Ceddanne It Again

Ceddanne Rafaela (BOS): 3-5, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.

Rafaela, 25, has grown so much over the past two years with this team. He’s cleaned up his chase% a bit, is making slightly more contact in-zone, and his SwStr% is easily the best mark of his young career. He is by no means a finished product, but it’s hard not to appreciate how far he’s come, elevating his ceiling from a pure-defensive outfielder to perhaps an intriguing two-way player with premium defense.

Yesterday, Rafaela knocked in four runs and launched a 98 EV / 362 FT home run off Framber Valdez. He later singled off Valdez (99.5 EV / .900 xBA) before the southpaw threw his second in-game tantrum in as many years. Dating back to April 25th, Rafaela is 13-for-38 (.342 BA) with a 152 wRC+. Of those thirteen hits, four have been for extra bases. Like many bats in the Red Sox lineup, Rafaela just needs to keep elevating the baseball with authority — results will come.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Tuesday…

Bryce Harper (PHI): 3-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB.

Not elite? No problem. Harper currently owns the best wRC+ of his career since 2021. He’s slashing .286/.377/.571 with an exceptional .406 xwOBA and has posted the lowest K% (16%) and best zCon% (88%) of his career, point blank. Harper launched two longballs yesterday against the Athletics — a 97.9 EV / 393 FT shot off Luis Severino, and a monster 107.2 EV / 408 FT bomb off Tyler Ferguson. Don’t poke the bear… or maybe if you’re the Phillies front office, do exactly that.

 

Isaac Collins (KCR): 3-3, 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI, SB.

Collins, despite being somewhat of a regression candidate, has been pretty identical in production compared to the year prior in Milwaukee. He’s slashed .255/.366/.394 with a 114 wRC+ and he put that on full display yesterday, amassing three hits and even stealing a base. All EVs were above 100 mph — 100.3, 104.9, and 105.9, respectively — and all came against standout righty Gavin Williams. Collins owns a 1.000 OPS and 176 wRC+ dating back to April 20th.

 

Liam Hicks (MIA): 4-5, HR, R, 3 RBI.

Hicks has been one of my favorite, under-the-radar players in baseball dating back to last season (along with teammate Otto Lopez, whom I talk about a lot), but I’ve never really seen all that much fantasy value with him. That was, until this season. Hicks has slashed .321/.372/.575 with a 156 wRC+ while limiting strikeouts at an elite rate. He’s running a jaw-dropping 3.3% SwStr rate, plus boosted a bunch of quality of contact numbers like average EV, HH%, and barrel%. Not to mention, he’s pulling the ball more often as well. Hicks generated four EVs of 100+ mph yesterday: 100.6, 104.1, 104.2, and 107.5, respectively.

 

Samuel Basallo (BAL): 3-4, 2B, 3B, R, 4 RBI.

Basallo is a guy that should be rostered in a lot more leagues whether you’re utilizing him as a starter, backup, or pure utility option. All the kid has done in 2026 is rake — he owns a .255/.324/.469 slash line with a 119 wRC+ over 108 plate appearances and I’m confident he’s only going to get better. Over his last ten games, Basallo has turned in a monster 1.105 OPS and 206 wRC+ thanks to a barrage of extra base hits (15 hits — 8 singles, 7 XBH over that span). The 21-year-old posted EVs of 109.7 and 111.3 mph against none other than Sandy Alcantara yesterday.

 

Michael Busch (CHC): 3-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.

Busch was torching baseballs left and right against the Reds yesterday, turning in EVs of 98.7, 101.3, and 105.8 mph. His clutch eighth inning home run is what tied the game, and eventually helped the Cubs come out on top against their division rival. That homer (105.8 EV / 427 FT) is out in all 30 ballparks, per statcast. Since May, the 28-year-old has 8 hits — five for extra bases, a 1.487 OPS, and a 288 wRC+. Just an unreal string of performances.

 

Mike Trout (LAA): 2-2, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB.

It’s so fun to watch Trout terrorize opposing pitching staffs again. The 34-year-old launched his 11th home run of the season yesterday, showcasing a 102.1 EV and traveling 367 FT. He also lined a 103 EV single later in the game, plus added two walks in the middle of those plate appearances. The future Hall of Famer has nearly as many walks (36) as strikeouts (39) and is running the highest wRC+ of his career since 2022 — ironically, Trout’s OPS this season is just .001 higher than it was in 2022.

 

Ezequiel Duran (TEX): 3-4, 3B, R, RBI, BB.

Duran did damage against his former team, amassing two singles off starter Elmer Rodríguez and later launching a 105.2 EV / 401 FT triple — a ball that is surprisingly only gone in 3 of 30 ballparks. Duran has been quite the offensive weapon since the start of the year, slashing .301/.370/.452 with a 132 wRC+. His bat speed is up a hair, he’s swinging faster at a higher rate than ever before, and that’s fueled a massive jump in average HH% (+11%), EV (+6 mph) and maxEV (+2.4 mph).

 

Sung-Mun Song (SDP): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB.

Song, 29, forced his way onto San Diego’s roster after slashing .293/.364/.354 with a 32% hard-hit rate in Triple-A. His first career hit came against ace Logan Webb, scorching a 100.8 EV double, and later tacked on an infield single in the eighth inning for good measure. The Korean product featured an 18% PullAir rate, .334 xwOBA, and 42% LA SwSpot rate in the minors since venturing overseas. Given his versatility and hit-ability, he may be an intriguing stash pickup on your fantasy team.

 

Luke Keaschall (MIN): 1-2, 2 R, 3 BB, SB.

Keaschall reached on a perfectly placed infield single in the second inning, but the big takeaway from yesterday’s action was his ability to draw ball four. He racked up three walks against the Nationals’ pitching staff — something he’s been doing a lot more over the past week. Since April 27th, Keaschall has more walks (7) than strikeouts (6) and is generating free passes at a 21% clip. Prior to that date, the 23-year-old had walked just six times over 27 games, good for a 5% clip. When Keaschall is at his best, like we’ve seen in a brief stint in the majors, he’ll generate walks often… this is just the beginning.

 

 

Featured image by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X) and adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky)