Braves add UVA OF AJ Gracia with ninth pick

This is a major surprise, as Schaffner was viewed by most analysts as a player that would go late in the second round or the top of the third. Clearly the Red Sox like his contact skills, and he’s athletic enough to stick at shortstop. It’s just hard to see any power in Schaffner’s current swing, and we’re not talking about a plus-plus hit tool to go with it. Boston clearly likes the player a lot more and doesn’t care about draft rankings, but on paper, this is a head-scratcher.

Anderson heads to Minnesota after losing his spot on Boston’s 40-man roster earlier this week. The 26-year-old rookie allowed three runs over eight innings of work during a three-appearance span for the Red Sox earlier this year.

It’s merely a procedural move to create a spot on Minnesota’s 40-man roster after Banda underwent season-ending lat surgery earlier this week. The 32-year-old southpaw reliever should be a full-go for spring training.

You don’t typically see guys who post an ERA above 5.00 in their college career get drafted in the middle of the first round, but Peterson’s an exception. The 21-year-old also struck out 102 hitters in his 84 1/3 innings with the Gator, and he shows three pitches that can miss bats including a slider that gets double-plus grades. Peterson’s command needs a ton of work, but the Guardians have done wonders with this type of profile in the past. If they can get him to locate better, Peterson has the type of stuff that you see from starters who pitch near the top of a rotation.

Lebron is one of the most fascinating -- and one of the more volatile -- prospects in this year’s draft class. The positives are obvious, he’s a shortstop with considerable power in his right-handed bat, and that along with his 70-grade speed (on the 20-80 scouting scale) helped him hit 16 homers while stealing a whopping 42 bases in 43 attempts in 2026. He also hit just .277, which is a number that is not terribly impressive with metal bats at the college level for a top prospect -- and he struck out 177 times in as many games in his three seasons with the Crimson Tide. The good news is that there’s no real concern about the defense, and there’s no reason to think he can’t stick at shortstop, although he’d likely make an excellent center fielder if a team wanted to give him a shot. The upside for Lebron is huge -- not the first time that sentence has been typed -- but there’s a wide variety of outcomes for the 21-year-old.

Valdez took Milwaukee starter Brandon Sproat deep with a 421-foot blast to center field in the early stages of the contest before propelling Pittsburgh ahead with a seventh-inning grand slam off Brewers relief ace Aaron Ashby. The power-hitting 22-year-old rookie also added a run-scoring single just for good measure. It was his first career multi-homer performance and gives him nine round-trippers through just 26 games this season. He’ll continue to strike out more than fantasy managers would prefer, creating some batting average risk once his near-.400 BABIP inevitably regresses, but the power is real enough to justify the gamble.

Frelick took Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft deep for his first home run since April 30.

Soto was summoned to protect a one-run lead in the final frame and immediately got into trouble when he surrendered a leadoff single to Christian Yelich before issuing a one-out walk to Brice Turang and a single to William Contreras. He somehow managed to wriggle out of the bases-loaded jam completely unscathed by coaxing a game-ending double-play ball from ensuing batter Andrew Vaughn. He’s converted 12 of 16 save chances for the Pirates this season to go along with a lackluster 4.05 ERA across 40 innings.

Ashcraft concluded a strong first-half performance with a bit of a dud against Milwaukee’s loaded lineup. He coughed up five hits, including home runs to Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick. The 26-year-old is headed to next week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia after posting a respectable 3.49 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 128/27 K/BB ratio across 113 1/3 innings across 19 starts.

Sproat wrapped up the first half by requiring a staggering 83 pitches (51 strikes) to complete three frames in an abbreviated outing to kick off Saturday’s doubleheader at PNC Park. The 25-year-old heads into the All-Star break with a pedestrian 5.16 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 87/39 K/BB ratio over 82 innings. He’s been much better over the last few weeks, but has consistently struggled to work deep into outings.