Jesus Luzardo

Oakland Athletics pitcher Jesus Luzardo suffered a hairline fracture in his hand while going through his pregame warm-up routine (some might say).

Luzardo was playing a video game before his start against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday when he hit his hand on a table. Trainers cleared him to pitch, but he underwent an X-ray after the game that revealed a hairline fracture, manager Bob Melvin told reporters Sunday. Luzardo was ultimately moved to the injured list with a fracture in his pitching hand. 

He lasted three innings and gave up five hits and six runs (three earned) in the 8-4 loss. The former top prospect has a 5.79 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in six starts this season.

Maybe next time he'll just opt for the classic rage quit.

The Houston Astros can become the first team to advance out of the Division Series, but that will not be an easy task Wednesday against Oakland's Jesus Luzardo. 

The left-hander pitched well in his two starts against the reigning American League champion and could swing the momentum back in the Athletics' favor in Game 3. 

Atlanta and the Los Angeles Dodgers could take commanding 2-0 leads in their respective NLDS matchups Wednesday. 

Los Angeles may be in the better position to do so since it sends Clayton Kershaw to the hill after he turned in one of his best-ever playoff starts. 

         

Wednesday MLB Playoff Schedule

Game 2: Miami vs. Atlanta (2:08 p.m. ET, MLB Network)

Game 3: Oakland vs. Houston (3:35 p.m. ET, TBS)

Game 3: Tampa Bay vs. New York Yankees (7:10 p.m. ET, TBS)

Game 2: San Diego vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (9:08 p.m. ET, FS1)

Games can be live-streamed on TBS.com, TBS app, FoxSports.com, Fox Sports app and MLB app.

       

Predictions

Jesus Luzardo Keeps Oakland Alive

Luzardo seems like the perfect option to help Oakland keep its season alive. 

The southpaw contained the Astros in his last start against them on September 9, as he fanned seven batters and conceded two earned runs over seven innings. 

Luzardo last pitched in Game 1 of the Wild Card Round, when he lasted 3.1 innings against the White Sox. While the short length of that outing could be concerning to some, it is worth noting he faced a Chicago lineup that was 14-0 against left-handed starters. 

His experience against Houston and on the Dodger Stadium mound from a September 24 appearance should help Luzardo get into a rhythm early on. 

Luzardo's biggest challenge will be the first one he faces, as he needs to get George Springer out from Houston's leadoff position. He leads the series with six hits and a 2.111 OPS and is tied with two players for the home run lead with two. 

In that game against Luzardo, Houston's second through fifth hitters each had a hit, while Springer earned two. If the lefty gets Springer out in any capacity, he could be set to retire Michael Brantley, Jose Altuve and others in the opening frames. 

Oakland's offensive success could start with its leadoff man, as Marcus Semien had two hits in Game 2. 

If Luzardo limits the Astros at the plate and Semien reaches base to set up run-scoring opportunities against Jose Urquidy, Oakland could force Game 4 on Thursday.

          

Clayton Kershaw Extends Dominance into NLDS Game 2

Kershaw produced the highest single-game playoff strikeout total of his career in Game 2 of the Wild Card Round against Milwaukee, as he fanned 13 batters over eight innings. 

The 32-year-old could come close to reaching double-digits strikeouts in Game 2 against San Diego since he struck out nine Padres in 6.1 innings on September 14. 

In Tuesday's Game 1, the Padres struck out 14 times and managed just three hits against Walker Buehler and four relievers. San Diego also struck out at a high rate in its three wild-card games against St. Louis. The Cardinals earned 26 punchouts versus the Padres lineup. 

All of those numbers suggest Kershaw could produce a high number of strikeouts in a quality start at Globe Life Field. 

If that is the case, San Diego's chances to put crooked numbers on the board could be scant. That could be beneficial to the Dodgers lineup in case it fails to record an abundance of runs in the first few frames, as was the case in Game 1. The Dodgers only scored in the fifth and sixth innings Tuesday.

          

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from Baseball Reference

The MLB playoffs will continue Wednesday with matchups from all four Division Series taking place, starting with the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves at 2:08 p.m. ET.

The Houston Astros will look to become the first team to advance to the next round with a win over the Oakland Athletics after taking their first two games against the A's.

The Braves are looking to grab a 2-0 series lead over the Marlins, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are aiming to earn a 2-0 edge on the San Diego Padres.

