The Boston Red Sox have acquired right-handed reliever Jorge Alcala from the Minnesota Twins for infield/outfield prospect Andy Lugo, both teams announced. Boston designated righty Brian Van Belle for assignment in a corresponding move. Alcala's time with the Twins ended in the wake of an abysmal start to his season. The 29-year-old has thrown 24 1/3 innings of 8.88 ERA ball with 10.36 K/9 and 5.55 BB/9 in 2025, and his two most recent appearances were particularly poor. He yielded a combined nine runs (eight earned) on eight hits in two innings during blowouts against the Athletics (June 5) and Texas Rangers (June 10). While this season has been a disaster for Alcala, he was a useful reliever for the Twins at times from 2019-24. He posted the best season of his career just last year, tossing 58 1/3 frames of 3.12 ERA ball with 8.95 K/9, 3.09 BB/9, and a personal-high 15 holds. The Red Sox are taking a low-risk gamble that he'll return to the form he showed then.

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New York Yankees outfielder and reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge continued to be unstoppable in Wednesday's 6-3 victory over the hosting Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, homering for the third straight game. Judge finished 1-for-4 on the evening with a solo bomb, his 25th of the year, in the seventh inning off reliever Steven Cruz. He also walked once and struck out twice. Judge hit two homers in Sunday's loss to the division-rival Boston Red Sox and now has eight RBI over the last three games. We're running out of things to say about Judge, who is now hitting .394 on the year with a 1.269 OPS with 25 home runs, which is one off the major-league lead of 26 (Cal Raleigh). The 33-year-old slugger is in the 100th percentile in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, xISO and xOBP.

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Seattle Mariners catcher prospect Harry Ford went 2-for-5 with a home run, double, and six RBI in Wednesday's 10-0 win against Triple-A Sacramento. Ford stuffed the box score and posted a career high in RBI. The 22-year-old has displayed a mature approach at the plate this season, with a 36:38 BB:K. His quality of contact has been promising as well, with a 45.6 percent hard-hit rate. Ford is ranked as the number 63 overall prospect in baseball on MLB.com. There's a decent chance we see Ford make his MLB debut at some point this season, with him seeing plenty of reps at DH. His combination of skills would make for a solid speculative add in most formats.

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Boston Red Sox rookie infielder Marcelo Mayer, the team's No. 2 prospect, had his first career multi-homer game in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mayer finished the contest going 3-for-4 with two solo home runs and two strikeouts. It was the first time that he homered at Fenway Park in just his 15th big-league after recently being called up from Triple-A Worcester. The 22-year-old became the youngest Red Sox player with a multi-homer game since Rafael Devers did it at age 21 in 2018. Mayer ended May hitting .222 in his first seven games, but he's now up to a .294 average after hitting his first MLB long ball last Friday at Yankee Stadium. Manager Alex Cora called Mayer's swings "effortless." Mayer is the future at shortstop for Boston, but for now he'll continue to play third against righties with Alex Bregman (quadriceps) on the injured list.

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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez went yard for the first time since May 21 in the team's 5-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. Hernandez came to the plate in a 1-1 tie in the top of the sixth and smashed a three-run blast off right-hander Jeremiah Estrada to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. The homer broke a 17-game dry spell for Hernandez, who finished 1-for-5 with two strikeouts. He now has 11 HRs this season to go with a strong RBI total (47), five stolen bases, and a .261/.288/.488 line in 233 plate appearances. Although solidly above average, Hernandez's numbers represent a notable drop-off from his 2024 output. He amassed a career-high 33 bombs last year and slashed .272/.339/.501. However, if you look at Hernandez's underlying metrics, his .346 xwOBA is right in line with last season's .348 mark.

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St. Louis Cardinals pitching prospect Tekoah Roby allowed six runs on 10 hits and one walk while striking out five across 4 2/3 innings against Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday. Roby got hit around in his Triple-A debut and let up a good amount of hard contact. It was positive to see him reach 85 pitches in the outing at least. The 23-year-old was excellent in 47 innings at Double-A Springfield with a 2.49 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 57:11 K:BB. Roby ranks as the No. 4 pitching prospect in the Cardinals system on MLB.com. We could see the right-hander make his big-league debut at some point later in the season, and he could be worth keeping an eye on in deeper formats.

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Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber smacked his 21st home run of the season in the team's 7-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. The 431-foot solo shot off right-hander Ben Brown was Schwarber's lone hit during a 1-for-3 afternoon, though he did pick up a walk, a stolen base, and an additional run scored. While Schwarber has gotten off to a horrid start in June (5-for-38 with 18 strikeouts and five walks), he's still hitting a prolific .246/.377/.544 with 47 RBI and 48 runs in 300 plate appearances. As a bonus for fantasy managers, the 32-year-old has stolen five bases and is on pace for just the second season of double-digit steals in his career.

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New York Mets outfield prospect Drew Gilbert went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Wednesday's 7-5 loss against Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Gilbert blasted his second home run in June, matching his total in all of May. The 24-year-old had been struggling a bit before tonight's performance, hitting .197/.312/.333 since the beginning of May. He has maintained a sound approach, however, with a 15.9 percent strikeout rate and 13.4 percent walk rate. Gilbert has primarily played in centerfield at Triple-A, and with a solid stretch of weeks, he could push for a promotion sometime this summer and share time with Tyrone Taylor. He would make for a decent add in deeper formats and NL-only leagues.

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Cleveland Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas turned in his best game of the season in an 11-2 rout of the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Thomas drilled a three-run homer, his first of the year, as part of a 3-for-5 afternoon. The 29-year-old averaged 20 homers, 20 steals, and 67 RBI per season from 2022-24, but he has started slowly in 2025 during an injury-riddled couple of months. Thomas has already spent time on the 10-day IL twice, including for a foot injury that shelved him from May 27 until this past Monday. Thanks in part to those issues, Thomas is hitting an unsightly .164/.227/.224 with two steals and six RBI in 75 plate appearances. He's 4-for-14 with an HR against his next opponent, Seattle Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo. They'll face off on Friday.

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Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Bubba Chandler recorded only two outs while allowing one run on no hits and four walks against Triple-A St. Paul on Wednesday. Chandler struggled to find the strike zone, with only 13 of his 31 pitches thrown for strikes. The 22-year-old's stuff is tantalizing, but his inconsistency in command is a bit concerning. In his first six starts of the season, he held a manageable 7.7 percent walk rate. In his last seven starts, he owns an elevated 15.3 percent walk rate. He combats it with a strikeout rate north of 30 percent, but there are some reasons to temper expectations. The right-hander should still be expected to be called up in the near future and is a quality stash in standard formats.

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Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. continued his fantastic start to the season with a three-hit performance in a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. Acuna helped lead the Braves to a win with a 3-for-5 showing that included a fourth-inning two-run homer off Brewers starter Chad Patrick. Acuna, who needed a year to recover from a torn left ACL, has thrived since making his season debut on May 23. The former MVP has posted an all-world .353/.436/.647 line with six homers and 11 RBI over 78 plate appearances. However, in the wake of a second major knee injury (he tore his right ACL in 2021), stolen bases have been absent from his game in 2025. Acuna swiped a whopping 73 bases during his most recent full season in 2023, but he's exercising caution and has yet to attempt a steal this year.

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Los Angeles Angels outfielder Jo Adell connected for his sixth home run of June in the Halos' 6-5 win over the Athletics on Wednesday. Adell took a 95 mph fastball from right-hander Osvaldo Bido 422 feet to left for a two-run blast that gave the Angels a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. He finished the day 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. The former top prospect slumped to a .190/.236/.210 line with two homers and 14 RBI through April, but he has significantly improved his numbers since the beginning of May. Adell is now batting a much more palatable .223/.296/.473 with 13 HRs and 34 RBI over 203 plate appearances. Furthermore, he ranks anywhere from the league's 83rd percentile to its 92nd percentile in barrel rate, xwOBA, and xSLG. After posting underwhelming production from 2020-24, Adell is finally showing signs of a potential breakout at the age of 26.

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New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto homered for the second straight game in the team's 5-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. Soto blasted a two-run shot off right-hander Jake Irvin and notched a single during a 2-for-4 night. After signing a 15-year, $765 million contract in free agency, Soto endured a rocky first couple of months as a Met. He has returned to his superstar form in June, though, having gone 13-of-34 (.382) with four long balls, eight RBI, 13 runs, and 12 walks against seven strikeouts. That spectacular output over a 10-game span has raised Soto's line to .252/.387/.467 with 13 homers, 35 RBI, and 49:55 K:BB through 302 plate appearances. With Soto ranking among the elite in most batted-ball metrics, fantasy managers should expect his production to keep rising over the next couple of months. He may be in for another big game Thursday versus Nationals starter Michael Soroka. Soto has gone 6-for-10 with two HRs, four walks, and one strikeout against the left-hander.

