MLB DFS Core Plays: April 21

Sánchez and Laureano are both aiming to return to Baltimore’s lineup by the end of the week. The pair have occupied reserve roles on the Orioles bench this season and are unlikely to make an impact for fantasy purposes.

There’s only one spot in one major league ballpark where one can hit a 308-foot homer, but Rafaela found it, dropping one just to the left of the Pesky Pole down the right field line at Fenway. Right fielder Matthew Lugo wouldn’t have caught it anyway, and with Abraham Toro on first, it probably would have been a game-ending double had it fallen in play. It was Rafaela’s lone hit in five at-bats today, but it was his fourth homer in his last seven games. He hit just two in his first 52 games.

Giolito’s 43 pitches today produced nine hard-hit balls and one missed swing. There just isn’t anything here to be encouraged about. In his best years, Giolito struck out over 32 percent of the batters he faced in 2019 and 2020. That was down to 25-26 percent while he was finishing with ERAs in the high-4.00s in 2022 and ’23. Right now, he’s at 18 percent with his current 6.42 ERA. Given that he’s never been very good about limiting homers or walks, there’s no way he’s going to succeed while missing so few bats, and while there’s hope his slider and changeup will get a little better with more reps, he’s probably not regaining any additional velocity, since he’s already back to where he was in the two seasons before he got hurt. The Red Sox won’t move on yet, but they might benefit from doing so. Giolito is due to make his next start against the Rays.

Soriano’s ERA was a nice 3.41 coming into this one, but his WHIP was already a killer and giving up eight hits and three walks won’t help. In fact, at 1.59, he’s now second worst in the league in that category, putting him right in between teammates Yusei Kikuchi and Jack Kochanowicz. Soriano, an extreme groundball pitcher, has probably been somewhat unlucky to amass a .339 BABIP and give up 78 hits in 72 1/3 innings. However, he has no one to blame but himself for the 37 walks. He really ought to be better than this. Soriano will face the A’s next week.

The Red Sox still refuse to show any faith in Abreu against lefties, and it’s taking a toll on his fantasy value. He didn’t start against southpaws Monday or Tuesday, so he was limited to a total of six plate appearances in the series against the Angels.

Both hits came while the Angels were racking up seven runs in the first two innings. At that point, it looked like Neto had a legit chance for a cycle. However, he grounded out and struck out twice in his remaining at-bats. Still, Neto had a nice series against Boston, going 5-for-15 with a homer and five runs scored.