Position Player Playing Time Changes: March 10, 2025
Hi everyone, and welcome to the first iteration of Position Player Playing Time Changes! Since this is the first one of these, I wanted to lay out my process here with Opening Day fast approaching.
Our Depth Charts projections are extremely fluid, and RosterResource guru Jason Martinez makes many tweaks and larger changes every day. Knowing that, we found it prudent to provide a snapshot of the recent changes, looking at the last week. All we’re doing is pulling projected plate appearances for March 3, and comparing those to March 10.
Only players with a swing of at least 70 plate appearances are shown; there are many more minor adjustments made that don’t affect much, made in response to batting order shuffling, more minor injury, or a player who had been competing for an Opening Day job being optioned or reassigned. To aid with context, I’ve provided a “Reason” capsule of info for each player, pulling back the curtain on why the change was made.
| Name | Team | Positions | Old PA | New PA | PA Change | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curtis Mead | TBR | DH,1B,3B | 70 | 245 | 175 | Hitting the [bleep] out of the ball this Spring |
| Spencer Torkelson | DET | 1B,DH | 203 | 357 | 154 | Vierling/Meadows injuries + hitting well opens up DH time |
| Ryan Bliss | SEA | SS,2B | 175 | 329 | 154 | Staking his claim on 2B job; Moore can bounce around |
| Tyler Freeman | CLE | CF,2B,SS | 105 | 245 | 140 | Versatility helps + Brito likelier to start season in minors (struggling) |
| Brendan Rodgers | HOU | 2B | 224 | 357 | 133 | More LF time for Altuve means more 2B PA for Rodgers |
| Gabriel Arias | CLE | 1B,2B,SS,3B | 147 | 266 | 119 | Now in driver’s seat for 2B job instead of Brito |
| Everson Pereira | NYY | LF,CF | 28 | 133 | 105 | Hitting well in Spring; might only be able to DH coming off TJ but Stanton injury opens up PT there, at least against LHP |
| Kevin Pillar | TEX | CF,RF,LF | 28 | 126 | 98 | Desire for RHH CF option (Carter and Taveras can’t hit LHP) |
| D.J. Stewart | PIT | RF,1B | 28 | 119 | 91 | Getting 1B reps and hitting well, could move to OF/DH when Horwitz healthy |
| Max Acosta | MIA | 2B,SS | 63 | 154 | 91 | Maybe not an Opening Day option, but hitting like he’ll get an earlier call-up than had been expected |
| Drake Baldwin | ATL | C | 147 | 231 | 84 | Murphy injury makes him the best starting option |
| Luis Torrens | NYM | C | 175 | 252 | 77 | Alvarez injury; Torrens will be “starter” insofar as they’ll have one |
| Connor Joe | SDP | 1B,DH,RF,LF | 315 | 245 | -70 | Iglesias signing means fewer PA to go around, especially against LHP |
| Eloy Jiménez | TBR | RF,DH | 189 | 119 | -70 | Mead’s emergence makes cracking the roster tougher; could opt out before Opening Day |
| Sean Murphy | ATL | C | 469 | 399 | -70 | Cracked left rib, will be out ~2 weeks into the season |
| Darick Hall | PIT | 1B | 84 | 14 | -70 | Stewart jumping ahead in temporary 1B competition; Hall has no versatility to make roster otherwise |
| Taylor Trammell | HOU | LF,RF,CF | 147 | 77 | -70 | Out with calf injury, will be fewer PA to go around when back with Altuve in LF; out of options |
| Ezequiel Duran | TEX | RF,1B,3B,2B,SS,LF | 168 | 98 | -70 | Not a legitimate CF option whereas Pillar is |
| Jared Serna | MIA | SS,2B | 98 | 28 | -70 | Acosta emergence pushes Serna down the list of options for a midseason call-up |
| DJ LeMahieu | NYY | DH,2B,1B,3B | 378 | 294 | -84 | Grade 1 or 2 calf strain is expected to keep him out into the season |
| Wenceel Pérez | DET | DH,CF,RF | 378 | 287 | -91 | Tork DHing means Carpenter has to play more OF if Tork hits closer to 2023 level than 2024; Wenceel might only be platoon option, at best, when Meadows and Vierling are back |
| Giancarlo Stanton | NYY | DH | 420 | 308 | -112 | “Severe” elbow injuries; expect this number to keep going down |
| Angel Martínez | CLE | SS,3B,2B,CF | 224 | 98 | -126 | Rough Spring Training, and CLE’s SS/3B/CF are taken, 2B is crowded |
| Francisco Alvarez | NYM | C,DH | 532 | 399 | -133 | Hamate injury makes any MLB games in April unlikely |
I really like this article format