AL Lineup Analysis (4/12/19)

by Jeff Zimmerman

April 12, 2019

Angels

Kole Calhoun goes from leading off against righties to the seven spot against lefties.
Zack Cozart, David Fletcher, and Taylor Ward are in a three-way battle for the third base job. For now, I’d bet on Fletcher (.303/.324/.333) since Ward has just three plate appearances and Cozart has just one hit (32 PA).

Astros

They have used the same lineup all season with the only changes being someone cycling through the DH to get a break.

Athletics

They are using a versus lefty and righty lineup. They just move the names around with Kendrys Morales (vs RHP) and Mark Canha (vs LHP) in the only true platoon.
Robbie Grossman sits against lefties but his replacement changes each time.

Blue Jays

Has Joe Maddon’s evil twin taken over Toronto’s lineups? There is nothing set regular lineup spots.
While they move around, the regulars look to be Randal Grichuk. Maybe Billy McKinney and Teoscar Hernandez.
Rowdy Tellez has sat against all three lefty starters.
Over the last four games, Freddy Galvis (.229/.302/.396) has hit first or second. His 43% StatCast Hard Hit% ranks 115 of 329.

Indians

It’s about set in stone. The only change is that Luplow replaces Naquin against lefties and bats third.
Brad Miller (.231/.333/.423) and Max Moroff (.091/.091/.136) are rotating in at second base.

Mariners

The Daniel Vogelbach train is just taking off and he’s cemented himself into the lineup’s fifth spot as the DH.
The ripple down effect has moved Edwin Encarnacion to first and Jay Bruce to the outfield. over the last four games, one of Bruce, Mallex Smith, Mitch Haniger, or Domingo Santana have sat. It’s not an easy choice for who should sit. Smith is the only “center fielder” and the other three are off to hot starts (Santana: 1.010 OPS, Bruce: .972, Haniger: .864). I wonder if at some point Encarnacion and Vogelbach join the rotation with each one getting one off day a week.

Orioles

They are generally using two platoon lineups but there is still quite a bit of mixing. The only regulars are Renato Nunez (.250/.325/.361), Dwight Smith Jr. (.261/.277/.304), Jonathan Villa r, and Trey Mancini. The rest, including Cedric Mullins II (vs LHP), sit every third day or so.

Rangers

Shin-Soo Choo is sitting against lefty starters with Hunter Pence taking his place.
With Ronald Guzman on the IL, Logan Forsythe has started the last four games.
Delino DeShields leads off against lefties and bats ninth against righties.

Rays

The platoons are taking shape and there seem to be just a few full-time hitters, Tommy Pham, Kevin Kiermaier, and Willy Adames. That’s it.
Austin Meadows, Ji-Man Choi, and Brandon Lowe sit against lefties.
Daniel Robertson is a getting a bit more playing time with Joey Wendle out.

Red Sox

Mitch Moreland (.257/.350/.686) or Steve Pearce are batting third in the lineup. Rafael Devers moves down after starting off the season hitting just (.250/.327/.295).
Dustin Pedroia has hit 7th in both of his games back from the IL.

Royals

Tigers

No changes with this lineup.
JaCoby Jones returned from the IL yesterday and batted ninth.
Josh Harrison is still leading off, but since he’s hitting just .146/.241/.167. I could see him move down if someone else heats up.

Twins

The lineup has been set from day one with just some changes since they’ve been in NL parks for the last five games.
Willians Astudillo is forcing the Twins hand right now by hitting (.348/.385/.609). He’s started the last two games at first and third. He might steal time from C.J. Cron (.241/.267/.310) and Marwin Gonzalez (.154/.241/.192) who are both off to slow starts.

White Sox

Adam Engel and Daniel Palka are in a platoon with Engel facing lefties and Palka righties.
Yolmer Sanchez and Jose Rondon are also in a platoon with Sanchez facing righties and Rondon lefties.
Leury Garcia is leading off.

Yankees

It’s tough to know their current versus lefty starter lineup with only one game against a lefty so far this season.
In deeper leagues, Giovanny Urshela might be worth an add since he’s started three of the last four games at third base.
With all the injuries the Yankees have dealt with, Gleyber Torres is now batting 4th or 5th instead of 7th or 8th.
Greg Bird has started in six of the nine games since Giancarlo Stanton went on the IL.