Lineup Analysis (5/8/18)

by
May 8, 2018

My focus is on lineup position and the amount of regular play each hitter get. I’m not concentrating on positions played. Also, if a team isn’t listed, I didn’t find any new information.

Note: I highlighted what I consider to be the seven most important findings.

Angels

Astros

  • Evan Gattis owners may need to start looking for a replacement as his struggles with the bat (.187/.260/.275) has led to him starting three times in the last 10 games.

Athletics

Braves

  • For about a week the lineup has been steady with Ozzie Albies leading off, Ronald Acuna batting 2nd, and Ender Inciarte hitting 9th. Inciarte is not running as much as he has just one steal in the seven games since the move. He had 12 in the 25 games when he led off.
  • Jose Bautista has hit fifth or sixth since joining the team.

Brewers

Blue Jays

Cardinals

  • The lineup has been in flux over the last couple games with the Yadier Molina and Tommy Pham injuries. It’s really tough to know how the lineup will look going forward.
  • In a two-game sample Molina went down, Jedd Gyorko has hit 5th.

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

  • This lineup has been a mess with all the team’s injuries. Expect some major changes once some of the walking wounded return.
  • Matt Kemp is batting third (vs. lefties) or fifth (vs. righties).
  • Alex Verdugo is batting 2nd (vs righties) and 7th (vs lefties).
  • Someone named Tim Locastro is playing against lefties.

Giants

  • Since April’s last week, the lineup looks to be set by a random number generator.

Indians

  • Tyler Naquin (vs. righties) and Brandon Guyer (vs. lefties) are in a platoon.
  • I completely missed on the Greg Allen promotion on Sunday because of the Bradley Zimmer’s injury. Allen could be a stolen base source but has had problems hitting at the MLB level.

Marlins

  • Since Martin Prado returned about a week ago, the top five in the lineup has stabilized to the following:
  1. J.T. Realmuto
  2. Martin Prado
  3. Starlin Castro
  4. Justin Bour
  5. Brian Anderson

Mets

  • Excluding the pitcher, the Mets have used the same lineup only three times this season. There is almost no conformity to it.
  • Adrian Gonzalez is still sitting against left-handed pitching when Wilmer Flores starts.

Nationals

  • Because of injuries and the emergence of Matt Adams, the lineup has been in flux. Since Anthony Rendon has returned, he’s hit third with Adams hitting fourth.
  • Ryan Zimmerman has only started twice in the last six games.
  • The fifth to seventh spots seem to be drawn from a hat nightly.
  • Wilmer Difo is consistently batting ninth with the pitcher hitting eighth.

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Rangers

Rays

Rockies

Royals

Twins

White Sox

Yankees





 

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.

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Azizalmember
5 years ago

“Excluding the pitcher, the Mets have used the same lineup only three times this season. There is almost no conformity to it.”

But there’s a LOT of Confortomity to it.

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