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    Masataka Yoshida homers as Red Sox best Yankees

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    BOS Designated Hitter #7
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    Masataka Yoshida went 2-for-3 with a homer and two runs scored as the Red Sox topped the Yankees 4-1 on Saturday.

    Yoshida took Gerrit Cole deep for his first homer since May 24 and second of the year. He came into the day hitting .175/.250/.200 in 44 plate appearances in June, and he’s been sitting against some righties as a result. He could spend a lot of time on the bench in the second half if the Red Sox are able to get healthy or if they acquire some additional offensive help.
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  • BOS Designated Hitter #7
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    Yoshida draws his second consecutive start in the leadoff spot against a right-handed starter while Mickey Gasper got a turn atop the lineup during Friday’s contest. Yoshida is hitting .200 (10-for-50) with zero homers and three RBI over his last 215 games. He’s been a complete non-factor for fantasy purposes this season and figures to lose playing time once Romy Gonzalez (shoulder) is back from the injured list later this weekend.
  • BOS Catcher #30
    It’s either a guy hitting .173/.271/.250 this month (Gasper) or a guy hitting .175/.250/.200 (Yoshida). They’ve combined for three RBI in 103 plate appearances, with all belonging to Gasper. Romy Gonzalez could take playing time away from both (and maybe take Gasper’s roster spot) pretty soon.
  • BOS Designated Hitter #7
    It’s unclear if Alex Cora’s frequent shoehorning of Yoshida into the Boston lineup early on this season played a role in his being let go, but it really should have. It has made sense for the Red Sox to roll out Yoshida against righties since Roman Anthony went down, but he’s still not helping at all, having hit .198 with one homer and five RBI in his last 30 games. It seems unlikely that the Red Sox will make a big change this year, but if Yoshida doesn’t pick it up, perhaps they’d be open to releasing him prior to the last year of his five-year, $90 million deal in 2027.
  • BOS Catcher #30
    Gasper has been dealing with tightness in his groin, and the 30-year-old will get another day off after missing Sunday’s game against the Rangers. Masataka Yoshida will hit leadoff as the designated hitter with Gasper beginning Tuesday’s tilt on the bench.
  • BOS Catcher #30
    Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters that Gasper is dealing with the tightness, but the team also wanted to get Masataka Yoshida in the lineup. Gasper should be considered day-to-day with a good chance to get back in the lineup in the early portion of next week.
  • BOS Catcher #30
    Gasper finds himself at DH and atop Boston’s lineup after going 1-for-5 with a run scored during the club’s 10-run outburst during Friday’s series opener at Fenway Park. The unheralded 30-year-old backstop has hit .272/.326/.346 with zero homers and five RBI in 90 plate appearances since coming up from Triple-A Worcester in mid-May. He can be safely ignored in most fantasy leagues. His presence atop the lineup is a more significant hit to Jarren Duran’s immediate fantasy appeal than anything else. It also seems to render Masataka Yoshida completely irrelevant as a bench bat.
  • BOS Designated Hitter #7
    Yoshida’s home run was his first of the season. He hit a solo shot off Bailey Ober in the second inning. Yoshida came up again in the fourth inning and roped a double off Ober. His OPS is up to .734. Yoshida has yet to clear an OPS of .800 in his four seasons in the majors.
  • BOS Designated Hitter #7
    It continues to be a completely bizarre season for Yoshida as he’s basically been eclipsed by unheralded reserve Mickey Gasper and utilityman Andruw Monasterio for at-bats against right-handed pitching since Roman Anthony hit the injured list earlier this month. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats until that equation changes.
  • BOS Left Fielder #19
    Anthony was checked on by Boston’s training staff following an awkward swing during his first at-bat of the contest. He appeared to be dealing with some apparent right hand or wrist discomfort. He managed to remain in the contest initially before being replaced by Masataka Yoshida in left field. There should be an update on his status shortly. It’s obviously an extremely concerning development for the Red Sox, and fantasy managers.
  • BOS Center Fielder #3
    Rafaela has started 11 of the last 12 games for the Red Sox, so this is a routine day off. Boston didn’t do anything in the off-season to solve their outfield logjam, and now they also have Masataka Yoshida hitting .300/.462/.400 in his first 39 plate appearances, which makes it hard for Alex Cora to get everybody into the lineup. Yoshida will DH on Monday with Jarren Duran in centerfield. Rafaela is having a solid start to the season, hitting .279/.362/.377 with one home run and a 39 percent hard-hit rate, but he’s hitting the ball in the air less and hasn’t yet stolen a base, so the fantasy goodness has not followed so far.

Rotoworld

  • MIL Shortstop #91
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    Brewers SS prospect Jesús Made went 4-for-7 with an RBI and a stolen base in a pair of games on Wednesday for Double-A Biloxi.

    Universally regarded as baseball’s top prospect, Made notched his his second four-hit game of the season just a few hours after being named to the 2026 MLB All-Star Futures Game for the National League. He’s posted seven multi-hit performances in his last 13 games. It’s relatively easy to envision the 19-year-old phenom blossoming into a five-category fantasy force, as he’s slashing .289/.359/.448 with seven homers and 24 steals through 69 games this season despite being the youngest hitter at the Double-A level. Most of his over-the-fence power remains projection at this stage, but he’s already producing elite exit velocities for his age, bolstering confidence that more in-game power will emerge as he continues to mature physically.
  • LAD Right Fielder #90
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    Dodgers OF prospect Josue De Paula went 4-for-5 with two homers on Wednesday for Double-A Tulsa.

