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Angels
• Christian Moore started five straight at second base.
• Denzer Guzman with five straight starts at shortstop.
• Sebastián Rivero (.491 OPS) has taken over the catcher duties.
Yesterday, in an attempt to benefit from every possible advantage as the regular seasons comes to a close, I reviewed a slew of hitters whose teams will be playing in the top home run parks in baseball this week. Let’s now look toward next week so you have some time to plan your roster. Park factors are this year only.
With just two more weeks of regular season action, it’s worth doing the research to benefit from every possible advantage. So today, I’ll focus on hitters playing in the top home run parks in baseball this week. Taking advantage of park factors on a weekly basis always makes sense. However, I typically limit my research to Coors Field, as that’s consistently the most favorable hitting environment in baseball, or at least close to it when it fails to top the leaderboard. As usual, I’ll limit the names to those that are lesser owned (less than 50% owned in CBS leagues).
With the season nearly complete, this article takes a final look at OOPSY’s projections-based top 60 prospects in an effort to give readers a jump start on the offseason.
Hello, and welcome to one of the last Position Player Playing Time Changes roundups of the year! We’ve got plenty to go over this week, as usual, but before we dive in it’s important to note how the methodology makes for some large swings this late in the season.
Because we’re looking at remaining playing time and there’s so little time left in the season, even the most minor of injuries — like an IL stint for Alec Bohm that’s expected to be the minimum ten days — can lead to massive swings in playing time because the Phillies only have 18 games left. For example, if this was Opening Day and Bohm was expected to miss only ten games, his projected playing time would only go down six percent. But now even a relatively minor injury means his playing time goes down 50 percentage points. Basically, there’s an inverse relationship between games remaining in the season and the significance of an individual injury, which is why our list keeps getting longer with each week!
With that explanation out of the way, let’s get to it:
The year may have changed, but Coors Field remains the premier hitting venue in baseball. I have to go back to 2021 to find the first season it wasn’t the most offense-friendly park in baseball, and even that year it trailed by only two Park Factor points. With only a couple of weeks left in the regular season, taking advantage of scheduling could provide that boost that either gets you into a prize finish or keeps you there. So it’s worth knowing that next week, the Rockies play a six game homestand, which means it’s time to load up on players scheduled to play there!
Gosh, it’s already difficult enough keeping up with playing time changes earlier in the season. It’s even more challenging now with expanded rosters and teams with no shot at the playoffs giving younger hitters a chance, or perhaps more evenly dividing the playing time among multiple players. Unlike any of my teams, many of you are likely fighting for a prize finish, so keeping abreast of all the changes is vital to finishing strong. So let’s discuss four more hitters who are now seeing regular playing time.
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A few days ago, I asked for any improvements for this lineup’s article. The biggest takeaway was to “not change a thing”. Some people didn’t like all the stats, so today’s edition has none except games played.
Angels
• Niko Kavadas and Oswald Peraza split time at first base.
• Chris Taylor with three straight starts since coming off the IL. Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to September’s first Position Player Playing Time Changes roundup! Waiver claims and some unfortunate injuries are the highlight of this week’s summary, as well as a notable prospect recall in the Royals’ Carter Jensen.
| Name | Team | Positions | Old PT | New PT | PT Change | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cam Devanney | PIT | 3B,2B,SS | 8% | 72% | 64% | Called up to MLB |
| Jose Iglesias | SDP | SS, 3B, 2B | 30% | 83% | 53% | Filling in for Bogaerts |
| Carson Williams | TBR | SS | 22% | 75% | 53% | Kim claimed by ATL |
| Tim Elko | CHW | 1B,DH | 12% | 41% | 29% | Helping to replace Vargas |
| Jake McCarthy | ARI | RF,CF,LF | 47% | 74% | 27% | Gurriel injury |
