Lineup Analysis (6/19/26)

by
June 20, 2026


Brad Penner-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

• Denzer Guzman (.588 OPS) started eight straight games at third base while batting 5th to 7th in the lineup.

• There has not been a lineup without Mike Trout (IL), but I suspect Nolan Schanuel and Vaughn Grissom will handle 1B/DH duties, and Jose Siri (.881 OPS) will be in center field. One wrinkle is that Wade Meckler usually sits against lefties, so he might get full-time at-bats. I could be wrong, so monitor any pending moves.[Editor’s note: Friday’s lineup posted after Jeff wrote this. Siri was in CF, Schanuel at 1B, with Christian Moore at DH with Grissom getting the day off. Meckler did, in fact get the start against a LHP.]

Astros

• Jake Meyers (.607 OPS), Brice Matthews (.618), Taylor Trammell (.715), and Joey Loperfido (.668) split time in center and left field, thereby making all four fantasy irrelevant.

You Aren't a FanGraphs Member
It looks like you aren't yet a FanGraphs Member (or aren't logged in). We aren't mad, just disappointed.
We get it. You want to read this article. But before we let you get back to it, we'd like to point out a few of the good reasons why you should become a Member.
1. Ad Free viewing! We won't bug you with this ad, or any other.
2. Unlimited articles! Non-Members only get to read 10 free articles a month. Members never get cut off.
3. Dark mode and Classic mode!
4. Custom player page dashboards! Choose the player cards you want, in the order you want them.
5. One-click data exports! Export our projections and leaderboards for your personal projects.
6. Remove the photos on the home page! (Honestly, this doesn't sound so great to us, but some people wanted it, and we like to give our Members what they want.)
7. Even more Steamer projections! We have handedness, percentile, and context neutral projections available for Members only.
8. Get FanGraphs Walk-Off, a customized year end review! Find out exactly how you used FanGraphs this year, and how that compares to other Members. Don't be a victim of FOMO.
9. A weekly mailbag column, exclusively for Members.
10. Help support FanGraphs and our entire staff! Our Members provide us with critical resources to improve the site and deliver new features!
We hope you'll consider a Membership today, for yourself or as a gift! And we realize this has been an awfully long sales pitch, so we've also removed all the other ads in this article. We didn't want to overdo it.

Athletics

• Even with Brent Rooker on the IL, there are not enough starting spots to go around. One of the problems is that Lawrence Butler and Carlos Cortes shouldn’t and haven’t been facing lefties. The one player whose playing time is secure is Zack Gelof, who moves around to 2B, 3B, and the OF. Max Muncy is on the other end of the spectrum and only facing lefties.

• Since coming off the IL, Jacob Wilson is batting fourth or fifth.

Blue Jays

• Since being recalled, Davis Schneider (1.429 OPS since returning) has started in four of five games.

• The outfield playing time is crowded with Jesús Sánchez, Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw, Davis Schneider, and Yohendrick Piñango getting a start over the last three games. And it’ll get worse when Daulton Varsho and Addison Barger return from the IL.

Guardians

• Gabriel Arias (vs LHP) and Daniel Schneemann (vs RHP) now form a third base platoon.

• An injury to Chase DeLauter and the platooning of Steven Kwan have the outfield in turmoil. I’m not sure any of them are rosterable. Maybe David Fry (.737 OPS), who has started in five of six games, including one against a righty.

• Rhys Hoskins (.674 OPS) started in seven straight games.

Mariners

• With Randy Arozarena on the IL, Victor Robles started five straight games.

Orioles

• Blaze Alexander (.774 OPS) with five straight starts at third base.

Rangers

• With Evan Carter on the IL, Alejandro Osuna (.612 OPS) has four straight starts in centerfield

Rays

• Austin Slater (vs LHP) and Victor Mesa Jr. (vs RHP) form a right field platoon.

• Ryan Vilade (vs LHP) and Chandler Simpson (vs RHP) might be in a left field platoon. For his career, Simpson has a .679 OPS vs righties and a .558 OPS vs lefties.

• Ben Williamson (vs LHP) and Richie Palacios (vs RHP) form a second base platoon.

Red Sox

• No changes.

Royals

• I’m not sure why I’m covering at a minor league lineup.

• Lane Thomas (.723 OPS, 5 HR, 3 SB) with six straight starts (leading off three times).

• Michael Massey (vs RHP) and Nick Loftin (vs LHP) form a second base platoon.

Tigers

• Insane roster flexibility makes nearly every hitter fantasy irrelevant.

