AL Lineup Analysis (5/16/19)

Angels

• Tommy La Stella is leading off against righties and David Fletcher does against lefties.
• Shohei Ohtani has been batting third.
• Zack Cozart’s attempt to stay on the team is about dead. He’s hitting .136/.189/.160 and has not played in the last three games while Kole Calhoun was on paternity leave. Luis Rengifo played instead.

Astros

• The league’s steadiest lineup took a hit when Altuve went on the IL. Everyone else moved up a spot with Aledmys Diaz taking over at second base and batting 6th.

Athletics

• Jurickson Profar is batting second after hitting .220/.304/.390 over the past two weeks.
• Mark Canha (vs lefties) and Robbie Grossman (vs righties) are in a left-field platoon. Since coming off the IL, Matt Olson is batting 5th to 7th.

Blue Jays

• Generally, it contains the same players. The one weird item is Brandon Drury keeps finding ways into the lineup. even though he’s hit .174.208/.174 over the past two weeks and has a .246 OBP on the season. (Note: And I guess he’ll keep playing since Teoscar Hernandez was demoted today.)
• Someone names Jonathan Davis has started three of the last five games in center field. He was hitting (.306/.493/.633) before getting called up from Triple-A.
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has hit second in the last five games.

Indians

• Oscar Mercado hit sixth and played left field last night after being promoted.
• Jason Kipnis has entrenched himself into the two hole after hitting .238/.319/.381 over the past two weeks. Yes, this lineup still sucks.
• In the last two games, Carlos Santana is hitting third and Jose Ramirez fifth.
• Jordon Luplow (.280/.339/.560) has started five straight games in right field.

Mariners

• The lineup has been in flux because of injuries, promotions, and demotions.
• With Dee Gordon hurt, Shed Long has played second three of the last five games with Tim Beckham playing in the other two. During the same time, J.P. Crawford has started four of five games and hit second against righty starters.
• Jay Bruce has started in 10 of the last 11 games.
• Mallex Smith (.165/.255/.247) has been promoted to replace Shed Long (.000/.182/.000) so Dee Gordon might be healthy.

Orioles

• Sigh … at least I don’t have to look at the Marlins. Send your prayers to Al since he has to analyze their sad ass lineups once a week.
• Hanser Alberto (.262/.271/.330) has started eight of the last ten games.
• Renato Nunez has only started in four the last eight games with Chris Davis heating up (.255/.339/.491 over the past 28 days).
• Stevie Wilkerson and Joey Richard are splitting time in center field.

Rangers

• This lineup is loaded with bats and still not enough spots to go around even with Delino DeShields being demoted and Elvis Andrus on the IL. One option would be to demote Rougned Odor (.493 OPS) since he has two options left. I’m sure that move would not go over well with ownership since the team owes him ~$40M over the next 3+ seasons.
• In his first game with the team, Willie Calhoun hit second as the DH. Hunter Pence’s at-bats will take a hit since Calhoun is only a DH and Pence was the DH in four of the five games before Calhoun’s promotion.

Rays

• It’s still two platoon lineups but only the order is getting changed around. Ji-Man Choi has been in the lineup against the last two lefties. With Nathaniel Lowe in the minors, he doesn’t have a platoon partner.
• Kevin Kiermaier (.220/.288/.371) has sat against two of the last three lefty starters.

Red Sox

• Steady but against lefties Mitch Moreland and Jackie Bradley Jr.. sit with Steve Pearce and Eduardo Nunez taking their place.

Royals

• Nicky Lopez is batting second.
• With the addition of Lopez, one of Ryan O’Hearn (.658 OPS), Jorge Soler (.821 OPS), or Kelvin Gutierrez (.700 OPS) will likely sit if the rest of the lineup stays healthy.

Tigers

• The bottom half is a mess.
• Jeimer Candelario (.192/.285/.288) has been demoted and Niko Goodrum as taken over batting leadoff. I wonder if Goodrum’s stolen bases will go up now that he is batting first vice fourth. He’s never attempted a stolen base from the leadoff spot.
• Christin Stewart is batting second against righties.
• Josh Harrison is off of the IL, playing second base, and batting 6th or 7th.

Twins

• The lineup has been as steady as can be for three weeks but has been turmoil the last few days with Nelson Cruz out with a sore wrist. Also, Miguel Sano should be joining the team after being on the IL to start the season.
• Willians Astudillo has started the last four games at catcher, DH, or third base (twice).
• Ehire Adrianza (.177/.297/.290) has started five of the last six playing second, short, and third.

White Sox

• There is a lot going on here since the promotion of Charlie Tilson who has started nine straight games. It’s tough to see who will head to the bench since Leury Garcia has been dealing with some back issues. In the four games (all vs RHP), Garcia (played second once) and Tilson started all four while Ryan Cordell (.732 OPS) sat twice and Nicky Delmonico (.576 OPS) sat once. It’ll be interesting to see if Yonder Alonso (.625 OPS) and Yolmer Sanchez (.596 OPS) start losing playing time.
• Yoan Moncada (.289/.349/.528) has cemented himself into batting first or second.
• When starting, James McCann is batting fifth.

Yankees

• I have no idea right now. The team has played two games since sending Miguel Andujar to the IL, getting Aaron Hicks back from the IL, and signing Kendrys Morales. To make matters more confusing, the two games were a doubleheader.
• The outfield is a little crowded. While Mike Tauchman (.716 OPS) and Cameron Maybin (.842) are likely headed to the bench, they are both hitting better than Brett Gardner (.677 OPS).