| Riley Adams | WSN | C,1B | 33% | 59% | 26% | Continuing to hit well + Ruiz uncertainty |
| Mason McCoy | SDP | SS | 1% | 26% | 25% | Helping to replace Bogaerts |
| Jorge Barrosa | ARI | RF,CF,LF | 4% | 27% | 23% | Gurriel injury |
| Will Robertson | CHW | RF,LF | 6% | 29% | 23% | Robert injury |
| Jordan Lawlar | ARI | 3B, DH, SS | 47% | 70% | 23% | Called back up |
| Michael Helman | TEX | CF, LF, SS | 20% | 42% | 22% | Hot hitting lately |
| Brooks Baldwin | CHW | LF,RF,CF,SS,3B,2B | 44% | 66% | 22% | Hot hitting + versatility |
| Jackson Chourio | MIL | RF, DH, CF, LF | 70% | 91% | 21% | Back from IL |
| Michael A. Taylor | CHW | RF, CF, LF | 47% | 67% | 20% | Robert injury |
| Carter Jensen | KCR | C | 8% | 28% | 20% | Welcome to MLB! |
| Liover Peguero | PIT | SS,1B,3B,2B | 50% | 69% | 19% | IKF claimed by TOR |
| Max Muncy | LAD | 3B, 1B, DH | 40% | 58% | 18% | Nearing return from injury |
| Bryan Ramos | CHW | 3B, DH | 13% | 31% | 18% | Called up to MLB |
| Luis Matos | SFG | LF,RF,CF | 45% | 63% | 18% | Continuing to play pretty regularly |
| Connor Norby | MIA | 2B,3B | 61% | 79% | 18% | Back from IL |
| Ildemaro Vargas | ARI | 2B, 3B, LF, SS | 16% | 33% | 17% | Playing most days against LHP |
| Kyle Manzardo | CLE | 1B, DH | 76% | 93% | 17% | Santana gone opens up even more PT |
| Javier Sanoja | MIA | SS,3B,LF,2B,CF | 31% | 45% | 14% | Hot hitting + versatility |
| Angel Martínez | CLE | 3B,SS,CF,2B | 41% | 54% | 13% | Versatility keeps him playing often |
| Ha-Seong Kim | ATL | SS, 2B | 62% | 75% | 13% | Should be unquestioned starting SS for ATL |
| Jackson Merrill | SDP | CF,DH | 77% | 90% | 13% | Back from IL |
| Henry Davis | PIT | C, DH | 46% | 59% | 13% | Getting more starts lately |
| Curtis Mead | CHW | 3B, 2B, 1B, DH | 49% | 61% | 12% | Vargas injury |
| Lane Thomas | CLE | CF,RF | 43% | 54% | 11% | Took BP + ran the bases, getting closer to return |
| Blaze Alexander | ARI | SS,3B,2B,DH, CF | 59% | 70% | 11% | Newfound OF versatility + hot hitting |
| Richie Palacios | TBR | DH,2B,LF | 9% | 20% | 11% | Finally back from IL |
| Joey Ortiz | MIL | SS, 2B | 78% | 89% | 11% | Activated from IL |
| Pedro Pagés | STL | C | 51% | 62% | 11% | Pozo injury |
| Nasim Nuñez | WSN | SS,2B | 3% | 13% | 10% | Back in MLB |
| Victor Scott II | STL | CF | 48% | 58% | 10% | Activated from IL |
| Tyler Locklear | ARI | 1B, DH | 60% | 70% | 10% | Smith injury opens up more PT |
| Owen Caissie | CHC | RF, LF, DH | 12% | 2% | -10% | Optioned to AAA |
| Jhostynxon Garcia | BOS | LF,1B,RF,CF | 14% | 4% | -10% | Optioned to AAA |
| Christian Encarnacion-Strand | CIN | 1B,DH | 16% | 6% | -10% | Future PT remains unclear |
| Francisco Alvarez | NYM | C,DH | 48% | 37% | -11% | Fractured pinky on rehab pushes back return a bit |
| Blake Perkins | MIL | CF, RF, LF | 33% | 21% | -12% | Chourio activated |
| Graham Pauley | MIA | 3B,DH | 29% | 17% | -12% | Norby activated |
| Luke Maile | KCR | C | 32% | 19% | -13% | Jensen called up |
| Joey Bart | PIT | C,DH | 57% | 44% | -13% | Losing PT to Davis |
| Maximo Acosta | MIA | SS,2B,3B | 22% | 9% | -13% | Norby activated |
| Keibert Ruiz | WSN | C | 42% | 28% | -14% | Still not on rehab assignment |
| Yohel Pozo | STL | C,DH | 45% | 29% | -16% | Concussion |
| Alec Burleson | STL | RF, 1B, DH, LF | 77% | 60% | -17% | Wrist inflammation |
| Anthony Seigler | MIL | 3B, 2B | 27% | 8% | -19% | Ortiz activated |
| Dane Myers | MIA | RF, CF | 42% | 8% | -34% | Oblique strain |
| Carlos Santana | CHC | 1B, DH | 70% | 15% | -55% | Will play way more niche role with Cubs |
| Pavin Smith | ARI | 1B, DH | 64% | 8% | -56% | Quad strain |
| Miguel Vargas | CHW | 3B, 1B, DH | 87% | 28% | -59% | Wrist sprain |
| Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | ARI | LF, DH | 88% | 23% | -65% | Knee injury, MRI incoming |
| Nick Allen | ATL | SS | 90% | 23% | -67% | Will lose a ton of PT to Kim |
| Isiah Kiner-Falefa | TOR | SS, 3B | 86% | 17% | -69% | Unclear where his PT will come from with TOR |
| Corey Seager | TEX | SS, DH | 83% | 13% | -70% | Appendectomy |
| Luis Robert Jr. | CHW | CF, DH | 90% | 16% | -74% | Hamstring strain |
| Xander Bogaerts | SDP | SS, DH | 92% | 9% | -83% | Fractured foot |
The calendar has finally flipped to September 1, which means that teams can now expand their active roster from 26 to 28 players. It’s a fun time for fantasy owners as oodles of new players are recalled, some of whom could make significant impacts over the final month of the season. Let’s review some of those callups, along with some additional names recalled a bit earlier than yesterday.
