Lineup Analysis (4/29/22)
American League
Angels
• Taylor Ward has led off the last four games.
• Jared Walsh (vs RHP) and Matt Duffy (vs LHP) are in a platoon.
• Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh are splitting time in left field.
• Tyler Wade (.660 OPS) is not a full-time player (started seven of the last ten) and usually sits against lefties.
Astros
• Chas McCormick (.711 OPS) has started five straight games while leading off in four of them. Jeremy Peña was leading off before him.
• Aledmys Díaz has started six of the last nine games at second with Jose Altuve on the IL.
Athletics
• Even though Tony Kemp has a .347 OBP, he moved down to ninth in the last game with Chad Pinder (.262/.262/.524) off the IL and leading off. This is a situation to track over the weekend.
• Stephen Piscotty (.756 OPS) has played every game and hit in the heart of the order since coming off the IL.
• Sheldon Neuse (.304/.371/.375, 3 BB, 1 HR) continues to hit second.
Blue Jays
• Bradley Zimmer (.315 OPS) and Raimel Tapia (.509 OPS) are splitting one outfield spot.
• Zack Collins (.881 OPS) has started five of the last eight games.
Guardians
• Owen Miller (1.187 OPS) is batting cleanup with Franmil Reyes (.412 OPS) dropping down to the sixth spot.
• Josh Naylor (.769 OPS) has started seven of the last eight games and settled into the fifth spot.
Mariners
• Abraham Toro (.559 OPS) has started 11 straight games while settling into the sixth spot.
• Julio Rodriguez (.524 OPS) and Jarred Kelenic (.505 OPS) are buried at the bottom of the lineup.
• Jesse Winker has started against two of the last three lefties.
Orioles
• Chris Owings (vs LHP) and Rougned Odor (vs RHP) are in a second base platoon.
• Ramón Urías (.491 OPS) is losing playing time to Kelvin Gutierrez (.443 OPS).
Rangers
• Some weird stuff going on here.
• Kole Calhoun (.420 OPS) has led off the past two games but is still in an outfield platoon with Nick Solak facing lefties.
• Eli White (vs LHP) and Willie Calhoun (vs RHP) are in an outfield/DH platoon.
• Brad Miller (.549 OPS), Andy Ibáñez (.572 OPS), and Charlie Culberson (.523 OPS) are having a pillow fight for the third base job.
Rays
• Harold Ramirez (vs LHP) and Ji-Man Choi (vs RHP) are in a platoon.
• Josh Lowe (.506 OPS) as sat against the last two lefties.
Red Sox
• Trevor Story (.601 OPS) has led off in seven of the last eight games with Enrique Hernández (.610 OPS) moving to the middle of the lineup.
• Jackie Bradley Jr. (.486 OPS) has started in eight of the last nine.
• Bobby Dalbec (.457 OPS) is batting seventh or eighth.
Royals
• Nicky Lopez (.680 OPS) leads off against righties.
• With Adalberto Mondesi on the IL, the positions got moved around so that an outfield spot opened up. For now, it seems like Edward Olivares (.497 OPS) will start more than Kyle Isbel (.900 OPS).
Tigers
• Derek Hill (.718 OPS) has started three of the last five games in center field over Akil Baddoo (.402 OPS).
• Austin Meadows has only started against one of the four lefties.
• Spencer Torkelson (.715 OPS) has moved up from hitting eighth to hitting fifth.
Twins
• If Luis Arraez (.827 OPS) sits, it’s against a lefty.
• Gilberto Celestino (.561 OPS), Trevor Larnach (.731 OPS), Kyle Garlick (.580 OPS), and Nick Gordon (.584 OPS) are splitting one outfield spot. Sometimes one will be the DH.
White Sox
• Andrew Vaughn (.975 OPS) is now batting second.
• With Eloy Jiménez on the IL, Gavin Sheets (.595 OPS) has started three of four games. The one time he sat was against a lefty.
• Jake Burger (.738 OPS) is up to hitting 5th.
Yankees
• DJ LeMahieu (.858 OPS) has led off for six straight games.
National League
Braves
• Ronald Acuña Jr. led off in his first game back from the IL.
• Travis Demeritte has started three straight games with Eddie Rosario on the IL.
Brewers
• Tyrone Taylor (.574 OPS) has started three straight.
• Rowdy Tellez (vs RHP) and Keston Hiura (vs LHP) are still in a platoon.
• Mike Brosseau (vs LHP) and Jace Peterson (vs RHP) are also still in a platoon.
• Kolten Wong (.549 OPS) is down to hitting eighth or ninth.
Cardinals
• Tommy Edman (.957 OPS) is now batting leadoff.
• Paul DeJong (.505 OPS) has only started in four of the last seven games.
• Corey Dickerson (vs RHP) and Albert Pujols (vs LHP) are in a DH platoon.
Cubs
• Rafael Ortega (vs RHP) is a DH platoon with both catchers. Ortega leads off when starting.
• Jason Heyward (vs RHP) and Michael Hermosillo (vs LHP) are in a centerfield platoon.
• Nick Madrigal (.556 OPS) and Jonathan Villar (.692 OPS) are splitting time at second base.
• Frank Schwindel (.635 OPS) is losing playing time to Alfonso Rivas (1.332 OPS). Rivas has started in two of the last five games.
Diamondbacks
• A couple of recent additions have this lineup in flux. Check back in a few days to see if there are obvious platoons.
