Third basemen Ian Stewart was sent to the minor leagues by the Colorado Rockies after struggling  at the plate with an .077 batting average and 11 strikeouts in 26 at bats., The move was made easier thanks to the infield depth the Rockies acquired this past offseason. Ty Wigginton should see the majority of starts at third base and now becomes an option in deeper mixed league formats. Jose Lopez could also see some starts at third base from time to time as well.

Drew Storen picked up a four out save for the Washington Nationals in relief of Sean Burnett. With the way Storen has been throwing of late, it would be no surprise to see him in the closer role going forward. Storen now has a 0.77 ERA to go with a 0.86 WHIP on the season.

Tyler Greene could see a few more starts at second base for the St. Louis Cardinals with Skip Schumaker headed to the disabled list. If you are looking for steals in a NL-only format, Greene could swipe a couple for you over the next two weeks. He stole his fourth base of the year today.

The Chicago White Sox bullpen is a mess after blowing another lead Wednesday before eventually losing 7-4 to the Oakland A’s. Chris Sale allowed three hits without recording an out, followed by Jesse Crain who allowed a walk and then Matt Thornton who allowed the game-tying hit in the 9th and then lost the game in the 10th. Thornton who stared the year as closer for the White Sox is now 0-for-4 on saves for the season.

The injury to Tsuyoshi Nishioka in Minnesota might be good news for Michael Cuddyer owners as he got his second start at second base on Wednesday night. Check your league position eligibility rules if you own Cuddyer to see if you might be able to move eventually into your infield where he would have more value.

Corey Patterson has taken over in center field for the Toronto Blue Jays with Rajai Davis on the disabled list. If you are looking for stolen bases in AL only, Patterson is worth grabbing for the next couple of weeks.

Greg Dobbs got the start at third base again for the Florida Marlins and could be seeing a few more at bats in the future as he is the one guy in the mix for playing time that is hitting, plus he is left-handed so he owns the better side of a platoon split with Wes Helms. Donnie Murphy has been struggling this season, hitting just .154 in 26 at bats and has give way to Dobbs the last two games.

Jonathan Herrera is making a little noise in Colorado with the additional playing time he has received with Ian Stewart out of the lineup. Herrera swiped two bases giving him four for the season and is hitting .474 with eight walks and one strikeout. Playing time is going to be a little harder to come by once Stewart returns unless Herrera starts to play over Jose Lopez at second base.

Catcher Chris Snyder was activated from the disabled list by the Pittsburgh Pirates and should own the majority of starts going forward which cuts the value of Ryan Doumit.

With the Boston Red Sox off to an 0-6 start, manager Terry Francona made some changes to the lineup, with the most significant impact being to Jacoby Ellsbury dropping to 8th in the batting order, which could cost him 50 to 75 at bats over the course of the season if he stays in that position.

For all the talk about Ryan Raburn being a sleeper for the Detroit Tigers, especially in those leagues where he qualifies at second base, Brennan Boesch has actually been seeing more time, now with 22 at bats to Raburn’s 15. Of course it helps that Boesch is off to a good start hitting .364 with a home run and five RBI while Raburn is without a home run and batting .267.

Brian Wilson struggled in his second outing since returning from the disabled list, allowing four baserunners in 2/3 of an inning and two runs before being bailed out by Ramon Ramirez. If you own Segio Romo in mixed leagues, I would still hold onto him in case Wilson has to miss any more time.

Stephen Drew returned to the lineup for the Arizona Diamondbacks at shortstop, but Willie Bloomquist still got a start, this time in left field for Gerard Parra with a southpaw on the mound for the Cincinnati Reds. Bloomquist gives the Diamondbacks a leadoff hitter so we’ll see how much time he continues to get with Drew back in action.

Fantasy baseball owners looking for saves finally got an inkling into who may get the early saves in Tampa Bay with Kyle Farnsworth getting the first save of the season. On the other hand, Matt Thornton blew his second save in as many chances for the Chicago White Sox after giving up a three-run home run to Dan Johnson.

If you are looking for a middle infielder in NL only leagues, check to see if Wilson Valdez of the Philadelphia Phillies is available. It is only a stop gap measure until Chase Utley returns, but he is getting consistent at bats after Luis Castillo was released. In NL only leagues, it is often getting the most at bats in a season that is going to propel you up the categories and standings rather that how many stud players you have.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka suffered a fractured fibula against the New York Yankees today and will be out of action for a minimum of four weeks. Matt Tolbert and recent call up Larry Hughes could see time at second base in the interim.

