AL Lineup Analysis

by
August 15, 2019

Angels

  • David Fletcher lost his hold on the leadoff spot to Kole Calhoun and Brian Goodwin by hitting .250/.294/.313 over the last month.
  • Luis Rengifo has started 14 straight games while just hitting .246/.328/.366.
  • Matt Thaiss has started four of the last five games (three at third base) while hitting .208/.300/.453 over the last month.

Astros

  • The lineup remains consistent. Some changes happened while Alex Bregman dealt with a sore shoulder.
  • Josh Reddick plays three games and then sits for one.
  • Aledmys Díaz has taken over the utility role since returning from the IL while hitting .235/.341/.412 in 41 PA.


Athletics

  • It’s tough to know for sure if any changes have occurred since seven of the last 10 games have been a National League park with no DH.
  • Jurickson Profar (.140/.206/.246 over last month) may be sitting more with the promotion of Corban Joseph (.371/.421/.585 in AAA).

Blue Jays

Indians

Mariners

  • Tim Lopes has started six straight games while hitting .227/.308/.409. While not the best hitter, he has some rotisserie value with 26 steals in AAA.
  • Austin Nola (.288/.339/.481) has started 20 of the last 21 games while being catcher qualified in some leagues.
  • Daniel Vogelbach’s lineup position dropped to sixth after hitting .192/.272/.493 over the last month.

Orioles

Rangers

  • Nomar Mazara (.266/.318/.463) may no longer be fantasy relevant in 15-team or shallower leagues. His production has been limited and now it’s really cutting into his playing time (started three of last six, seven of last 13). Limited production with limited playing time means a fantasy cut.
  • Isiah Kiner-Falefa has started eight of the last 12 games and his hitting a cold (.231/.300/.269). If he heats up, he is likely a must add catcher in two-catcher leagues.

Rays

  • The lineup remains tough to decypher. The steadiest part of their lineup, Avisail Garcia batting sixth, ended with him going on the IL.
  • Guillermo Heredia has led off against the last two lefty starters.
  • Through all the defensive and lineup changes, Willy Adames has started 17 straight games at shortstop. During that stretch, he’s hit .351/.439/.667.

Red Sox

Royals

  • Consistently horrible. That’s a little mean. The top 5 hitters are serviceable. The rest belong on an independent league team. Go T-Bones.

Tigers

  • Victor Reyes and his career .570 OPS has leadoff. Dawel Lugo (.578 career OPS) has hit second. Two sub-.270 OBP bats in the top two spots are the league’s new inefficiency.
  • Travis Demeritte has started 13 straight games, hits fifth or sixth in the lineup, and is batting .283/.370/.457.

Twins

  • They run out a versus left and right-handed lineup with mainly the same players in each lineup. The only platoon is at second base with Luis Arraez facing righties and Jonathan Schoop facing lefties.

White Sox

  • When playing, James McCann has hit cleanup.
  • Matt Skole has started five of the last six games. He hit .248/.384/.497 in AAA but just .259/.310/.296 (45% K%) so far in the majors.

Yankees

  • What a nightmare to figure out with DJ LeMahieu and Didi Gregorius needing to nurse recent injuries.
  • The Yankees have started Matt Ford (.171/.293/.371) at first base or DH in seven of the last eight games.
  • Gio Urshela (.335/.378/.586) has started eight straight games.





 

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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roysuniverse
4 years ago

Mike Ford for the Yankees.

1