• Nick Ahmed is back at shortstop. Sergio Alcántara (.364 OPS) and Geraldo Perdomo (.655 OPS) have each started at third since Ahmed returned.
• Seth Beer (1.057 OPS) sat against the last lefty with Matt Davidson (.557 OPS) starting instead.
• Pavin Smith sat against the last lefty with Jordan Luplow, who just came off the IL, starting instead.
Dodgers
• The same guys start all the time.
Giants
• For now, Darin Ruf 러프 (.446 OPS) is starting every day.
• Joc Pederson (vs RHP) and Austin Slater (vs LHP) are in a platoon.
• Brandon Crawford (.644 OPS) is now batting cleanup.
• Jason Vosler (.611 OPS) has started four straight at third base and is batting eighth.
• Luis Gonzalez (vs RHP) and Mauricio Dubón (vs LHP) are in a centerfield platoon.
Marlins
• The team had nine straight games against righty starters, so a few platoons may be hidden especially since they cycle in players to the DH spot.
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. (vs RHP) and Jon Berti (vs LHP) are in a second base platoon.
• Joey Wendle (vs RHP) and Brian Anderson (vs LHP) are in a third base platoon.
• The last two times the Marlins have faced a lefty, Bryan De La Cruz has started and Jesús Sánchez sat.
Mets
• Jeff McNeil (vs RHP) and Luis Guillorme (vs LHP) are in a second base platoon.
• J.D. Davis (.739 OPS) starts mainly against lefties. He’s in a timeshare with Robinson Canó (.488 OPS) and Dominic Smith (.512 OPS) for the DH spot.
Nationals
• Last night (Thursday), Yadiel Hernandez (.735 OPS) started against a lefty for the first time this season while batting fifth. There is a chance he may be pushing Lane Thomas (.478 OPS) and Victor Robles (.443 OPS) into a centerfield timeshare. Check to see if he starts Friday night versus a lefty.
• Lucius Fox has started the last two games at shortstop with Alcides Escobar having a .344 OPS.
Padres
• Austin Nola (.523 OPS) is leading off against lefties.
• Over the last five games, Jurickson Profar (.858 OPS) is batting cleanup.
• Eric Hosmer (1.072 OPS) has moved up to the fifth spot.
• Of the last nine games, C.J. Abrams (.499) has started in only four of them
Phillies
• Jean Segura (.714 OPS) is back to leading off.
• It seems like Matt Vierling (vs LHP) and Odúbel Herrera (vs RHP) are in an outfield platoon.
Pirates
• Jack Suwinski (.333) has started in right field for the last three games.
• With Kevin Newman on the IL, Diego Castillo has started the last two games at shortstop.
• Ben Gamel and Jake Marisnick are splitting one outfield spot.
Reds
• Tyler Naquin (vs RHP) and Aristides Aquino (vs LHP) are in a right-field platoon.
• Colin Moran (.492 OPS) has started eight of nine at third base with the last one being with Mike Moustakas off the IL.
• Look for more stability in five days or so. The recent additions of Jonathan India and Moustakas are creating confusion.
Rockies
• Alan Trejo (vs LHP) and Brendan Rodgers (vs RHP) might be in a platoon.
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.
Great stuff
I think Wong bats at the bottom vs. lefties and leads off vs. righties. I read a great article that mentioned it a few weeks ago here
https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/mining-the-news-4-13-22/
Yes, this is correct. There also have been a few weird instances where there was a lefty opener, so Wong batted ninth to become a second lead off once the lefty exited.
“Teams are done excepting subpar performance and are moving on.”
Far be it from me to question a writer (and presumably an editor) on grammar, but shouldn’t this be “accepting”?
I vote exceptioning
great work as always. the information density here is incredible.
Jeff McNeil is not in a platoon with Luis Guillorme. Guillorme will get an occasional start to give a guy a rest. That’s it. McNeil was rested vs. StL on Wednesday because Matz was on the mound, and it was a day game after a night game. Otherwise, he’s basically a full-time guy.
McNeil has sat in four or the five games the Mets have faced a lefty starter.
Maybe it’s worked out that way so far, but that doesn’t mean he’s in a platoon with Luis Guillorme. First of all, why would the Mets platoon Jeff McNeil with another lefty bat — and a weak one at that? The Mets have a lot of guys who need to get some reps here and there. McNeil has actually started about the same number of games at 2B and LF this year. And the reason is pretty obvious: Robinson Cano has also been in there quite a bit. 2B has been evenly split between those 3 guys at this point, with McNeil still having started 17 of 22 games. The OP’s analysis is just off-base in this case.
Tapia has started 12 straight games and 16 of 17 but it’s hard to tell if there are any platoons with the Jays because they’ve faced 17 straight RHP and only 1 LHP total for the year.
Wow. What are the chances of that?
The AL east doesn’t seem to have fewer lefties than other divisions, at least in a cursory survey.
I wonder if the Jays’ lineup (very righty heavy) is skewing the handedness of the pitchers they’re facing — are opponents adjusting rotation order specifically for the Jays?
Any thoughts on switching to wOBA or wRC+ instead of OPS? I find it difficult to recalibrate what OPS means this year — I have to keep checking (e.g. Yadiel Hernandezʻs .735 OPS is actually a 108 wRC+)
The Marlins platooning their young budding star who also happens to be their best batter currently has my mind in a bottle.