking some speed. Durbin will be making his major-league debut.