AL Lineup Analysis

by
June 7, 2019

Angels

  • Albert Pujols has started only six of the last 10 games.
  • Brian Goodwin is hitting (.211/.244/.263) over the past two weeks after a hot start.
  • Since May 21st when Andrelton Simmons went on the IL and Luis Rengifo was forced into a fulltime role, Rengifo is hitting .302/.387/.415 with no speedin 15 of 16 games.

Astros

  • With George Springer on the IL, Derek Fisher is leading off and hitting .262/.326/.429.
  • Yuli Gurriel is still batting fourth even though he’s hitting .240/.257/.323 over the last month.
  • Jack Mayfield is hitting .074/.107/.222 while playing in seven of the last 10 games at a middle infield position.
  • I’m guessing Tyler White (.220/.313/.293) will head to the bench one anyone returns from the IL with Fisher or Tony Kemp taking his place.

Athletics

Blue Jays

Indians

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  • The five outfielders, Leonys Martin, Tyler Naquin, Jordan Luplow, Greg Allen, and Oscar Mercado, are each sharing time. While Luplow has the best overall stats, he’s only facing lefties. Mercado is close to being a regular and bats second. The other three aren’t really hitting and are stuck at the bottom of the lineup.
  • Jose Ramirez is hitting just .105/.105/.105 over the last week.

Mariners

  • Daniel Vogelbach continues to sit against lefties.
  • Since Mallex Smith has returned from the minors, he’s hitting .268/.325/.408 with two homers and eight stolen bases.
  • Kyle Seager is batting fifth or sixth while hitting .216/.310/.373 since coming off the IL.
  • Shed Long (.211/.318/.316) and Dylan Moore (.211/.318/.329) are manning the middle infield spots but not hitting.

Orioles

  • D.J. Stewart (.167/.200/.167) was batting 5th or 6th in the lineup before going on the IL.
  • Hanser Alberto (.308/.324/.391) is leading off against lefties.
  • Keon Broxton is hitting .237/.275/.500 since joining the Orioles.

Rangers

  • Elvis Andrus has hit (.220/.241/.260) since coming off the DL.
  • Rougned Odor is still struggling to hit with just a .179/.200/.231 over the last two weeks.
  • Delino DeShields is just batting first or second since being promoted with a 1.063 OPS and two steals.
  • Danny Santana has started in only five of the last 13 games while just hitting .182/.208/.227.

Rays

  • It’s been more of a mess than usual this past week with Tommy Pham getting hurt and Yandy Diaz returning from the IL.
  • Christian Arroyo has started in seven straight games while hitting .208/.321/.542. Christian likes MLB’s Happy Fun Ball with a .334 ISO.
  • Brandon Lowe faces just righties with Daniel Robertson on the other side of the platoon.

Red Sox

Royals

  • Cheslor Cuthbert is hitting .375/.375/.750 with three homers while hitting in the bottom half of the lineup.
  • Nicky Lopez is hitting .217/.270/.289 since his promotion. He’s now hitting near the bottom of the lineup after leading off for nine straight games.
  • With Hunter Dozier on the IL, Ryan O’Hearn (vs RHP) and Kelvin Gutierrez (vs LHP) are in a platoon.

Tigers

  • Christin Stewart has hit second in eight of the last nine games.
  • Brandon Dixon has continued to hit over last two weeks (.286/.302/.500) while Ronny Rodriguez has really cooled off (.000/.042/.000) over the same time frame.

Twins

White Sox

  • Yonder Alonso is sitting more and hitting down in the lineup because he’s posting a career-low .613 OPS (min 100 PA).
  • James McCann stays hot hitting .345/.387/.414 over the last two week.
  • Eloy Jimenez is hitting .207/.258/.397 with three homers since coming off the IL.

Yankees

  • After struggling (.610 OPS) in May, Aaron Hicks has picked it up (1.039 OPS) in June.
  • The team is getting healthy with Didi Gregorius coming off the DL this weekend. Of the current regulars, I’m guessing Giovanny Urshela’s playing time takes the biggest hit.





 

Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.

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feslenraster
6 years ago

These are useful, thanks!

5
Jeff ZimmermanFanGraphs Staff
6 years ago
Reply to  feslenraster

Thanks. I need to go and read Al’s for the NL side

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