Archive for Batting orders

There is a hitter who has recently worked his way into regular playing time for the Diamondbacks who has a 1.236 OPS over the last 30 days…and he’s owned in fewer than 12 percent of the leagues on ESPN, Yahoo and CBS. Read about this mystery player, as well as other National League hitters seeing changes in playing time just below.

Arizona

Wilmer Flores has emerged as the regular at second base, as he has started six of the last eight games there. That has pushed Eduardo Escobar back making third base his full-time position and Ketel Marte into more starts in center field. Jake Lamb has been the biggest playing time loser, but it has also meant a slight reduction in playing time for Jarrod Dyson and Adam Jones, who are now vying for starts in right field. Flores has earned the more prominent role, as he has gone 24 for 59 (.407) with six home runs since Aug. 14.
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The Diamondbacks’ promotion of Josh Rojas has created some unexpected fallout, while the Rockies, Phillies and Cardinals have given their outfields a new look. Here are the most noteworthy lineup changes for each National League team.

Arizona

The Diamondbacks have used a number of different platoons throughout the season, but a brand new one may be emerging between David Peralta and Adam Jones. Peralta has been out of the lineup for four of the last six games featuring a lefty starter, while Jones has started only once over the last seven games with a righty starter, including Friday night’s game against Jeff Samardzija and the Giants. The apparent beneficiary of Peralta’s and Jones’ reduced playing time is Rojas, who has started four of the team’s five games since he was called up to make his major league debut on Monday. For the one game he didn’t start, Tim Locastro got the nod in left field over Peralta versus lefty Kyle Freeland. Locastro has since been demoted to Triple-A Reno.
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Now that the All-Star break is behind us, it’s time to check in once again on lineup trends in the National League. The Dodgers have made a bevy of lineup moves over the break, and the Cubs may have a position battle on their hands. The details on these and other situations are just below.

Arizona

It appears that Christian Walker will lose the most playing time as a result of Jake Lamb’s activation, being relegated to the lesser side of a first base platoon. Jarrod Dyson sat when Walker made starts against a pair of lefties (Drew Pomeranz and Madison Bumgarner) on June 29 and 30, but that’s been fairly close to the status quo. Even prior to Lamb’s activation, Dyson would frequently sit against left-handed starters in order to accommodate Ildemaro Vargas (with Ketel Marte playing center field) or Tim Locastro.
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How will the Rockies make do with two of their infielders hurt? How are the Marlins using the newest member of their outfield? These questions and many others are answered in this week’s set of National League lineup analyses!

Arizona

Jarrod Dyson sat on Thursday against Jeff Hoffman and the Rockies, and that was only the third time in the last 16 games against a right-handed starter that he was left out of the starting lineup. He has started twice in place of Adam Jones in right field, with all of the other starts coming in center field. That bodes well for Dyson to start all three games against the Giants this weekend, as they are scheduled to go with an all-righty contingent of Jeff Samardzija, Tyler Beede and Shaun Anderson.
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For a change, the meat of this week’s lineup update on the Padres does not involve the outfield. Also, changes could be on the way for the Cardinals and Nationals. Read all about it in the team-by-team lineup breakdown for each National League squad.

Arizona

The Diamondbacks have faced only one left-handed starter in their last nine games, but that has not meant steady playing time for Jarrod Dyson. He and Wilmer Flores have been splitting time against righties (with Ketel Marte typically moving to center field when Flores plays second base), so Dyson has started only five of the last nine games.
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We are now three full weeks into the season, and managers are starting to respond to players’ hot and cold starts. That gives the fantasy owners of players like Brian Dozier, Kyle Schwarber, and Ender Inciarte something more to think about, and owners of Yasmani Grandal and Manuel Margot something to feel good about.

Here are the lineup and batting order trends of note for each of the 15 teams in the senior circuit.
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The past week in lineups has featured some interesting developments, including a couple of bottom-of-the-order hitters being highly productive and the outfield mixes for the Padres and Giants shifting a bit. I’m breaking the lineups down, team-by-team, starting…now.

Arizona

With Jake Lamb (quad) out for at least five more weeks, first base appears to belong to Christian Walker, as he had started every game since Lamb went on the IL up until Thursday night’s game against the Padres. Jarrod Dyson has started six of the seven games with a right-handed starter, all in center field. That hasn’t resulted in a reduced role for Ketel Marte, as he has started every game so far, playing second base when Dyson is in center field. It’s Wilmer Flores who has gotten squeezed out of playing time, starting only seven of the team’s 13 games.
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