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Lane Thomas smacked a two-run double, drew a pair of walks and scored a run on Wednesday as the Nationals fell to the Padres in San Diego.

Advice: Thomas finally broke through and got the Nationals on the board with a two-run double off of Tom Cosgrove in the ninth inning. He scored later in the frame on a two-run double by Luis Garcia, but the five-run rally in the ninth still fell short. The 28-year-old outfielder was also cut down attempting to steal second base in the ballgame. He finished the afternoon 1-for-2 and is now hitting .243/.302/.431 to go with eight homers, 34 RBI and 17 stolen bases (in 23 attempts) on the season. Rotoworld Today, 3:46 pm

Casas (ribs) took approximately 20 swings in the batting cage Wednesday at about 75-percent effort, Molly Burkhardt of MLB.com reports.

Advice: Casas resumed hitting for the first time since he was diagnosed with a cartilage tear in his left ribcage in late April. He said he felt great during the workout, but he noted that the real test will be to see how sore he is Thursday. If Casas isn't experiencing too much discomfort Thursday, he could be cleared to start hitting off a tee. Casas undoubtedly will require a rehab assignment before returning from the 60-day injured list, and it's uncertain when he might be ready for game action. Rotowire.com Today, 12:36 pm

Kirby (7-5) allowed one run on four hits while striking out seven over six innings to earn the win Wednesday over the Rays.

Advice: Kirby had his way with the Rays on Wednesday as he managed to get through six innings for his third win in his last five starts. Kirby has been on a tear, allowing two runs or less in six consecutive starts, posting a 1.70 ERA with three walks and 40 strikeouts in that span. He has the third best ERA in MLB since May and he'll look to keep it going in a tough matchup vs the Orioles next week. Rotowire.com Today, 12:13 pm

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said Tuesday of Crochet that "we're going to start dwindling his workload down a little bit," the Associated Press reports.

Advice: Crochet already sits at 94.1 innings in 2024 in his first pro season as a starting pitcher. He threw zero innings in 2022 and just 25 frames in 2023 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and his highest innings total in college at Tennessee was 65. Therefore, his workload being curtailed at some point was inevitable. Grifol didn't divulge any specifics in regards to pitch counts or innings totals for Crochet, indicating he'll be flexible start-to-start based on how efficient the pitcher is. The manager also didn't mention anything about Crochet being shut down completely at some point, although it's certainly possible that will happen. It's not an ideal situation for fantasy managers, but those rostering Crochet will want to keep him in their lineups as long as he's making starts. Rotowire.com Today, 6:46 am