Position Player Playing Time Changes: August 11, 2026

by Jon Becker

August 11, 2026

I’m back from a post-trade deadline vacation (I highly recommend Montréal, by the way!) and there are a whole slew of playing time changes for position players to run through. Let’s get to the table:

Position Player PT Changes, 7/28 to 8/11

Name	Team	Positions	Old PT %	New PT %	PT Change	Old PA	New PA	PA Change	Reason
George Lombard Jr.	NYY	SS, 3B	12%	84%	72%	22	156	134	Starting shortstop down the stretch and beyond
Kaelen Culpepper	MIN	SS, 3B	16%	80%	64%	30	149	119	Ditto Lombard
Moisés Ballesteros	LAA	DH, C	11%	72%	61%	20	134	113	Clear path to playing time after trade to Angels
Max Clark	DET	CF	13%	65%	52%	24	121	97	Looks like he belongs in the bigs
Héctor Rodríguez	CIN	LF	5%	54%	49%	9	100	91	Will get a good long look down the stretch
Osleivis Basabe	SFG	2B, 3B, SS	1%	46%	45%	2	85	84	Injury-ravaged infield has plenty of PT post-Luis Arraez trade
Christian Koss	SFG	3B, SS, 2B	5%	49%	44%	9	91	82	Ditto Basabe note
Grant McCray	SFG	CF, RF, LF	10%	52%	42%	19	97	78	Heliot Ramos trade opens up PT
Abimelec Ortiz	WSN	DH, 1B	24%	65%	41%	45	121	76	Luis García Jr. trade makes him the starting 1B against righties
Victor Bericoto	SFG	RF, LF, DH	21%	60%	39%	39	111	72	Nearing IL return with plenty of PT available
Wade Meckler	LAA	LF, RF, CF	32%	67%	35%	59	124	65	Jorge Soler DFA gives him clear lane to starts against RHP
Brett Bateman	TOR	CF, RF	6%	40%	34%	11	74	63	Starting CF after Daulton Varsho trade
John Rave	KCR	DH, LF, RF	9%	42%	33%	17	78	61	Playing often after Lane Thomas was traded away
Bryan Torres	STL	LF, DH, 2B, CF	27%	55%	28%	50	102	52	Starting LF against RHP with Lars Nootbaar a Diamondback
Ben Rortvedt	LAD	C	1%	28%	27%	2	52	50	Reacquired from Mets to help out their mess of a catching situation
Agustín Ramírez	MIA	DH, C, 1B	11%	38%	27%	20	71	50	Called back up and will get some 1B reps
Andrew Pinckney	WSN	CF, LF, RF	2%	28%	26%	4	52	48	Welcome to the majors!
Nate Furman	SFG	2B	2%	27%	25%	4	50	46	Welcome to the majors!
Eduardo Valencia	DET	DH, C, 1B	11%	35%	24%	20	65	45	Getting plenty of C, DH time against LHP
Christian Encarnacion-Strand	BAL	3B, DH, 1B	32%	55%	23%	59	102	43	Playing semi-regularly as he continues to hit solidly
Drew Cavanaugh	SFG	C	40%	63%	23%	74	117	43	Susac injury makes him the starting C
Jordan Beck	COL	RF, LF	15%	37%	22%	28	69	41	Called back up after injury and struggles earlier this year
Charles McAdoo	TOR	2B, 3B, 1B	3%	25%	22%	6	46	41	Called back up to help a banged-up infield
Jose Siri	LAA	CF, LF	26%	47%	21%	48	87	39	Soler DFA makes him platoon partner with Meckler
Marcelo Mayer	SFG	2B, 3B, SS	24%	45%	21%	45	84	39	Nearing IL return and will start… somewhere on the infield
Zack Gelof	ATH	3B, CF, DH, 2B, LF, RF	61%	82%	21%	113	152	39	Back from the IL to help injury-ravaged offense
Tyler Heineman	LAA	C	18%	38%	20%	33	71	37	Playing more often backing up Travis d’Arnaud than he did backing up O’Hoppe
Andrés Chaparro	WSN	1B, DH	21%	41%	20%	39	76	37	More regular playing time as rigid Ortiz platoon partner than semi-rigid García Jr. platoon partner
