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Jesus Luzardo 2021 Fantasy Outlook: Will He Throw Enough Innings?
4 years agoAfter a stellar minor league career and 12 amazing innings at the end of the 2019 season, Oakland Athletics left-hander Jesus Luzardo was one of the most popular breakout pitcher candidates for 2020. However, he was more good than great in his 59 innings. The lefty struck out batters at a disappointing rate (23.8%) and posted an uninspiring WHIP (1.27) despite not allowing many walks (6.9%). But the upside remains immense for this 23-year-old. He has a diverse pitch mix with a lot of swing-and-miss in his game -- 12.9% swinging-strike rate, 70.6% contact rate for his short major league career. Working against him is the fact that his career-high in innings pitched is just 109 (in 2018). Two things are likely: He will improve on his 2020 marks and his workload will be limited, and his current ADP of 100 seems to be weighing the latter much more heavily. There are few pitchers with this much upside, so it is a wise choice to choose quality over quantity and score Luzardo as the third or fourth member of your pitching staff.
