AL Lineup Analysis (7/26/19)

Angels

  • Overall, the lineup has been consistent. Shohei Ohtani has been sitting with no DH available in NL parks.
  • David Fletcher has led off 13 of the last 14 games while hitting .250/.294/.354 during that time frame.

Astros

  • With Carlos Correa coming off the IL, all the pieces are back and the early season lineup will likely be used. Correa will hit fifth which would move Yordan Alvarez down a spot.

Athletics

Blue Jays

  • The lineup gets jumbled depending on if the team is facing a righty or a lefty, but it seems like the same hitters.
  • Teoscar Hernandez is hitting .281/.361/.688 since the All-Star break while starting eight of the last nine games.
  • Brandon Drury is only playing three times a week and hitting .174/.167/.304 since the break.

Indians

  • The lineup is extremely consistent with the only recent change being Tyler Naquin sitting with a hamstring injury and several players filling in.
  • Jose Ramirez has finally heated up with a 1.028 OPS in July.

Orioles

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

  • The lineup continues to be the same. The only change being Mitch Moreland is back at first base with Michael Chavis on the IL. It’ll be interesting to see how the playing time works out between those two and Brock Holt once Chavis is healthy.

Royals

  • Bubba Starling is now batting sixth while hitting .308/.357/.436 since his callup.
  • Since returning from the IL, Hunter Dozier is hitting .241/.331/.464 with five homers.

Tigers

  • Since Harold Castro has moved to second in the lineup, he’s hitting .267/.261/.400. Yep, an OBP lower than his AVG.
  • In late June, Jeimer Candelario was promoted back to the majors and has hit .277/.368/.530.
  • Brandon Dixon has only started six of the last 10 games, all against a righty.
  • Niko Goodrum (.725 OPS, 11 SB) and JaCoby Jones (.746 OPS, 7 SB) have been decent stolen base sources this season.

Twins

  • With C.J. Cron on the IL, one of the other regulars doesn’t need to sit every day. Miguel Sano has transitioned over to the first.
  • Luis Arraez (.933 OPS) has started nine straight games and is playing all over the field.
  • Mitch Garver continues to leadoff against lefties.

White Sox

  • A new lineup has been used in the past four games has helped increase the value of some players. Jon Jay (.709 OPS) is batting second. Ryan Goins (1.105) is playing shortstop and batting in the middle of the lineup. Adam Engel (.708 OPS) is batting ninth with two stolen base attempts.
  • Since joining the White Sox, A.J. Reed is hitting .194/.257/.290.

Yankees

  • Mike Tauchman (.853 OPS) has started five straight games in left field for the injured Brett Gardner.
  • The infield has one extra player rotating in. Here are the five hitters.
Yankee Infield Playing Time
Name Games Started (last 10) OPS (Season)
Luke Voit 9 0.891
Gleyber Torres 9 0.876
DJ LeMahieu 8 0.901
Didi Gregorius 8 0.806
Giovanny Urshela 6 0.827
  • Giovanny Urshela’s playing time seems to be getting hit the most but he’s still startable in deeper AL-onlys.





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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thebearproofsuit
4 years ago

No Mariners? No problem, I’m actually more interested in their AA lineup anyway.

Josermember
4 years ago

Now that Edgar is in the HoF they have nothing left to play for this year and they’re so accustomed to switching to golf while other teams are still playing meaningful baseball they just got started a few months early.