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Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton had a huge Wednesday night to help the team to a 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers. His most noteworthy contribution came with the Twins trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning. Buxton stepped to the plate with two on and hit a mammoth 479-foot home run off right-hander Jack Leiter to give the Twins the lead. It was the highlight of a dominant game for Buxton, who went 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base. Buxton, fresh off back-to-back three-hit nights, is now slashing a robust .279/.339/.518 with 11 homers, 41 RBI, 38 runs, and 11 steals in 221 plate appearances. As always, the question is whether the uber-talented Buxton will be able to stay healthy. Injuries have limited the 31-year-old to just two 100-game seasons in his career. With 51 appearances so far, he has held up well this year and provided high-end production.

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For the second straight night, New York Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (groin) left the game early on Wednesday, this time departing with left-groin tightness in Kansas City against the Royals, according to Newsday's Erik Boland. Chisholm left Tuesday's game early with neck tightness but was in the starting lineup a day later. The 27-year-old was replaced at the hot corner by Oswald Peraza in the bottom of the fifth inning after going 0-for-1 with two walks. It's unclear how serious his groin injury is, but we'd expect him to be held out for Thursday's series finale in KC. If Chisholm lands on the injured list for the second time this year, Peraza would be in line for regular work at third in the Bronx. Chisholm came into Wednesday's game hitting just .215 but with nine homers and 10 steals in 130 at-bats. He doesn't make a ton of contact, but he's in the 90th percentile in barrel rate and has plenty of power/speed upside.

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New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo went 2-for-3 with two solo home runs and a walk in Wednesday's 5-0 victory over the Nationals. He's enjoyed a nice start to June, picking up at least one hit in eight of ten games. The 32-year-old is slashing .236/.302/.439 with 12 home runs, 36 RBI, 32 runs, and four stolen bases this year. He is usually known more for his on-base skills than his power, but there has been a reversal so far this season. Nimmo's walk rate is all the way down to 8.0% compared to his 12.4% career mark, while he is already over halfway to his 2024 home run total. It's still a productive skill set for fantasy purposes, and he should be viewed as a top-35 outfielder moving forward.

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New York Mets starting pitcher David Peterson was masterful on Wednesday against the Nationals, striking out nine in a complete-game shutout. He allowed six hits and didn't walk a batter. It looked to be a great matchup going in against a Washington lineup that struggles against lefties, but no one would have predicted a start this good. He induced 13 whiffs on the night, and all five of his pitches each had an individual called strike plus whiff rate of 30 percent or higher. The 29-year-old has yet to allow more than three runs in a start all season long and will carry a 2.49 ERA into his next outing against the Braves.

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Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez went 3-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Mariners. The slugger has been heating back up at the plate, launching three home runs in the past five games. His .233 batting average leaves something to be desired, but 32 of his 58 hits have gone for extra bases. This has led to a .514 slugging percentage that is third among all third basemen, behind only Rafael Devers and Jose Ramirez. The 33-year-old's 19 home runs on the season tie him for the fifth most in all of major league baseball, and he is on pace to top 40 home runs for the second time in his career.

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Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and a double in Wednesday's 10-1 win against the Tigers. This is about as good of a return as you can ask for, with the 26-year-old homering in back-to-back games after getting activated off the injured list. There's seemingly no rust to shake off after missing over a month with a hamstring strain. He's still slashing only .232/.290/.465 thanks to an underwhelming April, but the youngster still has the upside to be a high-end third baseman for fantasy if he returns to his 2024 form.

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Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker had a monster day at the plate on Wednesday, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, one double, three runs, and three RBI. This was the first time he homered in June, snapping a 10-game home run drought that is rare for the slugger. He's now slashing .276/.342/.498 with 15 home runs, 41 RBI, and 44 runs on the season. The 30-year-old has seen a slight decline in batting average since last year, dropping from .293 to .276. This is surprising since he is striking out at a way lower rate, improving from 28.8% in 2024 to 20.8% this season. That could suggest that even better days are ahead for Rooker, who has maintained his place as one of the best power-hitters in the sport.

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