Lineup Analysis (9/17/21)

American League

Angels

• Luis Rengifo (.188/.232/.325 with 5 HR in 127 PA) has started five straight games at shortstop.

• Brandon Marsh (.706 OPS) moved up to leadoff after a hot week (.878 OPS).

Astros

• With Michael Brantley hurt, the outfield has been in flux. Jake Meyers (.822 OPS), Chas McCormick (.756 OPS), Jose Siri (1.283 OPS), and sometimes Yordan Alvarez (.883 OPS) are splitting two outfield spots.

Athletics

• Jed Lowrie (vs RHP) and Khris Davis (vs LHP) are in a DH platoon.

• Tony Kemp has moved out of an outfield platoon (vs RHP) and has started four straight for the ailing Matt Chapman (Josh Harrison moved from second to third). Seth Brown (vs RHP) and Chad Pinder (vs LHP) now make up the outfield platoon.

Blue Jays

• Jake Lamb (.699 OPS) and Breyvic Valera (.683 OPS) are splitting time at third base.

• Corey Dickerson (.707 OPS) and Randal Grichuk(.730 OPS) are splitting the center field duties.

Guardians (maybe)

• Bobby Bradley was just facing righties, but he started against the last lefty. It might be the start of a trend since he’s hitting .294/.359/.471 over the last two weeks.

• Over the last couple of weeks, Amed Rosario has been limited to starting three games before getting a day off. All the games he sat are against righties (.837 OPS vs RHP, .663 OPS vs LHP).

Mariners

• Jake Fraley (vs RHP) and Dylan Moore (vs LHP) are in a left-field platoon.

Orioles

• Ramón Urías (.275/.360/.411 with 7 HR) is back to hitting fifth and playing every day since coming off the IL.

• Austin Wynns (.534 OPS) has been the starting catcher in five of the last seven games.

• With Jorge Mateo out for the season and Jahmai Jones demoted back to AAA, Pat Valaika (.541 OPS) has started three straight games at either second base or shortstop.

Rangers

• The lineup is a little crowded with Brock Holt and Willie Calhoun off the IL.

Rays

• Brandon Lowe (.839 OPS) is losing playing time to Joey Wendle (.760 OPS). Lowe has only started in six of the last 10 games.

• Austin Meadows (vs RHP) and Manuel Margot (vs LHP) are in an outfield platoon.

• Brett Phillips and Kevin Kiermaier are splitting time in center field.

• Ji-Man Choi (vs RHP) and Jordan Luplow (vs LHP) are in a first base platoon.

• Yandy Díaz (.250/.327/.455 over the last month) has been hitting in the lineup’s top half.

Red Sox

• Since coming off the IL, Enrique Hernández (.248/.332/.445 with 17 HR) has started eight straight games.

• Bobby Dalbec (.791 OPS) sits about every fifth day with Kyle Schwarber playing first base.

• José Iglesias (.692 OPS) has started three straight at second base while batting ninth.

Royals

• Adalberto Mondesi (.858 OPS, 6 HR, 9 SB) has started in eight of the last nine.

• Hunter Dozier (.650 OPS), Kyle Isbel (.740 OPS), and Edward Olivares (.678 OPS) are splitting time at two outfield spots. Isbel will likely get demoted once Michael A. Taylor (.650 OPS) comes back from a family emergency.

Tigers

• Derek Hill (.712 OPS) and Victor Reyes (.684 OPS) are splitting time in the outfield

• While batting 6th or 7th, Niko Goodrum has started in eight of the last 10 games. He is hitting .244/.297/.541 with 1 HR and 0 SB since returning from the IL.

Twins

• Luis Arraez (vs LHP) and Willians Astudillo (vs RHP) are in a third base platoon.

• Max Kepler (vs RHP) and Rob Refsnyder (vs LHP) are in an outfield platoon.

• Nick Gordon (.237/.296/.333 with 2 HR and 8 SB) has started three straight games.

White Sox

• Gavin Sheets (.234/.304/.508 with 9 HR) has started four straight games at first, DH, and the outfield.

• Leury Garcia (.262/.333/.373 with 5 HR and 6 SB) has started 14 of 15 games and should continue to see plenty of playing time with Tim Anderson only expected to play every other day.

