Fantasy Baseball Winners & Losers: Will Luis Robert be 2021's Fernando Tatis?

Here are the top winners and losers from Thursday.

By Frank Stampfl

Sep 4, 2020 at 11:12 am ET • 4 min read

With only eight games on the slate Thursday, baseball was mostly dominated by real-life storylines instead of Fantasy ones. On a day where the Mets honored 'The Franchise' Tom Seaver, Pete Alonso launched a two-run walk-off homer. Even as a Yankees fan myself, I have to admit that was pretty cool.

On the West Coast, not only did Clayton Kershaw become the third-youngest pitcher ever to record 2,500 strikeouts, he moved up to 39th on the all-time strikeout list (2,505). And last but not least, we saw the Padres' prized acquisition Mike Clevinger make his debut. It was a mixed bag as he only allowed two runs but also only struck out two Angels. The good news was that he averaged a season-high 96.1 MPH on his fastball.

We took an in-depth look at Week 8 on Friday's edition of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Follow all our podcasts and subscribe here.

On to the rest of Thursday's action.

The latest in the world of Fantasy baseball

Angels placed infielder David Fletcher on the 10-day IL retroactive to Aug. 31 with a left ankle sprain.
In an unexpected turn of events, the Padres activated Wil Myers off the IL Thursday.
Cody Bellinger was back in the Dodgers' lineup after dealing with a minor lat injury.
Jose Altuve will undergo an MRI on his right knee after an awkward slide Thursday.
The A's have officially been cleared to return on Friday against the Padres.
The Brewers have designated Justin Smoak for assignment and are adding Dan Vogelbach.
Royals outfielder Edward Olivares, who came over in the Trevor Rosenthal trade, was recalled and in the lineup Thursday. He finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Ian Happ was pulled from Thursday's game against the Pirates with an apparent right eye injury. He fouled a ball off the ground which came back up and smacked him in the face. Please be OK!
Gleyber Torres will be activated either Saturday or Sunday and, truthfully, I wish this was a joke but Giancarlo Stanton is still "a ways away" with his hamstring injury.
Alex Bregman, who is dealing with a hamstring injury of his own, did fielding work on Tuesday and took batting practice on Wednesday. He will travel with the Astros this weekend where we could see him activated.
Seattle utilityman Dylan Moore worked out with the Mariners on Thursday and could be activated as soon as Friday or Saturday, according to manager Scott Servais.
Adam Eaton left Thursday's loss to the Phillies after jamming his knee on first base. He is day to day.

Thursday's biggest winners

Admittedly, it had been a while since I've looked at Luis Robert's numbers (probably because I don't have him anywhere… ugh). He launched a 456-foot homer Thursday and is now up to 11 home runs for the season, 24 runs scored, 27 RBI and four steals. Entering Thursday, he was the ninth best outfielder in Roto. I'm starting to get real Fernando Tatis vibes from Robert and am thinking he could climb as high the second round of 2021 Fantasy drafts. I'm not even sure that's wrong. He's incredible.
And just like that, Andrew Heaney is back. Going up against one of the best offenses in baseball Thursday, Heaney threw seven shutout against the Padres, striking out six. He's now allowed just one run while striking out 16 over his past two starts. I'd be trying desperately to get him in my lineup next week at the Rangers.
If only somebody could have seen Felix Peña coming. Peña recorded the save for the Angels Thursday, pitching a hitless ninth inning with one strikeout. It's worth mentioning that Buttrey had worked the previous three games but it's also worth mentioning that Buttrey isn't very good. Peña entered Thursday night with a 1.96 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. I'm starting to think he will be the Angels closer moving forward. He's rostered in just 3% of CBS leagues if you're desperate for saves.

Thursday's biggest losers

Look, if I'm doing to throw Sonny Gray under the bus for a bad performance, I have to do the same with Lance Lynn. Lynn allowed a season-high six runs on Thursday against the Astros but did strike out seven. The truth is he wasn't going to pitch to a sub-2.00 ERA all season or maintain a .197 BABIP against. This is just natural regression for the big fella.
Is Kris Bryant just done? It's probably not fair to ask that given the injuries he's suffered this season. Bryant went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts Thursday, but I did have my concerns entering the season. He's dealt with a ton of injuries in recent years and really does not make hard contact. I'm perfectly fine with benching Bryant moving forward.
What do you do when you're tired of wasting a bench spot on somebody who isn't producing? That's right, you drop them. We're probably there with Victor Robles. He finished 1 for 4 with three strikeouts Thursday but, more importantly, he's batting just .240 with one steal. I'm not sure what's up with the Nationals this season and why they aren't running as often as usual, but it's really hurting Robles' value. He can absolutely be dropped in three-outfielder leagues, and I would even consider it in leagues that start five.