Alvarez is like an old school heavy-weight boxer. He leans on his opponents until he finds the opportunity to deliver the knockout blow. Then, he puts them to sleep. He and Sandy Alcantara had battled three times over the first seven innings of this game. Despite notching one hit, Alvarez put the ball on the ground three times, which is rare for him. He also swung at one of the first two pitches he saw in all three at-bats, also something he rarely does. In an increasingly odd fourth matchup with the same pitcher in the same game, Alvarez waited back until Alcantara’s third pitch and drove a fastball for an opposite field home run and a late lead the Astros wouldn’t give back. That brought him to 34 home runs and 77 RBI on the season, each now league-leading marks by just one. His .328 batting average is also best in the American League by a wide margin as he has the triple crown in his sights with just over two months of baseball left to play.

Working on a limit of about 60 pitches in his return from a bone bruise in his elbow, Fried got through five in 57, 37 of which were strikes, and averaged 96.2 mph with his fastball, which was 1.5 mph better than his season average. He left a scoreless game, so there was no win to be had. However, it was an awfully encouraging showing. He’ll get the White Sox next.

Being activated somewhat surprisingly and not playing in a single rehab game after breaking his hamate bone about six weeks ago, Ramírez wasted no time making an impact in his return from the injured list. He singled in the first inning, tagged to second base on a fly ball, and then came around to score. He also legged out an infield single in the second that pushed another run across. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. Ramírez made a throwing error to start the eighth that opened the door for a big Twins rally and he grounded out with the bases loaded to end the bottom of that inning. Regardless, it’s great news for the Guardians and fantasy managers alike that Ramírez is back.

The second-overall selection receives a whopping $9.75 million from Tampa Bay, which represents the second-highest signing bonus in draft history. It’s also a record for a high school player, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis. The 18-year-old shortstop has a chance to evolve into the most impactful fantasy contributor from his draft class. He projects as a future five-category standout capable of hitting for both average and power while also chipping in some stolen bases. He’s several hyperspace jumps from the majors at this stage of his development, but it wouldn’t be shocking if he moved quickly through Tampa Bay’s system in the coming years.

Boston will attempt to notch their franchise-record 16th consecutive victory with rookie lefty Eduardo Rivera on the mound and Alec Gamboa coming up from Triple-A Worcester as long relief depth for Wednesday’s nightcap at Fenway Park. Suarez won’t be able to take the ball due to an illness. It’s challenging to pinpoint his exact return date given everything that has transpired in the last few days, but Suárez appears likely to return for either Friday’s series opener against the Blue Jays or Monday’s matchup against the Athletics, if the Red Sox opt to give him a few extra days.

Ramírez was placed on the IL with a fractured hamate bone on June 16th, so he has missed just over a month and will be right back out on the field for the Guardians. We could see a bit of a power dip in the first few weeks back, but Ramírez has always hit for power thanks to how often he pulls the ball in the air and not impressive raw exit velocities, so perhaps he can survive the recovery from hamate surgery better than others. Regardless, he should be back in all fantasy lineups.

This felt inevitable after Witt Jr. missed Sunday’s game with a back injury, then returned on Monday, only to leave that game early. The Royals have the second-worst record in the American League and are not in playoff contention, so they will likely be cautious with their star shortstop, especially when dealing with a back injury. We may not see Witt Jr. back for a few weeks. Tyler Tolbert will likely continue to play shortstop in his place.

As Healey notes, Crochet is now three months into recovery for a shoulder injury that the Red Sox were initially not convinced needed an IL stint. Of course, that has included connected issues to separate parts of the shoulder that turned an inflammation designation into a lat strain. Crochet himself has stated that his goal is to pitch for the Red Sox in the postseason, but even that is not guaranteed at this point. Once Crochet is cleared, and he has not been yet, “he’ll need a spring training-esque six weeks or so, maybe longer” to be ready to pitch in an MLB game. It’s probably time to drop Crochet in all redraft fantasy leagues if you’ve been holding on this long.

Díaz’s home run came in garbage time, but it counts the same for fantasy managers. The 34-year-old on-base machine took veteran southpaw Patrick Corbin deep for a 418-foot moonshot to straightaway center field in the ninth inning, putting the finishing touches on a lopsided win north of the border. He’s up to 14 home runs through 96 games and remains on pace to surpass last year’s career-high total of 25.

Not ideal. Caglianone will undergo further evaluation, and likely imaging, to determine the severity of the injury after exiting Tuesday’s contest in Kansas City. The 21-year-old slugger appeared to injure himself on a diving catch attempt in the fifth inning. He finished 1-for-2 with a strikeout before departing. The Royals should have a more definitive update on his status prior to Wednesday’s series finale.