Archive for Lineups

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Note 1: I’m going to focus more on available players who will help next week with little to no long-term implications.

Note 2: I’m using our starting pitcher grid from Friday morning. It will change between now and Monday, so try to keep up.

Note 3: Any noted rostership rates come from the NFBC RotoWire Online Championship, the same rates we use on the FanGraphs Player Rater. For reference, these leagues are 12-team Roto leagues with 30-man rosters (2 C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, 5 OF, UT, 9 P) and weekly add/drops. This rate can be compared to other rostership rates found in this article.

American League

Angels

• With three righties and three lefties on the schedule, no platoons are viable. The team starts at the Athletics, so Vaughn Grissom (35% rostered, .683 OPS) and possibly Denzer Guzman (3% rostered, .620 OPS) are in play. Read the rest of this entry »

Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

• Oswald Peraza (.621 OPS, 7 HR, 12 SB in 344 PA) started the last three games at third base instead of Denzer Guzman.

Astros

• No changes.

Athletics

• Alika Williams (.735 OPS) started seven of the last nine games at shortstop.

• Since coming off the IL, Denzel Clarke (.421 OPS) has started two of three games, both in center field. In the small sample since returning, he has an 80% Contact% (65% before going on the IL).

Read the rest of this entry »

Pablo Robles-Imagn Images

Note: Any noted rostership rates come from the NFBC RotoWire Online Championship, the same rates we use on the FanGraphs Player Rater. For reference, these leagues are 12-team Roto leagues with 30-man rosters (2 C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, 5 OF, UT, 9 P) and weekly add/drops. This rate can be compared to other rostership rates found in this article.

American League

Angels

• Over the last six games, Vaughn Grissom moved up to hit either third or fourth.

• Jose Siri (vs LHP) and Gustavo Campero (vs RHP) were in a platoon, but Campero is now on the IL, so Siri may get full-time at-bats.

• Christian Moore (.639 OPS since being recalled) started five straight games at second base. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the fourth and final installment of the Outliers series. In mid-April, I introduced the process of reviewing matchups and schedules in three-week windows to identify team offense outliers. The basic premise is that rest-of-season (ROS) analysis has high margins of error and that it is better to compartmentalize fantasy decision-making into shorter timeframes. At that time, the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets were highlighted as positive offensive outliers. Over the next 3.5 weeks, the White Sox scored the fourth-most runs and ranked top three in ISO and wRC+, while the Mets were a huge letdown. In mid-May, the featured offenses, based on matchups, were the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants. The Rangers’ schedule helped them to score the 12th most runs over those weeks. The Giants, who were the worst offense in the Majors at that time, took advantage of their incredible schedule and turned into the best offense in baseball over the next month: third in runs and first in ISO, SLG, and wRC+. In mid-June, I recommended targeting hitters from the Athletics and Colorado Rockies due to their advantageous “on-paper” schedule. From June 11 through July 5, the Rockies were the most productive offense in baseball, averaging a league-best 6.43 runs per game, with the highest ISO (.233), and the only offense with a .500+ slugging percentage. The Athletics were seventh in total runs (118) at a rate of 5.36 per game, despite being without Brent Rooker.

This final review of a 3.5-week window will take us through Sunday, September 20. Technically, we could extend this through the final week of the season, but it’s better not to, as teams will be shutting down players and playoff teams will be resting some of their players. First, let’s review how pitching staffs have performed over the last six weeks and highlight the potentially fruitful matchups which should lead us to our offensive outliers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

• No changes

Astros

• No changes

Athletics

• With all the injuries to the team (Kurtz, Langeliers, Rooker, Soderstrom, Kuroda-Grauer, Clarke), this lineup is pathetic. Lawrence Butler couldn’t make the lineup earlier in the year, and now he’s batting cleanup. Read the rest of this entry »

USA TODAY NETWORK

American League

Angels

• Wade Meckler (.776 OPS) started eight straight games, including two against a lefty.

Astros

• Daulton Varsho (.663 OPS), Cam Smith (.691 OPS), and Taylor Trammell (.746 OPS) have become the regular outfielders.

Athletics

• With Zack Gelof off the IL, Tommy White (.528 OPS) still starts (nine of last 10 games) but is now playing at first base.

Blue Jays

• Charles McAdoo (.611 OPS, 2 HR) started four straight games while leading off for three of them (against lefties).

• Brett Bateman (.644 OPS) started six of the last seven games in the outfield.

• Myles Straw (.611 OPS) started in eight of the last 10 games.

Guardians

• Since being promoted, Angel Genao (.811 OPS) started in seven of eight games.

Mariners

• Since coming off the IL, Brendan Donovan started in seven of nine games with all but one at third base.

• With the demotion of Colt Emerson (.581 OPS), Leo Rivas (.424 OPS) started at shortstop.

Orioles

• Jackson Holliday (.723 OPS) batted third over the last six games.

• Christian Encarnacion-Strand (.801 OPS) started just three times in the last six games, all against righties.

• Tyler O’Neill (.702 OPS, 10 HR) started six straight games, all against righties.

Rangers

• With Corey Seager off the IL, Nicky Lopez lost his full-time shortstop job.

Rays

• When starting, Liam Hicks (.816 OPS) bats fourth.

Red Sox

• Nick Sogard (.694 OPS) started 13 straight games.

Royals

• After seven straight starts, John Rave (.797 OPS) started just twice in the next six.

• Since coming off the IL, Kyle Isbel (.620 OPS) started in seven of nine games.

Tigers

• Javier Báez (.700 OPS) started in six of the last seven games.

• Riley Greene (vs RHP) and Ben Malgeri (vs LHP) form an outfield platoon.

Twins

• Kaelen Culpepper (.639 OPS) started six of eight games since being promoted.