Keep in mind that some players early on this season are getting more playing time due to injuries to players that were ahead of them on the depth chart. Just because your see your guy’s name in the boxscore more often does not mean you should assume he has more value than he really does so make plans to have a replacement ready when the main player is back from injury or the disabled list.

Mike Minor failed to take advantage of his spot in the rotation with the Atlanta Braves filling in for the injured Jair Jurrjens. Minor allowed seven hits and walked four in 4 1/3 innings giving up five earned runs. Jurrjens is expected to return to the rotation on April 16th against the New York Mets.

Casey Blake returned from the disabled list at third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers and went 2-for-3 while hitting second in the order. He is a play in NL only leagues at this point in his career. Jamey Carroll will return to his role as a utility player, but is a good guy to own at the end of your roster in NL only leagues as insurance in case Rafael Furcal or Blake get injured.

Brian Wilson was activated from the disabled list by the San Francisco Giants and allowed three runs in 2/3 of an inning against the San Diego Padres. He should be good to activate for games next week. Sergio Romo will go back to his role as the 8th inning set up man.

Jose Contreras picked up his first save of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies working a scoreless ninth inning with Ryan Madson serving as set up man.

Maybe the Milwaukee Brewers don’t have quite as much faith in John Axford after all, letting Yovani toss a complete game and 111 pitches to get the Brewers their first win of the season. Not sure that is a good idea to let your starter throw that many pitches in April but with the team sitting at 0-4, their confidence was more in a tired Gallardo than in Axford.

On the flip side of the mound, Derek Lowe has shown off a much improved slider through his first two starts and has now struck out 13 in 11 2/3 innings. If he is able to continue a better strikeout rate, he becomes much more of an option in shallower mixed formats.

More proof that PETCO cures all, Aaron Harang with his first quality start since 2007, allowing one run in six innings with six strikeouts. As with most Padres pitchers outside of Mat Latos, they have more value when you can spot start them for home games.

Drew Storen continues to struggle for the Washington Nationals as he allowed three base runners in one inning of work and took the loss, though the run ended up being unearned.

Speaking of non-hitting first basemen, Troy Glaus has to be next up on the possible cut block. Freddie Freeman has started to heat up in Triple-A for the Atlanta Braves with three home runs in his last two games and six RBI and will be eventually knocking on the door if Glaus continues to struggle. Glaus went 0-for-4 Thursday with three strikeouts and is now hitting .170 on the season.

On the other side of the diamond, it is time for Brandon Wood to also go pretty soon I think. Wood is hitting .087 with zero home runs or RBI and only two runs scored in 46 at bats. Not helping matters is still his lack of plate discipline with two walks and 15 strikeouts. If Maicer Izturis is a free agent in your league and you need middle infield help, I would pick him up in advance of something happening.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is supposed to return from the disabled list and could get the start either Monday or Tuesday in Toronto, making him potentially a two-start starter in week 4 with the second start coming at Baltimore. In three starts in Triple-A, Matsuzaka had a 1.62 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP with 13 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings.

Ubaldo Jimenez picked up a win Thursday night with 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball with five strikeouts. He is now 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. While all that is well and nice, he has rang up pitch counts of 115, 128 and 121 in his last three starts. Those are some awfully high numbers and we’re not even into May yet. His trade value is never going to be higher and with his recent pitch count numbers, there is no better time to trade him.

Aroldis Chapman worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings in Triple-A, allowing three hits with five walks and striking out eight. Until he gets his control in order which is going to enable him to pitch past the fifth inning and not blow out the bullpen on days he pitches, he is going to be stuck in Triple-A for awhile.

Hitters:

Jose Guillen hit his 6th home run of the season and drove in three runs giving him 13 RBI on the season. I think there is something to be said for players that hit better when they feel more natural in the field, or in Guillen’s  case as the designated hitter, more comfortable not in the field. Similar story in San Diego with Chase Headley moving back to third base.

Not sure if Guillen’s start is that surprising as he has 25 home run power when healthy, but the hot start of Alex Gonzalez in Toronto continues to amaze as he hit his fifth home run of the season and knocked in two runs giving 11 RBI for the year.

Ryan Braun went 3-for-4 with his fourth home run of the season and he also stole his third base. Braun is hitting .393 with 15 RBI on the season.

Mike Lowell got the start as designated hitter over David Ortiz with a left-hander on the mound and went 2-for-4 with two RBI and his first home run of the season. With the Red Sox below .500 and Ortiz struggling, I think it is much easier to sit him against southpaws and get Lowell some extra at bats.

