Lineup Analysis (4/17/26)

by
April 17, 2026


Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

• Oswald Peraza (.903 OPS), Yoán Moncada (.654 OPS), Adam Frazier (.945 OPS), and Vaughn Grissom (.730 OPS) are splitting time at second and third base.

Astros

• Taylor Trammell (.681 OPS) and Brice Matthews (.459 OPS) split one outfield spot with Yordan Alvarez.

• Isaac Paredes (.627 OPS) now bats third with nine straight starts.

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Athletics

• Lawrence Butler and Carlos Cortes don’t face lefties.

Blue Jays

• Lenyn Sosa (.585 OPS) has had two straight starts at second base since being traded by the White Sox to the Blue Jays. Ernie Clement moves to third while Kazuma Okamoto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. split time at first base and DH. Follow this situation since there will be some playing time winners and losers.

• Brandon Valenzuela (.513 OPS) is the primary catcher with Alejandro Kirk on the IL.

Guardians

• Chase DeLauter is seeing more time at DH, thereby allowing George Valera (1.000 OPS) to start three straight games in the outfield. With the DH filling up, Kyle Manzardo (.547 OPS) and Rhys Hoskins (.713 OPS) form a first base platoon.

Mariners

• No changes

Orioles

• Colton Cowser (.548 OPS) sat against the last two lefties.

• Jeremiah Jackson (.899 OPS, 4 HR) with seven straight starts.

• Leody Taveras (.959 OPS) with six starts in the last seven games.

Rangers

• No changes.

Rays

• Taylor Walls (.720) started nine straight games.

• The only possible new target might be Jonny DeLuca (.278/.316/.500, 2 HR, 1 SB), who has started in five of the last seven games.

Red Sox

• With several guys struggling to hit, Masataka Yoshida (.852 OPS) started two straight games.

• I’m not sure how long the team can keep playing Caleb Durbin (.127/.226/.164).

Royals

• Jonathan India and Michael Massey split time starting at either second base or left field.

Tigers

• There is a ton of player position movement happening to facilitate the platoons. The final results are Matt Vierling and Wenceel Pérez facing lefties, with Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith facing righties.

• Spencer Torkelson dropped to seventh in the lineup.

Twins

• Tristan Gray (vs RHP) and Ryan Kreidler (vs LHP) form a third base platoon.

• With Victor Caratini moving between catcher and first base, Ryan Jeffers (vs LHP) and Kody Clemens (vs RHP) form a platoon.

White Sox

• Sam Antonacci started both games (2B and OF) since being promoted.

• I’m not 100% sure what is going on with the addition of Antonacci, trading away Lenyn Sosa, and Everson Pereira coming off the IL. Come back to this lineup in a few days to see who is getting most of the playing time.

Yankees

• Amed Rosario (vs LHP) and Ryan McMahon (vs RHP) form a third base platoon.

National League

Braves

• No changes.

Brewers

• David Hamilton (.583 OPS, 4 SB) started in eight of the last nine games.

• Luis Rengifo (.381 OPS) started just once in the last four games.

• Garrett Mitchell (.838 OPS), Brandon Lockridge (.625 OPS), Luis Matos (.481 OPS), Blake Perkins (.435 OPS), and Greg Jones (3 PA) share two outfield spots.

Cardinals

• Ramón Urías (vs LHP) and Nolan Gorman (vs RHP) form a third base platoon.

• José Fermín (.543 OPS), Nathan Church (.546 OPS), and Thomas Saggese (.523 OPS) rotate through left field.

Cubs

• Since Seiya Suzuki came off the IL, Matt Shaw started in three of six games.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong (.582 OPS) is now batting eighth.

Diamondbacks

• Jose Fernandez (.776 OPS) with seven straight starts.

• Adrian Del Castillo (.923 OPS) is starting every other game and has three games at catcher so far.

• Jorge Barrosa (.736 OPS) started 11 straight games.

Dodgers

• Alex Freeland (career .390 OPS vs LHP, .628 OPS vs RHP) didn’t start against the last lefty.

• Miguel Rojas (vs LHP) and Hyeseong Kim 김혜성 (vs RHP) form a shortstop platoon.

Giants

• Heliot Ramos (.526 OPS) sat out the last two games with Will Brennan (4 PA) starting instead.

• Jared Oliva (7 PA) and Drew Gilbert (5 PA) split time in centerfield.

• In seven of the last eight games, Casey Schmitt (.840 OPS) started all as the DH.

Marlins

• Connor Norby (.852 OPS, 2 HR) started six straight games and is now qualified at first base.

Mets

• Mark Vientos started in three of the last six games.

• This offense is struggling so much that they decided it was a good idea to give plate appearances to Tommy Pham, Tyrone Taylor, and MJ Melendez.

Nationals

• A Jorbit Vivas (.786 OPS) started five straight games.

Padres

• Here is how the 1B/DH options are performing

Name: OPS

Miguel Andujar: .803
Ty France: .788
Gavin Sheets: .775
Nick Castellanos: .495

Phillies

• Brandon Marsh (.770 OPS) may be getting full-time plate appearances with Justin Crawford (vs RHP) and Otto Kemp (vs LHP) forming a platoon.

Pirates

• Billy Cook (vs LHP) and Ryan O’Hearn (vs RHP) form a left field platoon.

Reds

• Rece Hinds (50% K%) started three straight games since being promoted from AAA.

• Ke’Bryan Hayes (.201 OPS, yes, that is his OPS) started only five times in the last eight games.

Rockies

• After starting 10 straight games, Troy Johnston (.828 OPS) started in only three of the last six.

• Jake McCarthy has just five starts in the last 10 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.

3 Comments
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Matt BMember since 2021
6 hours ago

I don’t think Jeffers is actually in a platoon with Clemens. They just seem to be facing LHPs all the time.

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