White Sox

• No changes.

Yankees

• José Caballero started just twice in the last eight games with Ryan McMahon (vs RHP) and Amed Rosario (vs LHP) forming a third base platoon.

• As expected, Luis García Jr. (vs RHP) and Paul Goldschmidt (vs LHP) form a first base platoon.

National League

Braves

• Ha-Seong Kim 김하성 (.233 OPS) started once in nine games since coming off the IL.

• Lane Thomas (vs LHP) and Mike Yastrzemski (vs RHP) form an outfield platoon.

Brewers

• Garrett Mitchell sat against the last two lefties after seeming like he was no longer in a platoon.

• Andrew Vaughn (.856 OPS, 5 HR) has eight starts in the last 10 games. He now has 10 games at third base.

Cardinals

• Blaze Jordan, César Prieto, and José Fermín split time at third base, making all three fantasy irrelevant.

• Everson Pereira (.767 OPS, 5 HR) has only started against lefties.

Cubs

• Ian Happ (.529 OPS vs LHP) sat against three of the last five lefties.

• Pedro Ramírez (.788 OPS, 2 HR, 7 SB) started in just five of the last 10 games.

Diamondbacks

• Tim Tawa (.662 OPS, 6 HR, 6 SB in 199 PA) has 15 straight starts.

Dodgers

• Hunter Feduccia (.665 OPS) gets the most starts at catcher with Will Smith and Dalton Rushing on the IL.

Giants

• Victor Bericoto (.784 OPS, 4 HR) started both games since coming off the IL while batting fifth.

• Drew Gilbert (.680 OPS) started six straight games in center field.

• Christian Koss (.433 OPS, 2 SB) started six straight games at third base.

• Osleivis Basabe (.755 OPS, 3 HR, 43 PA) started 11 straight games since being promoted.

Marlins

• Besides a few guys, it is tough to find regulars on the team.

• Since coming off the IL, Owen Caissie (.727 OPS) started in nine of ten games, all against right-handed starters.

• Since being promoted, Agustín Ramírez started in four of nine games while posting a .721 OPS (37% K%).

• Esteury Ruiz (.868 OPS, 6 HR, 28 SB) continues to struggle for playing time with just five starts in the last 10 games.

Mets

• Luis Robert Jr. (.787 OPS in August) started in seven of the last 10 games.

• Jorge Polanco (.421 OPS) and Brett Baty (.613 OPS) have only started in six of the last 10 games.

Nationals

• Abimelec Ortiz (vs RHP) and Andrés Chaparro (vs LHP) form a first base platoon.

• Brady House (.681 OPS) and Jorbit Vivas (.665 OPS) split time at third base.

• Andrew Pinckney (.925 OPS) and José Tena (.708 OPS) split playing time.

Padres

• Austin Hays (1.000 OPS, 9 PA), who started two straight games, might start taking playing time from Luis Rengifo (.861 OPS) and Gavin Sheets (.706 OPS).

Phillies

• Bryson Stott (at 3B) and Alec Bohm (at 1B) each got a new position qualification.

Pirates

• Jared Triolo (.651 OPS) and Jacob Gonzalez (.682 OPS) split time in the infield. Triolo has been an on-base machine (.319/.418/.404) in the second half.

Reds

• Ke’Bryan Hayes (.426 OPS) started at third base in eight of the last ten games.

• Héctor Rodríguez (vs RHP) and Noelvi Marte (vs LHP) form a right field platoon.

Rockies

• Jordan Beck (vs LHP) and Zac Veen (vs RHP) might be in a right field platoon. The stats back it up, but it’s tough to know after two games.

• Connor Norby (.630 OPS) started the last two games at second base.

Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

On Thursday, I examined the lineups of the eight inactive teams. Today, the other 22 teams get their due.

American League

Angels

• Moisés Ballesteros (.667 OPS, 6 HR) started three straight games, including one at catcher (nine games at C this year). I think he could be a huge waiver wire target, but I’m worried about how well he hits. I suspect the Angels want him to focus on his catching and his bat will lag. We’ll see.

• Since Jo Adell was traded away, Jose Siri (.802 OPS, 6 HR) started three straight games, including one against a righty (he was only facing lefties). Read the rest of this entry »

William Liang-Imagn Images

While I try to examine all the teams’ lineups at once, I wanted to spend more time with each team after the trade deadline. I started with the eight teams who were idle on Thursday since no new information would be coming from them.

American League

Astros

• Daulton Varsho started each game in center field while batting cleanup.

• Taylor Trammell (.720 OPS, 6 HR, 3 SB in 176 PA) started 10 straight games. Read the rest of this entry »

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Sorry I for only getting to the National League today. I’ve been under the weather and don’t want to push it.

Note: Any noted rostership rates come from the NFBC RotoWire Online Championship, the same rates we use on the FanGraphs Player Rater. For reference, these leagues are 12-team Roto leagues with 30-man rosters (2 C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, 5 OF, UT, 9 P) and weekly add/drops. This rate can be compared to other rostership rates found in this article. Read the rest of this entry »

Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Note: Any noted rostership rates come from the NFBC RotoWire Online Championship, the same rates we use on the FanGraphs Player Rater. For reference, these leagues are 12-team Roto leagues with 30-man rosters (2 C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, 5 OF, UT, 9 P) and weekly add/drops. This rate can be compared to other rostership rates found in this article. Additionally, I’ve explained why I like to focus on OPS to evaluate hitters in this article.

American League

Angels

• Jorge Soler might not DH as often with Mike Trout off the IL. Trout might also cut into Jose Siri’s playing time.

• Vaughn Grissom (vs LHP) and Nolan Schanuel (vs RHP) might be in a first base platoon. Read the rest of this entry »