AL Lineup Analysis (4/26/19)

by Jeff Zimmerman

April 26, 2019

Angels

Justin Bour could be droppable at this point. He is not starting against lefties and has only played in five of the last 10 games.
David Fletcher (.301/.341/.410) has started 14 straight games. Fletcher has been playing at third with Tommy La Stella (.232/.329/.551) at second which means the struggling Zack Cozart (.109/.157/.125) is on the bench. Recently promoted Luis Rengifo looks to join the infield mix.

Astros

The top-six spots are set.
One outfield spot rotates with Josh Reddick, Jake Marisnick, and Tony Kemp taking turns.
Tyler White is a half-time DH with regulars rotating through it for a break.

Athletics

One of Robbie Grossman, Chad Pinder, and Stephen Piscotty will sit each day as the other two will be the corner outfielders.
Kendrys Morales (vs RHP) and Mark Canha (vs LHP) remain in a first base platoon.

Blue Jays

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will need to hit somewhere. The Jays don’t have a typical leadoff or #2 hitter, so I could see Vlad hit second before the sluggers. Brandon Drury time has come to ride-the-pine-for-nine.
Eric Sogard (.367/.406/.533) is leading off.

Indians

With both Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis off the IL, the lineup has stable over the past four games.
Jake Bauers is hitting .281/.395/.500 over the past two weeks.

Mariners

Daniel Vogelbach has slowly pushed himself up the lineup hitting second, fourth, and fifth over the last week.
Mallex Smith (.180/.275/.270) has lost his hold on the leadoff spot and his now batting 8th or 9th.

Orioles

Dwight Smith is sitting against lefties.
Cedric Mullins II (.094/.181/.156) has been demoted with Joey Rickard (.219/.288/.411) taking over for him in centerfield.
Chris Davis plays every now-and-then.

Rangers

Logan Forsythe has started 15 straight games while hitting (.233/.347/.400). He might be worth a look in OBP leagues.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa has started at catcher in half the games and not any other infield position. His owners may need to re-evaluate him to see if he’s still rosterable in one-catcher leagues.

Rays

The Rays were running out a set lineup but with injuries to Joey Wendle, Austin Meadows, and Ji-Man Choi, the lineup is a mess. Check tonight’s lineup for any clues on how they’ll move forward. I think Choi will return with Daniel Robertson moving to second base and Yandy Diaz back to third.
With the open outfield spot, Avisail Garcia is a must-own in most formats.

Red Sox

It’s been set for a while with the only recent change being Michael Chavis batting seventh and playing second base.

Royals

A few small injuries have messed up the lineup some but it has stabilized since Hunter Dozier moved up from seventh to fourth.
Ryan O’Hearn and Lucas Duda are splitting time at first.

Tigers

They shook up the lineup four games ago. Jeimer Candelario (.239/.323/.318) is now leading off with Josh Harrison (.163/.223/.244) batting 7th.
Brandon Dixon (.429/.467/.571) is batting fifth and playing at 1B/DH for the last three games. He’s replaced John Hicks who is now only catching. Hicks’s value plummets on this change.
Gordon Beckham is forcing himself into full-time at-bats by hitting .243/.349/.568.
So is Ronny Rodriguez at .333/.350/.722.

Twins

White Sox

It’s another lineup in flux.
Tim Anderson has hit second in the three of the last four games. Moncada moved down to 5th in for two of those games.
Daniel Palka has been demoted with Ryan Cordell taking his spot in the outfield. I pegged him as a sleeper and he has delivered by hitting .296/.345/.593
Nicky Delmonico has gotten some time in the outfield with Eloy Jimenez on bereavement leave.

Yankees

DJ LeMahieu is leading off and Tyler Wade is batting ninth. The rest is a complete mess.
In some deeper leagues, I may grab Giovanny Urshela (.283/.358/.435). He’s hitting and while there has been some positive news on Miguel Andujar, he’s a ways off from playing third.