Yankees

• The lineup has one too many “regulars”, so a decent hitter is always on the bench. Additionally with Gleyber Torres’s (.674 OPS) move to second base, Tyler Wade (.688 OPS) is playing some shortstop.

• Luke Voit (.770 OPS) has started in only 10 of the last 20 games.

• Gio Urshela (.706 OPS) is hitting at the bottom of the lineup.

National League

Braves

• Eddie Rosario has started three straight games against righties. He is hitting .256/.333/.641 with 4 HR since joining the Braves.

• Dansby Swanson (.581 OPS over the last month) is now hitting seventh.

Brewers

• They haven’t faced a lefty starter since the fifth, so it’s tough to know if there are still any platoons. To complicate matters even worse, their last five games have been in an AL park.

• The outfield is crowded with Lorenzo Cain (.734 OPS), Jace Peterson (.766 OPS), Avisail Garcia (.835 OPS), and Jackie Bradley Jr. (.507 OPS) splitting two spots.

Cardinals

• After some mixing up, the lineup is back to being boring with Dylan Carlson (.744 OPS) hitting sixth and Edmundo Sosa (.759 OPS) batting seventh.

Cubs

• Since coming off the IL, Willson Contreras has been batting cleanup.

• With Jason Heyward on the IL, Alfonso Rivas (.278/.366/.389 with a 55% GB%) is starting in his place.

Diamondbacks

• It looks like the names go into a random lineup generator. The only regulars are Nick Ahmed (.618 OPS), Ketel Marte (.917 OPS), and Josh Rojas (.768 OPS).

• With Seth Beer on the team, Christian Walker might only be facing lefties.

Dodgers

• Gavin Lux (.663 OPS) has started six straight games in left field with AJ Pollock still on the IL.

• Mookie Betts (.892 OPS) is back to leading off and Trea Turner (.832 OPS) is batting third.

Giants

• Almost everyone is healthy and off the IL so playing time is tight, even for the “stars” who seem to sit every fifth game.

• While it wasn’t clear last week, Tommy La Stella (.698 OPS) is on the strong side of the second base platoon.

Marlins

• Bryan De La Cruz (.336/.392/.490 with 5 HR) is now batting third or fourth.

• Lewin Díaz (.175/.200.476, 1.043 OPS over the last week) has started in seven of the last eight games. The increase in playing time coincides with Jesús Aguilar going on the IL.

Mets

• With Brandon Nimmo still on the IL, the same players take the field every day.

Nationals

• The batting order only changes when a player sits for rest. They continue to start the same eight guys each game.

Padres

• Adam Frazier was struggling with the Padres and got dropped down in the order. Over the last two weeks, he has heated up by hitting .389/.463/.444 with 3 SB.

• Wil Myers (.212/.308/.424 previous two weeks) has sat the last two games with Jurickson Profar (.167/.219/.333 previous two weeks) taking his outfield spot while also batting leadoff.

• Trent Grisham (.167/.219/.333 previous two weeks) has gone from hitting leadoff to the eighth spot.

Phillies

• Freddy Galvis (.733 OPS) and Ronald Torreyes (.634 OPS) are splitting time at third base. Torreyes has just a .343 OPS over the last two weeks, while Galvis has a 1.113 OPS. Galvis just might see more playing time going forward.

• Brad Miller has started seven of the last ten games at first base while hitting .226/.321/.455 with 18 HR and 3 SB.

Pirates

• Wilmer Difo (vs LHP) and Hoy Park (vs RHP) are in a second base platoon.

• Only two of Colin Moran (.740 OPS), Anthony Alford (.672 OPS), and Yoshi Tsutsugo (.710 OPS) are starting each game.

• Ben Gamel (.743 OPS) has started 10 straight games.

Reds

• Aristides Aquino (vs LHP) and Max Schrock (vs RHP) are in a left field platoon.

• Delino DeShields (vs LHP) and Shogo Akiyama (vs RHP) are in center field platoon.

• Tyler Stephenson hits second against lefties.

Rockies

• Garrett Hampson, Raimel Tapia, and Sam Hilliard are sharing two outfield spots.

• Brendan Rodgers (.281/.330/.457 with 12 HR) has settled into the second base job.