AL Lineup Analysis (4/20/19)

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April 20, 2019

Angels

  • They are getting decimated by injuries and ineffectiveness. Since Mike Trout has returned, he’s been the DH with Albert Pujols (.735 OPS) playing first base and Justin Bour (.628 OPS) on the bench.
  • Tommy La Stella has secured the second base job by hitting a decent .226/.328/.472. The batting average may be a drag, he’s a perfect sub in OBP leagues.
  • Brian Goodwin (.900) seems to have forced himself into the left field job while Justin Upton is on the DL and Peter Bourjos (.243 OPS) is struggling.

Astros

  • It stays the same with a rotating cast of players as the DH.

Athletics

Blue Jays

  • Eric Sogard has led off the last four games.
  • The lineup has stabilized but will go into flux once Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gets promoted. Brandon Drury’s playing time may take a hit since his OPS is only .444.

Indians

  • The team has been an offensive sink and anyone who hits stays in the lineup.
  • Even though Jason Kipnis has only 12 PA, he’s hitting .273/.333/.364 and slots into the lineups third spot.
  • Jake Bauers has heated up a bit hitting .417/.500/.667 over the past week.
  • Tyler Naquin may have a permanent outfield spot by hitting .255/.271/.383. The low OBP probably makes him unplayable in on-base leagues.

Mariners

  • They continue to have one too many healthy and productive players and everyone sits once a week. The only starter with a sub-.800 OPS is Mallex Smith at .622.

Orioles

Rangers

  • The lineup is set with Hunter Pence playing every two to three days giving someone a break
  • Logan Forsythe (.688 OPS) is still playing first base while Ronald Guzman is on the IL but should return at months end.
  • When Joey Wendle returns from the DL, he’ll likely take over at third base since Daniel Robertson is not hitting (.409 OPS).

Rays

  • The Rays mix up the lineup quite often but they’ve been cycling one player into the seven non-catcher positions. So one regular sits around once a week. The big winner has been Avisail Garcia (.880 OPS) who has started in ten of the Rays last 11 games.
  • Ji-Man Choi continues to sit against lefties.

Red Sox

  • With Steve Pearce (vs LHP) off the IL, they are platooning him with Mitch Moreland (vs RHP) at first base.
  • With Dustin Pedroia and Eduardo Nunez both on the IL, Michael Chavis has been promoted. He might play second base but he’ll be learning it on the fly since he’s only played the position five times in the minors. It could take a ton of FAAB to roster Chavis this week. It may pay off like Juan Soto did last year. Or be a complete waste like it was with Jake Bauers.

Tigers

  • Josh Harrison (.354 OPS) is still leading off. I expect Jacoby Jones (.504 OPS) to take over at some point.
  • The injury to Christin Stewart has caused a void and it’s tough to know for sure how the Tigers will fill it.
  • Gordon Beckham has a .881 OPS (team high) and might be seeing more playing time with the other bats struggle.

Twins

Royals

White Sox

Yankees

  • With the current roster, it still uses a versus righty and lefty lineup but the players stay mainly the same. Clint Frazier (.928 OPS) has been hitting 4th or 5th.
  • Mike Tauchman has started five of the last six games.
  • DJ LeMahieu has swapped between second and third with Gio Urshela (.732 OPS) or Tyler Wade (.550 OPS) manning the other position.





 

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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Jimmember
5 years ago

Jeff, you do great work. But you just don’t have the time to do this. Sorry.

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