The winner of the New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays matchup will go up two games to one and earn a chance to clinch an American League Championship Series spot on Thursday.

For now, a quartet of MLB games are set for Wednesday. Here's a look at the odds (via DraftKings Sportsbook) as of 2 a.m. ET, the television schedule, the top DraftKings daily fantasy picks for each game and some DFS pitching advice.

          

Miami Marlins at Atlanta Braves

Moneyline: Atlanta -205 ($205 bet to win $100)

Over/Under: 9

TV Schedule: 2:08 p.m. ET, MLB Network

Pitching Matchup: Pablo Lopez (Miami) vs. Ian Anderson (Atlanta)

Location: Houston

Top Fantasy Picks: Marlins OF Corey Dickerson ($2,900), Braves 1B Freddie Freeman ($5,000)

       

Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics

Moneyline: Houston -125

Over/Under: 8.5

TV Schedule: 3:35 p.m. ET, TBS

Pitching Matchup: Jose Urquidy (Houston) vs. Jesus Luzardo (Oakland)

Location: Los Angeles

Top Fantasy Picks: Astros 3B Alex Bregman ($4,100), Athletics SS Marcus Semien ($4,100)

     

New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Moneyline: New York -124

Over/Under: 9

TV Schedule: 7:10 p.m. ET, TBS

Pitching Matchup: Masahiro Tanaka (New York) vs. Charlie Morton (Tampa Bay)

Location: San Diego

Top Fantasy Picks: Rays SP Charlie Morton ($6,600), Rays OF Randy Arozarena ($3,600)

         

San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Moneyline: (Unavailable as of 2 a.m. ET)

Over/Under: (Unavailable as of 2 a.m. ET)

TV Schedule: 9:08 p.m. ET, FS1

Pitching Matchup: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles) vs. TBD (San Diego)

Location: Arlington, Texas

Top Fantasy Picks: Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw ($9,600), Dodgers OF Mookie Betts ($5,700)

           

Wednesday DFS Advice (Pitching)

The pitching slate is simple to break down: Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw is a huge cut above everyone else.

Kershaw is the best pitcher on the slate, one who can make a strong lineup look incompetent. He's coming off an eight-inning, 13-strikeout performance in a 3-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers to close out the wild-card series. Padres hitters are also a combined .204 against him in his career.

He should be a cash game lock on every site, including DraftKings, where his $9,600 salary is too enticing to look past. Kershaw would be worth rostering if his salary was $11,000 or more, even if that would potentially hamstring players into worse batting lineup choices. However, he has a great fantasy-point floor, a sky-high ceiling and a good history against this Padres team too.

Kershaw should also be the No. 1 option in tournaments, albeit a chalky one. However, if you want another option to differentiate yourself from the field, then take a look at the Rays' Charlie Morton at $6,600, the cheapest salary on the pitching slate.

Morton faces a Yankees team that features nine players who can easily break a game open with one swing of the bat, but the Bronx Bombers strike out a ton, too. They struck out 18 times on Tuesday in a 7-5 loss to Tampa Bay.

Morton has had a down year by his standards with a 2-2 record, 4.74 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 38 innings, but he showed promise in his final two starts that could foreshadow a sign of better things to come for the veteran.

Of note, the ex-Houston Astro and 2017 World Series winner punched out a season-high eight in a Sept. 25 start against the Philadelphia Phillies, the team he faced in his last regular-season appearance. He was solid the start before against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing just one earned run over five innings and striking out six. 

Morton's last start against the Yankees on Sept. 25, 2019 resulted in six shutout innings of one-run ball alongside nine strikeouts. That may be a tall order to ask of him this year given his struggles, but Morton should be able to find enough swings and misses to make him a viable option at just $6,600.

Elsewhere, there are some easy pitchers to avoid.

With all due respect to the Miami Marlins' Pablo Lopez at $6,900, a matchup with the bash brothers of Ronald Acuna Jr., Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna is a miserable one for anybody.

Granted, Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara was decent Tuesday, even working into the seventh inning, but the team ended the day by smashing three home runs, scoring nine runs overall and getting 16 runners on base through 12 hits and four walks. The scary part is the Braves did that with Freeman going 0-for-4.

Another pitcher to avoid is Jesus Luzardo of the Oakland A's at $7,500 simply because of the situation the team finds itself in. Oakland must pull out all the stops to keep its season alive with the campaign currently on the brink against a Houston team looking for a sweep.

