Ideal Braves trade asset's value just went way up after scoreless gem

The Atlanta Braves might be 28-18 on the season, but they're a team with some questions. Can their offense finally turn it around? The assumption is yes, but we've been saying that all season and it hasn't yet. Is their rotation good enough to make a deep postseason run? The answer, as of now, is yes -- but can Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez keep this up?

Pursuing another starting pitcher makes sense for several reasons for Atlanta. First, they need a back-end starter. They hope A.J. Smith-Shawver can potentially take that role, but he's been struggling in Triple-A. Bryce Elder had a rough showing when given the chance. Depth guys like Dylan Dodd and Darius Vines are uninspiring at best.

Second, the future of this rotation is in flux. Max Fried is a free agent that seems destined to depart. Charlie Morton is 40 years old and has flirted with retirement seemingly ever since he got to Atlanta. While they expect Strider to be back for next season, who knows when that'll be?

One potential option for Alex Anthopoulos to consider is Jesus Luzardo of the Miami Marlins. Yes, they're in the NL East, but Luzardo is cheap, comes with several years of team control, and when right, he's a frontline guy. Since the Marlins are clearly selling, he'll be available.

The problem is, his value just went way up.

Jesus Luzardo's latest gem could cost Braves a chance to trade for him

This is all purely hypothetical. It's unclear as to whether the Marlins would be willing to trade Luzardo within the division as they did with J.T. Realmuto to the Philadelphia Phillies. Based on how that deal is working out for Miami, it wouldn't be hard to blame them for refusing to send Luzardo to a division rival. However, if the Marlins would consider it, his latest outing showed why he'd be worth a crazy asking price.

The southpaw was matched up against the Milwaukee Brewers who are third in the National League in runs scored and was dominant. He pitched eight dominant innings allowing just three hits, all of which were singles. He did not walk a batter. There was a stretch in which he had retired 17 in a row at one point. He was in complete command. He did this while the Marlins gave him one skinny run of support all night.

Luzardo dominating like this is nothing new. Since returning from a short IL stint, the southpaw has allowed a total of two runs in 19.2 innings of work, posting a 0.92 ERA in that span. He got off to a slow start this season, but has been dialed in lately. This is a guy who posted a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts last season and was the most consistent starting pitcher on a playoff team.

The Braves had more of a chance to get Luzardo either when he was hurt or when he had a rough April. Trading for him now just got a lot harder with his domination on the mound.