Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (groin) made a significant impact during his return to the lineup on Wednesday. The 33-year-old backstop is playing through a Grade 1 left groin strain that he suffered earlier in the week. On Wednesday, Perez smacked a go-ahead two-run home run off right-hander Michael Kopech in the eighth inning. Perez is off to a red-hot start at the plate this season. He has five home runs and 17 RBI through 17 games.

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins came up clutch for his team during Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Twins. There was some thought that Mullins would return to the leadoff spot this season, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Instead, Mullins normally sits in the sixth spot where he has hit well this season. On Wednesday, Mullins was hitless until he blasted a walkoff two-run home run off right-hander Griffin Jax. Mullins now has five home runs and 15 RBI through 18 games.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King looked excellent during Wednesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The right-hander took a tough loss after allowing one run and two hits over 7 2/3 innings of work. It was an 109-pitch game for King who struck out 10 batters over the course of the afternoon. After this outing, King holds a 2-1 record with a 3.33 ERA across four games.

Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (knee) is serving as the team's designated hitter against the visiting Cleveland Guardians and right-hander Ben Lively on Wednesday. Fantasy baseball managers will want to get Devers back into their starting lineups on Wednesday despite the fact that he's had a rather slow start to the year in 2024 by his standards. After missing some time last weekend with a shoulder injury, Devers was removed from Tuesday night's game early with left-knee discomfort. The 27-year-old Dominican infielder has hit just .205 (9-for-44) with two home runs, three doubles and five RBI in his first 12 games this year and he's gone hitless in three career at-bats against Lively, who will be making his season debut on Wednesday.

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that right-hander Garrett Whitlock (oblique) is going on the 15-day injured list after straining his left-oblique in his start on Tuesday versus the Cleveland Guardians. The Red Sox are primarily playing it safe with the move, and the hope is to activate him as soon as he's eligible. Pitcher Joe Jacques is being called up from the minors in a corresponding move. It's a tough break for the 27-year-old Whitlock early in the year, but the silver lining is that it shouldn't keep him out for too long. Before getting hurt on Tuesday, the former 18th-round pick by the New York Yankees in 2017 was 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA (3.41 FIP) and 1.14 WHIP with seven walks and 17 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings over four starts. It's unclear who will enter Boston's starting rotation as a result of Whitlock's injury, but veteran Chase Anderson could be a candidate.