That could mean a quick hook for Luzardo if things are getting even slightly out of hand. This isn't a regular-season game, where teams would opt for longer pitcher leashes to rest bullpens and save them for other days. The A's have to go all out now, and if Luzardo gets himself into a jam, he may not have the chance to see himself out of it.

As it stands, the left-hander went just 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA this season, although he did strike out a batter per inning in his 59 frames. However, he also didn't survive the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox in the wild-card series, allowing three earned runs and six hits in 3.1 frames.

Of course, a wide range of possibilities exist for every game. Kershaw could put up a dud and hit the showers before the fourth inning.

Lopez and Luzardo could toss gems, as they're clearly capable of doing.

But the guess here is that the safe route is best: Lock in Kershaw everywhere, and strongly consider Morton as your second option if you play on DraftKings, a two-pitcher site. Lopez and Luzardo are the top arms to leave out of consideration.

Elite starting pitching was at a premium in fantasy baseball long before the calendar flipped to 2020.

All the unexpected twists and turns since—the most relevant here being Major League Baseball trimming the campaign to just 60 games—have only increased the position's importance.

For everything we don't know about the upcoming season, we're pretty certain breakout starting pitchers will be among the most valuable commodities in all of fantasy sports. Given the shortage of aces, being able to add one without paying the normal price for that kind of output is the gift that keeps on giving—a pattern that often concludes with you being gifted a league title.

The following three starters are all poised for enormous leaps up the SP rankings over the upcoming season.

                  

Jesus Luzardo, Oakland Athletics

Want to know a good time to target a starting pitcher? When talent isn't the reason he's being undervalued.

Granted, there's a reason Luzardo has an average draft position of 114 and is typically the 37th pitcher off the board, per FantasyPros, but it has nothing to do with his stuff. That's all filthy: three plus-to-elite pitches and velocity to boot. The only issue is whether he can stay upright, which he has yet to do consistently. He has thrown fewer than 200 innings in four years since being drafted and never more than 109.1.

That can't be ignored, but the risk is being baked into the price point already. A talent like him shouldn't be available outside of the top 100—and won't be for long.

"This top prospect has absolutely shredded the minor leagues then looked excellent in his debut last year," Bobby Sylvester wrote for FantasyPros. "Much like Walker Buehler back in 2018 and Chris Paddack last year, I'm expecting Luzardo to hit the ground running as one of the top-15 starting pitchers right away."

             

Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks

It isn't always easy for a minor leaguer to get noticed, but Gallen took matters into his own hands in 2019. He pitched to a minuscule 1.77 ERA across 14 starts in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and piled up 112 strikeouts against just 17 walks.

When he was promoted to the big leagues, the dominance stayed the same—as it did after a trade from the Miami Marlins to the Diamondbacks. He pitched 80 MLB innings in all, posting a 2.81 ERA and 96 strikeouts. He issued more free passes (36), but as CBS Sports' Scott White explained, the walks actually increase Gallen's appeal for 2020:

"Control was going to be the skill that put him over the top, and yet his 4.1 BB/9 were a far cry from the 1.7 he had in those 14 Triple-A starts. But we know it's a result of inexperience rather than a flaw in his delivery or some other longstanding issue, and most of the blame falls on three wayward starts anyway. Take what we saw last year, add one of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios in baseball, and it's easy to envision Gallen becoming an ace."

Gallen is among the most popular breakout picks, but it hasn't inflated his price too much. He's still available outside of the top 100 picks (ADP: 115).

                  

Max Fried, Atlanta Braves

Getting excited about Fried's potential requires looking beyond the traditional metrics.

Upon first glance, his 2019 season seems like nothing special. He had a 4.02 ERA and a touch more strikeouts (173) than innings pitched (165.2). But his advanced metrics said he pitched better than that (3.72 FIP), and ESPN's Tristan H. Cockcroft found even more reason to feel bullish about Fried:

"He was one of only three ERA-qualified pitchers with at least 24 percent strikeout and 50 percent ground-ball rates plus an 8 percent walk rate or less, joining German Marquez and Stephen Strasburg in that exclusive company. Fried also showed one of the wider average velocity ranges with his four-seam fastball, as well as between his four-seam fastball and changeup, giving him a good array of pitches."

Fried, who once headlined Atlanta's return in the 2014 trade of Justin Upton, could ride that combination of above-average strikeouts and high-end ground-ball and walk rates to fantasy stardom.