Looks like the move of Elvis Andrus to the top of the Texas Rangers batting order and sliding Julio Borbon to the ninth spot is benefiting both players. Andrus will see additional runs scored and some extra steals maybe while Borbon can relax more at the plate at the end of the batting order. Andrus stole his 5th base of the season and scored two runs while Borbon went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two stolen bases.

Rafael Furcal is looking like the Furcal of old, going 3-for-5 with four RBI as well as stealing his seventh base of the year.

Sean Rodriguez finally rewarded owners that blew a good portion of their FAAB budget in him in week one, going 3-for-5 with four RBI and his first home run of the season.

Colby Rasmus went 3-for-4 with three RBI and hit two home runs giving him a total of five for the season.

Pitchers:

Zach Greinke allowed two runs in seven innings with eight strikeouts but was handed a no decision when the bullpen lost the lead in the 8th inning.

Yovani Gallardo tossed five scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts to get his first victory of the season. Still is a step below the top tier pitchers until he can get his control in order. Racked up 103 pitches, with only 61 strikes in his five innings of work.

Ho-hum, another complete game for Roy Halladay, hurling a shutout with seven strikeouts. Instead of talking about him winning 20 games, it is quite possible that he picks up 30 wins this year.

Carlos Silva allowed one run in six innings with four strikeouts to up his mark to 2-0 . Silva has a .95 ERA and .63 WHIP through three starts.

Wade Davis worked six shutout innings and struck out six to gain his first win of the season. He had much better control this start, getting nine ground ball outs to two fly outs.

Francisco Liriano spun eight scoreless innings and struck out six to notch his second win of the year. Liriano lowered his ERA to 1.29 and his WHIP to 1.10.

Phil Hughes allowed one hit and one run in 7 1/3 innings and struck out 10 to get his second win of the season.

Felix Hernandez tossed a complete game with six strikeouts, while allowing one unearned run. King Felix improved to 2-0 on the season.

Closers:

Your major league leader in saves…Matt Capps with seven!! Despite that he has a 1.68 WHIP ratio, he has allowed only one earned run in 8 1/3 innings so far. The Washington Nationals have to be happy as it only helps to boost his trade value.

Chad Qualls allowed three runs in 1/3 of an inning in a tie ballgame to take the loss. With an ERA of 10.80 and a WHIP of 2.40, there has to be something wrong with him. If you did not pick up Juan Gutierrez already, now may be the time.

First game back from the disabled list and thrust right back into the closer role, Brian Fuentes took the loss, surrendering a two-run home run to Miguel Cabrera. Fuentes allowed two hits and two runs and had to be pulled from the game. If you own Fernando Rodney, I would hold on to him for awhile.

In other injury news, the Boston Red Sox lost 2/3 of their starting outfield with Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron headed to the disabled list. Ellsbury will be eligible to return on Monday, April 26th while Cameron will miss anywhere from 2-4 weeks.

Darnell McDonald was recalled from Triple-A and was the hero Tuesday night, delivering a pinch-hit two-run home run that tied the game in the 8th innings and then winning the game in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single. Top prospect Josh Reddick was also recalled from the minors and got the start in center field and hit ninth. Reddick went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI in the contest. The recent disabled list transactions should give Jeremy Hermida some extra time in the outfield. Hermida hit eighth in left field and went 2-for3 with two runs scored and delivered his third home run of the season. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond Tuesday night…

Hitters:

The Texas Rangers ran wild against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, stealing nine bases in six innings. Nelson Cruz (3), Elvis Andrus (3), Vladimir Guerrero (2) and Julio Borbon (1) all got in the action.

Troy Tulowitzki went 2-for-4 and hit his first home run of the season. Tulowitzki is hitting .286 on the season with seven RBI.

Ryan Zimmerman went 3-for-5 with two RBI and knocked out his second home run of the year. Zimmerman is hitting .316 with 10 men plated this season.

Vernon Wells shows no signs of slowing down still as he went 3-for-4 and hit his seventh home run of the season, although it has only led to 12 RBI this year.

Matt Kemp went 2-for-5 with three RBI and hit his 6th home run of the season. Kemp is hitting .333 with 18 RBI on the season.

Jose Reyes went 4-for-5 with two RBI and stole his second base of the year.