    His teammate Mike Sirota also homered while extending his on-base streak to a surreal 65 consecutive games. The tandem were named to the National League’s roster for the upcoming 2026 MLB All-Star Futures Game earlier this week. It was De Paula’s second multi-homer performance of the season as he’s slashing a robust .322/.419/.563 with 15 round-trippers and 21 steals in 73 games. The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported earlier this week that De Paula is basically the lone untouchable prospect in Los Angeles’ system approaching next month’s trade deadline. He’s evolved into a top-five range fantasy prospect in dynasty leagues and has a chance to be a five-category monster as part of the Dodgers loaded lineup once he reaches the majors.
  • ATL Center Fielder
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    Braves OF prospect Eric Hartman launched his 20th home run of the season on Wednesday for High-A Rome.

    Hartman is the first minor leaguer to reach the 20-homer, 30-steal thresholds this season, needing just 71 games to get there. He’s the first hitter in Atlanta’s system to reach those marks since Ronald Acuña Jr. back in 2017. You’ve probably heard of him. The 20-year-old prodigy has boosted his long-term fantasy stock more than any prospect in baseball this year, skyrocketing from relative obscurity to an elite dynasty asset. He possesses off-the-charts athleticism, big-time power upside and elite speed, giving him a legitimate shot at fantasy superstardom if everything comes together.
  • MIN Starting Pitcher #26
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    Taj Bradley allowed four hits and one run with three walks and 11 strikeouts across five innings to earn the victory in an 8-3 win over the Astros on Wednesday.

    This was the good version of Bradley. His velocity was up a bit and his fastball sat just above 98 mph and touched 100 mph a couple of times. With that, he had no fear challenging the Astros’ hitters with it in the zone. Apart from that, he had solid command of his secondaries. The Astros have a very right-handed heavy lineup and Bradley used his more slider-ish cutter breaking down and away against them. Also, he was mostly consistent with his splitter below the zone and even stole a few called strikes with it early in the count when he needed to. His 11 strikeouts matched a career-high and he now has a 3.86 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and 38 walks through 88 2/3 innings this season. He’s lined up to face the Guardians next time out in his final outing before the All-Star break.
  • MIN 1st Baseman #2
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    Kody Clemens went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run on Wednesday against the Astros.

    Clemens smashed a three-run home run off a high fastball from Tatsuya Imai in the second inning that practically ended his night. That was Clemens’ 14th home run on the season after hitting a career-high 19 last year. This has been a sensational multi-year power surge from Clemens who entered 2025 with just 14 career long balls and looks the part of a legitimate middle of the order bat at the moment.
  • HOU Designated Hitter #44
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    Yordan Alvarez went 3-for-4 with a walk on Wednesday against the Twins.

    This was just another day at the office for Alvarez. Three batted balls hit harder than 100 mph, three more hits, a walk, and he raised his batting average to .319 in the process. His season is still so ridiculously impressive as we approach the All-Star break that the Astros’ broadcast flashed a triple crown graphic during this game. With 26 home runs and 60 RBI to go with that .319 average – each of which are top-two in the American League – it’s not a crazy conversation to have.
  • HOU Starting Pitcher #45
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    Tatsuya Imai allowed four hits, five runs, and walked five batters through just 1 1/3 innings in an ugly loss to the Twins on Wednesday.

    Just when you thought you were in, he pushes you back out. Imai’s command issues came roaring back here with an awful 37% zone rate that turned into five walks. Two of those walks precluded a three-run home run from Kody Clemens and after a walk that immediately followed, he was yanked after recording just four outs. His approach is always tenuous because he only has two pitches. To make it even less reliable, his fastball is strictly a zone pitch and his slider is mostly a chase pitch. His slider was erratic here, so his misses wound up noncompetitive and were not chased. So, he wound up not having a leg to stand on. Even after a great stretch before his start, Imai has an ugly 6.14 ERA. He’s scheduled to face the Nationals on the road in his next start.
  • SF Left Fielder #17
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    Heliot Ramos homered and tripled Wednesday in the Giants’ 6-4 defeat of the Diamondbacks.

    Ramos hit a 427-foot homer off Zac Gallen, and his 373-foot triple would have been a homer in 13 ballparks. Playing time seemed like it might be a question after Ramos returned from the IL on Sunday, but with Willy Adames and Matt Chapman down and Casey Schmitt returning to the infield, he’s started all four games since returning. As long as he’s an everyday guy, he should offer a little mixed-league value.
  • SF Starting Pitcher #72
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    Trevor McDonald allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings to beat the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

    He struck out five. McDonald’s first scoreless start as a big leaguer comes after six straight losses and moved him to 3-6 with a 4.42 ERA through 11 starts this season. His strong groundball rate bodes pretty well going forward, but he’s still going to need to produce more strikeouts with his slider in order to turn into more than a bottom-of-the-rotation guy. He’ll face the Blue Jays next week.
  • SF Relief Pitcher #44
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    Caleb Kilian earned his seventh save by striking out two in a perfect ninth inning Wednesday versus the D-backs.

    He struck out Adrian Del Castillo and Nolan Arenado before getting Pavin Smith to ground out tonight. Kilian improved to 3-for-4 in save chances since officially being named the Giants’ closer and 7-for-9 overall on the season.