Fantasy Baseball Winners & Losers: Matt Olson is heating up while Adalberto Mondesi remains cold

The top winners and losers from Sunday and a weekend of injuries.

By Frank Stampfl

Aug 17, 2020 at 10:19 am ET • 4 min read

We knew there would be many injuries in this shortened season but my oh my, what happened this weekend? Imagine how great you felt just last week if you had Ronald Acuña, Aaron Judge, and Bo Bichette all on the same team?

Fantasy Baseball is usually a grind because of the length of the season and the dedication that it requires. In this sprint of a season, you really have to be diligent on the day-to-day news. Things change very rapidly, especially with prospect promotions.

Below you'll find most of the injuries from this weekend as well as Sunday's winners and losers.

We discussed all the weekend developments on Monday's edition of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Follow all our podcasts and subscribe here.

THE LATEST IN THE WORLD OF FANTASY BASEBALL

Bo Bichette was placed on the IL with a sprained right knee that could keep him out until mid-September. Dylan Moore, Carter Kieboom and Luis Urias are a few waiver wire shortstops if you're desperate.
DJ LeMahieu was placed on the IL with a sprained left thumb, joining Aaron Judge who was also placed on the IL this weekend. Clint Frazier is a must-add while Judge is out while Tyler Wade is a name in deeper leagues.
Kirby Yates was placed on the IL this weekend. Padres manager Jayce Tingler said Saturday that the MRI on Yates revealed bone chips in the back of his elbow. This makes Drew Pomeranz is a must-own closer.
Ronald Acuña was placed on the IL with the wrist injury he's been dealing with, retroactive to August 11.
Michael Brantley landed on the IL with right quad discomfort, retroactive to August 12.
While on the topic of Houston Astros, Yordan Alvarez didn't play Sunday because of right knee discomfort. This is quite the unfortunate situation considering Alvarez is just 23 years old.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith landed on the IL with a hand injury. Top prospect Keibert Ruiz was called up and homered in his first Major League at-bat Sunday. With that being said, I'd expect Austin Barnes to get the majority of the playing time moving forward.
Franmil Reyes was hit by a pitch in his hand Sunday. X-Rays came back negative.
Jacob deGrom is dealing with a neck injury and played catch Sunday. He "felt better," according to manager Luis Rojas. I'd get him in your lineups this week.
Frankie Montas was scratched with his start Friday but is on track to pitch Tuesday in Arizona.
Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac were placed on the restricted list Friday and it doesn't seem like either will start this week.
Corbin Burnes will start for the Brewers Tuesday against the Twins and is now a two-start pitcher.
A Reds player tested positive for COVID over the weekend, subsequently postponing their games with the Pirates on Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the tests came back negative. As of now, the hope is the Reds will play the Royals like normal on Tuesday this week but just know it's risky.

Sunday's Biggest Winners

Matt Olson ripped three hits Sunday and is still batting just .185 on the season. Entering Sunday, he had actually homered in three straight games. The batting average is disappointing, but his 98th percentile average exit velocity tells us his xBA is .253, what we normally expect from Olson. More games like Sunday are ahead for Olson.
Anthony Santander is actually riding an 11-game hitting streak, which included two home runs that he hit off Max Scherzer Sunday. He's hitting a ton of line drives and fly balls this season and, coupled with his low strikeout rate, that's a recipe for success in Camden Yards. He's showing no signs of slowing down.
I don't want to overreact to two appearances but Craig Kimbrel looked much more composed this weekend. He appeared on Friday and Sunday and pitched two clean innings with just one walk to four strikeouts. Rowan Wick is still likely the closer, but I bet the Cubs would like to get Kimbrel back in that role.
Respect the stache! Randy Dobnak has now made five starts this season and hasn't allowed more than two runs in any of them. He's not going deep into games or striking anybody out, but he has great control and gets a ton of ground balls. Dobnak is a sneaky wins contributor, too, with the Twins run support behind him.

Sunday's Biggest Losers

Over his last four games, Adalberto Mondesi is 2 for 16 with just two runs scored and one stolen base. As a result, he's been dropped to eighth in the batting order. I know Mondesi is streaky, but this seems like pretty tough treatment from manager Mike Matheny. Mondesi remains a steals source, albeit with a low batting average and OBP.
Like Mondesi, Jose Altuve is stuck in an early-season slump. Over his past three games, Altuve is just 2 for 12 and has also been dropped in the lineup. Altuve has hit sixth and seventh in each of the past two games. He seems due for some BABIP regression but there's also a chance he's in his own head because of the offseason dilemmas.
Jairo Diaz squandered a perfect opportunity to close games with Wade Davis on the shelf. Diaz has now allowed runs in three of his last five appearances, resulting in a now closer-by-committee. I would have said Carlos Estevez was the guy but he was hit by a line drive Sunday. I think Daniel Bard is a speculative add in the meantime.