American League Lineup Analysis

It’s now time to go over the American League lineups. I feel some are just not set but it’s interesting seeing some of the early season adjustments.

Angels

• Zack Cozart leads off against lefties, Kole Calhoun against righties.
• The lineup may go into some flux with Andrelton Simmons possibly missing some time.
• Tommy La Stella, David Fletcher, and Cozart are in a three-way timeshare at second and third base.

Astros

• The lineup is set with Michael Brantley batting cleanup.
• Josh Reddick and Jake Marisnick split time in the outfield.
• Tyler White is not getting full-time at-bats at DH as some players are cycling through the position.

Athletics

• Robbie Grossman leads off against righties, sits against lefties.
• Marcus Semien leads off versus lefties, bats 7th against righties.
• Stephen Piscotty has hit 3rd in every game.
• Kendrys Morales and Mark Canha are in a first base platoon.
• Chad Pinder is in a part-time role, sitting against most righties.

Blue Jays

• It’s tough to know their plans going forward with so many roster changes. No more Kevin Pillar. Justin Smoak is hurt. Socrates Brito and Allen Hanson have been added.
• Brandon Drury is the only person to start in seven of the eight games. Rowdy Tellez and Randal Grichuck have started in six.

Indians

• They have a set lineup but it doesn’t matter since no one is hitting besides Carlos Santana (.450/.522/.500).
• Hanley Ramirez may move up from the 5th spot since he is also sort of kind of hitting.

Mariners

• The order has been in flux with Mallex Smith getting healthy, Domingo Santana hitting great, and Edwin Encarnacion dealing with a hand injury.
• Jay Bruce is hitting 3rd or 4th.
• Dee Gordon is hitting 9th and will stay there until he takes a walk.
• The team isn’t buying Tim Beckham’s resurgence and continues to bat him 6th or 7th.

Orioles

• Cedric Mullins II sits against lefties. He’s pretty much unplayable in any league shallower than 20 teams. Joey Rickard and Renato Nunez cycle in-and-out of the lineup also.
• Dwight Smith Jr. (.310/.333/.379) has batted 2nd in every game.
• Trey Mancini is playing every day and batting 3rd or 4th. He might end up as a sneaky option by season’s end based on playing time alone.

Rangers

• After playing in only one of the first two games, Shin-Soo Choo led off the next four and is hitting (.238/.333/.429).
• Delino DeShields leads off against lefties and bats 9th against righties.

Rays

• The Rays lineup will always depend on the starters handedness.
• Only three non-catchers were regulars before the Joey Wendle injury, Tommy Pham, Willy Adames, and Kevin Kiermaier. After the injury, it looks like Daniel Robertson is now a regular.
• Media darling Brandon Lowe is not facing lefties. He’s not horrible against lefties (84 wRC+ for his career), but Robertson is better (111 wRC+).

Red Sox

• The lineup’s top half is set with some combination of Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Dever, J.D. Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts.
• Jackie Bradley Jr. is hitting 8th or 9th every day.
• The 6th to 8th spot just has everyone plugged in some random order.

Royals

• The Royals have used the same lineup three times and another one twice. Ned Yost loves his consistency.
• As expected, Billy Hamilton is batting 9th.
• In 15-team leagues, don’t overlook Alex Gordon batting 3rd and Jorge Soler batting 4th.

Tigers

• The team has some steady playing time contributors but only Niko Goodrum has been hitting (.318/.486/.591). The team as a whole is hitting .166/.264/.255.
• They are likely getting JaCoby Jones back soon who could be a decent add in 15-team or deeper leagues.

Twins

• During the first four games, they had the same lineup except swapping the catcher out.
• Jonathan Schoop is buried at the 7th spot and Byron Buxton at 9th.
• Everyone’s darling, Williams Astudillo has only played in two games so far this season.

White Sox

• It’s set with Leury Garcia leading off and Eloy Jimenez batting 5th.
• The bottom spots have moved around with Tim Anderson on paternity leave.

Yankees

• With Miguel Andujar likely out of the season, D.J. Lemahieu has taken over at third base and on Wednesday, batted leadoff against a lefty starter. Otherwise, he has been batting 5th to 7th.
• Two of Greg Bird, Mike Tauchman, and Clint Frazier are in the lineup every day. The problem is that one must sit killing each one’s value in shallower leagues.