MLB Player News

Rafaela broke open a 2-1 game with a 352-foot home run in the sixth inning that left the bat at 99.3 mph. The 24-year-old now has 14 home runs and 48 RBI to go along with a .271/.314/.483 slash line in the first half. Rafaela was a top-40 overall prospect in baseball coming into last season and had some good moments, but struggled with consistency and wore down as the season went on. He came into spring training this year with far better plate discipline, and we’re seeing a legitimate breakout here. Kudos to you if you got early shares in fantasy leagues this year.

Burns draws the starting assignment a couple days after being scratched from Monday’s scheduled start due to illness. The dynamic 23-year-old emerging ace has recorded a spectacular 1.96 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 72/20 K/BB ratio across 64 1/3 innings over 11 starts this season.

Garcia remains sidelined for the fourth consecutive contest due to a hamstring strain that he suffered last weekend. The 26-year-old remains in a bit of a holding pattern as the Royals have held off on sending him to the injured list for now. There’s a chance he’s ready to return at some point during the club’s upcoming four-game series against the Twins. Fantasy managers should still consider him day-to-day.

Naylor returns to first base and hitting third following a one-game absence due to back spasms earlier this week. The 28-year-old power/speed combo threat is hitting .254/.317/.357 with six homers, 25 RBI and 12 steals in 57 games this season.

Three more hard-hit balls for Dingler today, including a 361-foot homer off Nick Martinez. It was Dingler’s 14th homer, tying him with Shea Langeliers for second among catchers. Hunter Goodman has 15. Dingler is also second with 43 RBI, three behind Liam Hicks.

Melton’s velocity was down a tad today — he averaged 95.3 mph with his fastball, compared to 96.1 mph in his first two starts — but he was able to strike out five and totaling just three in 12 2/3 innings previously. He now has a 1.74 ERA after three starts, and while that doesn’t seem totally deserved, given his strikeout and exit velocity numbers, he’d seem to be worth rostering in most formats. He’ll make his next start at home versus the Twins.

Martinez was due for a stinker after never allowing more than two runs in any of his first 11 starts. He had just one strikeout and three whiffs today, and he gave up two homers for the first time this season. It took his ERA from 1.62 to 2.29. He’ll look to bounce back at home against the Red Sox next week.

Torres doubled on the first pitch of the game and scored on the fifth, as Dillon Dingler singled him home. In spite of a serious decline in bat speed, Torres was starting to warm up at the plate before suffering an oblique strain a month ago, and he has four hits, including a homer, in two games since returning. He’s now at .272/.396/.368 overall.

Mullins’ fourth homer came on only his third barrel of the year. He’s hitting .186/.268/.288 with just a .209 BABIP. Incredibly, though, Statcast doesn’t think he’s been at all the victim of bad luck. Having one of the league’s lowest hard-hit rates and highest flyball rates is just a really bad combination.

This is not a huge surprise since we know that Judge is seeing a specialist today to examine the bone bruise in his rib cage that has been causing him problems. We should know by tomorrow if this will lead to a trip to the injured list, but, for now, Jose Caballero will start in right field again with Ryan McMahon at third base and Paul Goldschmidt at designated hitter.

This was a bit of a concern for fantasy purposes when Arroyo was called up on Monday. The Reds simply have a glut of position players who need at-bats. Spencer Steer will start at second base on Wednesday with Sal Stewart at first base, Nathaniel Lowe at designated hitter, and Matt McLain at shortstop.