As much as the Houston Astros say that missing Lance Berkman was not impacting their lineup, their actions on Tuesday seemed to the contrary. The lowest scoring offense in all of baseball broke out for seven runs with Berkman going 1-for-4 with two RBI. Michael Bourn walked twice and stole two bases.

Ryan Ludwick hit two home runs as part of his 3-for-4 night with three RBI. Ludwick is hitting .333 on the season with eight RBI.

Chase Headley went 1-for-2 with the lone run scored for the San Diego Padres and also stole three bases, giving him five steals on the season.

Pitchers:

Two-start starter David Bush delivered in his first start of the week, working seven shutout innings with two strikeouts. Bush has a 2.41 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP through three starts this season.

Who knew the New York Mets best starter was going to be Mike Pelfrey in 2010, at least through the first three weeks anyway. Pelfrey tossed seven shutout innings with six strikeouts to move to 3-0 on the season.

John Danks allowed one run in eight innings with nine strikeouts to pick up his second win of the year. Danks allowed only two hits as batters are now hitting just .162 against him this season.

Kevin Slowey hurled eight innings on one-run ball to go along with nine strikeouts to up his mark to 2-1 on the year. Slowey threw 71% of his pitches for strikes, while making it through eight innings on only 98 pitches.

Matt Latos worked seven shutout innings with two strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season. Tough luck loser Jesus Sanchez allowed one hit and one run in seven innings with 10 strikeouts.

Closers:

Ryan Madson allowed three runs in the ninth inning to blow the save and the win for Kyle Kendrick. Madson surrendered back-to-back home runs to Troy Glaus and Jason Heyward in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs.

Hitters:

Shin-Soo Choo is still a one-man force for the Cleveland Indians offense as he went 2-for-3 with his fourth home run of the season and five RBI. Outside of him and Asdrubal Cabrera, there was no other hitter in the Indians line up with an average above .231 on Sunday.

Dan Uggla went 3-for-4 with two RBI and hit his third home run of the season. Uggla is now hitting .346 on the season.

Jay Bruce doubled his RBI output for the season, hitting two solo home runs in a 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Alberto Callaspo went 3-for-5 with two home runs and drove in six runs as the Kansas City Royals celebrated Alex Gordon’s return from the disabled list with a 10-5 win over the Minnesota Twins. Gordon went 1-for-4 hitting eighth in the line up.

Mark Reynolds went 3-for-4 with two RBI and knocked out his 4th home run of the season.

Ty Wigginton, filling in for Miguel Tejada who is day-to-day, went 2-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI, including his fourth home run of the season. Despite being ninth on the team in number of at bats, Wigginton leads the Baltimore Orioles with 10 RBI.

Pitchers:

As much as the New York Yankees have players considered long in the tooth, they all keep producing. Andy Pettitte allowed two runs in eight innings with four strikeouts to gain his second win of the season.

Ervin Santana picked up a complete game win, allowing one run in nine innings with six strikeouts over the Toronto Blue Jays. His counterpart Ricky Romero coming was stellar once again, working eight innings while allowing one run with six strikeouts.

Matt Garza was dominant again in his third start of the season, tossing eight shutout innings with five strikeouts to move to 3-0 on the season. He now has a 0.75 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP on the season.

Nate Robertson is making a bid to become a mixed league option after holding the explosive Philadelphia Phillies offense scoreless at home for 6 1/3 innings. Robertson struck out four in picking up his second win of the season, while lowering his ERA to 2.20.

Ryan Dempster allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts in a no decision against the Houston Astros. Dempster was in line for the win until Carlos Marmol allowed a run in the ninth inning.

Brian Matusz notched his second win of the season, allowing three runs in 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight. Matusz now has 23 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings on the season.

As I wrote about in the fantasy baseball waiver wire report for week 3, Wade LeBlanc should have some decent value while filling in for Chris Young. LeBlanc got the start on Sunday and allowed one run in five innings with seven strikeouts.

Ian Kennedy had a much better second start this week, working five shutout innings with seven strikeouts. Of course he had the aid of facing the San Diego Padres line up at Petco park, but still it was encouraging.

Barry Zito and Clayton Kershaw were locked in a pitchers duel Sunday, as neither player factored in the decision. Zito allowed one run in seven innings with three strikeouts, while Kershaw allowed one run in seven innings with nine strikeouts.

Closers:

Franklin Morales blew his second save of the season, allowing two hits, two walks and two runs in the ninth inning to the Atlanta Braves. It would not be a surprise to see Rafael Betancourt possibly get a save chance the next time the Colorado Rockies have the lead in the ninth inning.