Drew Gilbert	SFG	CF, RF, LF	48%	68%	20%	89	126	37	More playing time post-Ramos trade
Ryan Mountcastle	BAL	DH, 1B	24%	4%	-20%	45	7	-37	Oblique injury is probably season-ending
Max Schuemann	NYY	LF, CF, SS, 2B	24%	4%	-20%	45	7	-37	Optioned to minors
Tyler Callihan	PIT	3B, 2B, RF, LF	31%	11%	-20%	58	20	-37	Optioned to minors
J.P. Crawford	SEA	3B, SS	88%	67%	-21%	164	124	-39	Wrist inflammation
LaMonte Wade Jr.	HOU	LF, 1B, RF	47%	26%	-21%	87	48	-39	Varsho trade cuts into playing time
Zach Dezenzo	HOU	LF, RF, 1B	24%	3%	-21%	45	6	-39	Optioned to minors
Lucas Spence	HOU	CF, RF, LF	22%	1%	-21%	41	2	-39	Optioned to minors
José Caballero	NYY	SS, 2B, 3B, RF, LF	70%	48%	-22%	130	89	-41	Lombard promotion makes him a true bench player
Angel Martínez	CLE	LF, RF, CF	64%	42%	-22%	119	78	-41	Jo Adell, Nathaniel Lowe acquisitions make PT harder to come by
Paul Goldschmidt	NYY	1B, DH	57%	35%	-22%	106	65	-41	Platooning with García Jr., should be shielded from RHP entirely
Noelvi Marte	CIN	RF	53%	30%	-23%	98	56	-43	Platoon with Rodríguez instead of starting more regularly
Lane Thomas	ATL	CF, LF, RF	76%	51%	-25%	141	95	-46	More niche role in Atlanta than he had in KC
Tristan Gray	MIN	SS, 3B, 2B	33%	8%	-25%	61	15	-46	Optioned to minors
Edmundo Sosa	PHI	LF, 3B, 2B, SS	62%	36%	-26%	115	67	-48	Arraez acquisition makes him a true bench player
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.	ARI	DH, LF	72%	45%	-27%	134	84	-50	Playing time unclear when back from injury; platoon with Nootbaar?
James Outman	DET	CF, RF	40%	13%	-27%	74	24	-50	Clark promotion limits him to pinch-running/defensive replacement, mostly
David Fry	CLE	DH, 1B, LF, RF, C	30%	3%	-27%	56	6	-50	Optioned to minors
James Wood	WSN	RF, DH, LF	96%	69%	-27%	178	128	-50	Mild oblique strain
Ryan Kreidler	MIN	SS, CF, 3B, 2B, LF	60%	31%	-29%	111	58	-54	Less PT with Culpepper up
Daniel Susac	SFG	C	42%	8%	-34%	78	15	-63	Fractured patella; season in doubt
Connor Wong	BOS	C	49%	14%	-35%	91	26	-65	Rutschman trade makes playing time unclear
Edwin Arroyo	CIN	2B, 3B, SS	61%	26%	-35%	113	48	-65	Optioned to minors
Logan O’Hoppe	TEX	C	50%	14%	-36%	93	26	-67	Still hasn’t gotten the call back to the majors since acquisition
Anthony Volpe	NYY	SS, 2B	45%	6%	-39%	84	11	-72	Optioned to minors
Ben Williamson	TBR	2B, SS, 3B	49%	8%	-41%	91	15	-76	Strained hamstring
Nick Kurtz	ATH	1B	91%	45%	-46%	169	84	-85	Reaggravated thumb injury; timetable unclear
Gabriel Rincones Jr.	PHI	RF	50%	2%	-48%	93	4	-89	Optioned to minors
Kyle Manzardo	CLE	1B, DH	80%	23%	-57%	149	43	-106	Optioned to minors
Curtis Mead	BOS	2B, DH, 3B, 1B	70%	10%	-60%	130	19	-111	Fractured wrist timetable clearer; season in doubt
Dalton Rushing	LAD	C, 1B, DH	63%	2%	-61%	117	4	-113	UCL sprain; unclear if he can catch again this year
Ryan O’Hearn	PIT	1B, DH, RF	83%	18%	-65%	154	33	-121	Quad strain puts season in jeopardy
Casey Schmitt	SFG	LF, DH, 3B, 2B, 1B, SS	86%	7%	-79%	160	13	-147	Meniscus surgery; could return for very end of seasonbrya