• James Outman (vs RHP) and Matt Vierling (vs LHP) just formed an outfield platoon.

Twins

• Kody Clemens is no longer being platooned and is batting third.

• Austin Martin (vs LHP) and Trevor Larnach (vs RHP) form an outfield platoon.

White Sox

• As much as they can, Edgar Quero (vs LHP) and Drew Romo (vs RHP) for a platoon at catcher.

• Via a couple of others moving positions, Jacob Gonzalez (vs RHP) and Luisangel Acuña (vs LHP) form a platoon.

• Andrew Benintendi (vs RHP) and Randal Grichuk (vs LHP) form a DH platoon.

Yankees

• With José Caballero changing positions, Anthony Volpe (vs LHP) and Spencer Jones (vs RHP) form a platoon.

National League

Braves

• Over the last three games, each of Ha-Seong Kim (.267 OPS), Mauricio Dubón (.723 OPS), and Jorge Mateo (.782 OPS) started at shortstop. Since Dubón also plays the outfield, he started in 12 straight games.

• Drake Baldwin hit first or second since coming off the IL.

Brewers

• Rookie callup, Cooper Pratt (.735 OPS in AAA), started three straight games at shortstop while batting eighth.

• With the demotion of Luis Rengifo, David Hamilton (vs RHP) and Joey Ortiz (vs LHP) might be in a third base platoon.

Cardinals

• Nelson Velázquez (vs LHP) and Lars Nootbaar (vs RHP) form a left field platoon.

• Blaze Jordan (.910 OPS) started seven straight games.

Cubs

• Matt Shaw (.760 OPS) started three straight games in right field as Seiya Suzuki moved to DH as he deals with a knee injury.

Diamondbacks

• The 1B/DH situation is a mess with Pavin Smith, Ildemaro Vargas, and LuJames Groover splitting time and Carlos Santana on a rehab assignment.

• Geraldo Perdomo is back to batting second.

• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has started twice in the three games since coming off the IL, once in the outfield and the other at DH.

• Jordan Lawlar settled into batting seventh.

Dodgers

• Ryan Ward (vs RHP) and Alex Call (vs LHP) form a left field platoon.

• Tommy Edman (vs LHP) and Max Muncy (vs RHP) form a third base platoon.

Giants

• No changes.

Marlins

• Javier Sanoja (.632 OPS) with eight starts in the last 10 games.

• Heriberto Hernández (.917 OPS in June) with seven starts in the last 10 games.

Mets

• Jared Young (vs RHP) and Mark Vientos (vs LHP) form a first base platoon.

• Brett Baty (.533 OPS vs LHP, .628 OPS vs RHP) sits against lefties.

• MJ Melendez (.682 OPs) started in seven of the last eight games.

Nationals

• Jacob Young (.679 OPS) sat twice in the last five games with José Tena (.631 OPS) playing instead.

• Nasim Nuñez (.953 OPS in June) started five straight games.

Padres

• Samad Taylor (.867 OPS) with eight starts in the last 10 games.

• Ty France (.728 OPS) with three straight starts at first base.

Phillies

• Justin Crawford (vs RHP) and Derek Hill (vs LHP) form a centerfield platoon.

• Gabriel Rincones Jr. (vs RHP) and Edmundo Sosa (vs LHP) form an outfield platoon.

Pirates

• Jake Mangum (.694 OPS, 13 SB) with 10 straight starts.

• Since Tyler Callihan (1.061 OPS) was promoted, he started in eight of 11 games. He sat against the two lefty starters.

Reds

• Blake Dunn (.699 OPS) only started in four of seven games.

• The team has too many good, healthy players, so about half the lineup doesn’t play every game.

Rockies

• Tyler Freeman (.712 OPS), Jake McCarthy (.777 OPS), and Troy Johnston (.813 OPS) split time at the corner outfield spots.

• Catcher-qualified Braxton Fulford (.683 OPS) is on the short side of a DH platoon.

• Edouard Julien (vs RHP) and Kyle Karros (vs LHP) are in a platoon with Willi Castro moving between second and third base.





 

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.

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
bill furlongMember since 2026
12 hours ago

“Just platoon it.” Whenever a team has a weak spot in their lineup, that’s the first thing I think of. Limp left field production? Just sprinkle some platoon on it, and you could be living large. Second base got you down? You’re just one platoon away from competence, or even excellence if you play your cards right. Second base and left field are bad? Bam, platoon them both!

Ben Clemens
January 14, 2022

3