Fantasy Baseball Winners & Losers: Luzardo bounces back while Rich Hill struggles

The top winners and losers from Wednesday.

By Frank Stampfl

Aug 20, 2020 at 11:08 am ET • 4 min read

As always, I like to use this piece as an extension of Fantasy Baseball Today. On Thursday's episode, I opened the show with an apology to Trevor Bauer as well as Fantasy managers everywhere. In this industry – and life for that matter – I've always tried to hold myself accountable. When it comes to Fantasy sports, you're going to get things wrong. That's just the name of the game. What separates the best is the ability to learn from those mistakes. Yes, it's only been four starts, but Bauer has been utterly dominant.

The lesson here is to focus on the range of outcomes for players. While Bauer did present obvious downside, he has shown the ability to be a top five in Fantasy Baseball. That alone should have been enough of a reason to grab him in the middle rounds as your SP3. You live and you learn.

We discussed Casey Mize and Dane Dunning, the always interesting Bauer and much more on the Thursday edition of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Follow all our podcasts and subscribe here.

Onto the rest of Wednesday.

THE LATEST IN THE WORLD OF FANTASY BASEBALL

Alex Bregman left Wednesday's game with a hamstring injury. He's considered day-to-day. Cross your fingers because hamstrings could be tricky. I would say I feel bad about everything happening to the Houston Astros, but… you know.
Yordan Alvarez will have season-ending surgery next week to repair a partially torn patella tendon in his right knee. Hopefully this is what it takes for him to get back on track and restore his dynasty value. I would say I feel bad about everything happening to the Houston Astros but… you know.
Seth Lugo is starting for the Mets on Thursday and the plan is for him to be stretched out in that role. After Edwin Diaz picked up the final four outs of Wednesday night's game, it sure seems like he's the closer again.
Mitch Garver left Wednesday's game with right side soreness. If you needed one final reason to bench Garver, this might be it.
Yadier Molina might be ready to return to the Cardinals' lineup on Thursday. When asked, Cardinals manager Mike Schildt said "I would not rule it out." If you're desperate for a catcher – which you probably are – check to see if Molina is available.
David Dahl was placed on the IL with a back injury. If you need the roster spot, he can be dropped. The Rockies recalled Brendan Rodgers, which is intriguing. He's not an add yet, but a name to pay attention to.
Dodgers optioned Tony Gonsolin to their alternate training site. It's frustrating but hopefully it's just temporary. I wouldn't drop him yet.
Blue Jays placed Nate Pearson on the IL with right elbow tightness. This might explain why he was pitching so poorly.

Wednesday's Biggest Winners

Let's offer the ol' tip of the cap to both Casey Mize and Dane Dunning, who made successful debuts on Wednesday. Don't be fooled by their final lines because both just ran out of steam in their final innings of work. The two combined for 14 strikeouts and just one walk. Dunning, in particular, finished with 17 swinging strikes on 73 pitches. He is rostered in just 11% of CBS leagues if you want to take a flier on a starting pitcher.
Outside of one terrible start where he didn't find out he was pitching until that day, Jesus Luzardo has been very impressive. He finished Wednesday with a career-high 6.1 shutout innings while striking out seven. If you eliminate his previous start, Luzardo would have a 1.94 ERA. He's a near top 30 starting pitcher rest-of-season.
Things are not all bad for the Astros, alright? They may actually have something in Framber Valdez. The 26-year old southpaw went into Colorado on Wednesday night and allowed just one earned run over 7.2 innings pitched. He finished with five strikeouts to go along with 12 groundball outs. If he can keep the walks down and continue to induce a high level of groundballs, we could be looking at a mini breakout here.
Craig Kimbrel is back, baby! Well, sort of. Kimbrel was used in his first save opportunity since Aug, 4, and he struck out the side. That's now three very strong performances in a row. It's worth mentioning that Rowan Wick had been used the previous two days. Cubs manager David Ross, however, would not commit to Kimbrel as the team's closer after the game. I'm a little more optimistic.

Wednesday's Biggest Losers

Remember when we were all excited about Rich Hill about a month ago? Me neither. Hill returned from the IL Wednesday and just had nothing. He was chased in the third inning by the Brewers, allowing four earns runs and three walks. I'm not ready to say he's done yet, but it's a possibility. Hold for now.
Julio Urias has been quite the mixed bag this season. On Wednesday, he just didn't have it. He recorded just five outs – all via the strikeout – but needed 52 pitches just to get to that point. While it's a small sample size, his underlying numbers aren't very good, either. I would say you could consider benching him next week, but he's got a pretty tasty two-start matchup.
It's hard to really blame Jack Flaherty for being rusty on Wednesday but I'll do it anyway! Flaherty also lasted just five batters, allowing one run and two walks. The guy hasn't pitched in nearly a month. If anybody in your league is fed up with the COVID situation and Flaherty being pulled early, pounce and buy low.

Wednesday's Swinging Strike Leaders: