With the trade deadline less than a week away, we’re starting to see teams make more moves up and down their rosters. Buyers are pushing underperformers out of everyday gigs in favor of new-and-improved acquisitions, and sellers are filling their newly opened roster gaps with prospects full of fantasy potential.
Let’s take a team-by-team look at how lineups and rosters have changed over the last week, and how we can take advantage of the changes in our fantasy leagues.
The Diamondbacks have made a switch at leadoff. Corbin Carroll has helmed the lineup in four straight contests and five of the last six. Former leadoff man Ketel Marte has moved into the clean-up role.
Tyler Locklear has taken over a majority of the reps at first base. He’s started four of the team’s last six games and has hit sixth through eighth in the lineup. Locklear was slashing .313/.394/.502 in Triple-A this year, which looks nice on the surface, but in the PCL, that comes out to a good-not-great 116 wRC+.
Manager Mark Kotsay shared that he doesn’t expect catcher Shea Langeliers to return this season after he underwent surgery to address a meniscus injury. Jonah Heim will receive the bulk of the starts behind the plate for the A’s, making him a priority add across the board. He’s hit third or fourth since Langeliers went down.
Nick Kurtz returned to the starting lineup after being activated from the IL on Saturday.
The Athletics‘ second base situation has turned into a platoon between Donovan Walton and Alika Williams. Walton is facing righties and Williams is facing lefties.
Ronald Acuña Jr. was activated from the IL on Monday and returned to the leadoff role. His everyday presence in right field will push Mike Yastrzemski to split time in left field with Mauricio Dubón.
With Acuña back atop the lineup, Drake Baldwin and Ozzie Albies will shift down the order. Baldwin will hit second while Albies should be penciled into the cleanup role.
Manager Craig Albernaz has made a change at the top of his lineup. Rookie Dylan Beavers has hit leadoff in five straight games against righties, and Taylor Ward has hit first in three straight against lefties.
With a change to the leadoff situation, Gunnar Henderson has moved down to the three-hole, increasing his RBI opportunities.
Colton Cowser hasn’t seen much of the starting lineup recently. He’s started just three of the Orioles’ last nine games, six of which have come against righty pitchers.
Jackson Holliday’s hot streak (161 wRC+ since the All-Star break) has moved him up the lineup a few spots. He’s hit sixth in back-to-back contests.
The Red Sox opened the MLB trade deadline season by acquiring Curtis Mead. They newest Red Stocking began his time in Boston starting at second base and hitting second in the lineup. In a stroke of unbelievably bad luck, he fractured his wrist in his first game with his new club and is now facing an extended absence. Anthony Seigler and Romy Gonzalez will likely split time at the keystone moving forward.
Seigler has been on the bench for three straight games, opening a spot at the top of the Boston lineup. Masataka Yoshida hit first against the last two righties, while Jahmai Jones has helmed the lineup versus lefties.
Pedro Ramirez has been getting a good run of playing time recently. He’s been in the starting lineup in seven of the last 10 games, appearing at second base, third base, and designated hitter. The Cubs’ rookie is hitting a solid .322/.362/.471, but prior to this current run, he had gone 16 straight games without receiving a start. You could speculatively add him in NL-only leagues, but his role seems to be more of an occasional DH giving lineup regulars a day off than an everyday bat.
Everson Pereira returned from the IL on Monday. He’ll likely play the small side of the center field platoon alongside Tristan Peters.
Nathaniel Lowe has been seeing regular starts recently. He’s started eight of the last 10 games at first base or designated hitter.
Noelvi Marte’s playing time has been inconsistent at best. The former top prospect has started just four of the last 10 games. You can drop him in pretty much all formats.
Angel Martínez returned to the Guardians’ lineup last Friday. He’s started four of six games in right field since returning, pushing Chase DeLauter to more of a DH-centric role. Utility man Daniel Schneemann was demoted to Triple-A in the corresponding move to Martínez’s activation.
Just as I shared that Cole Carrigg’s playing time was going down last week, it’s on the way back up. He’s started seven straight games, four against lefties and three against righties.
The Tigers activated Javier Báez from his lengthy IL stint on Tuesday. He’ll likely take over the bulk of the center field work from James Outman.
The Astros may be making a change behind the plate. Yainer Diaz’s playing time has trended down recently. He’s started just two of the last seven games, with Christian Vázquez taking the other five starts. Diaz has been the slightly better hitter of the two (74 wRC+ vs. 66 wRC+) and has gotten a few starts at designated hitter, but neither is lighting it up in the batter’s box.
With Bobby Witt Jr.. sidelined, the Royals have turned shortstop duties over to Andrew Velazquez, Josh Rojas, and Tyler Tolbert. Unless one of the three emerges as the go-to starter, none of them will generate enough at-bats to become fantasy relevant.
Josh Lowe’s playing time against righties has gone down slightly. He’s only started two of the last four games, making room for Wade Meckler to start in left.
The Dodgers activated fan favorite Enrique Hernández over the weekend. He’s barely been on the field this year, so we haven’t seen enough lineups with him included to get a good feel for how manager Dave Roberts will handle his presence on the roster. The odds are Hernández won’t get enough playing time to become fantasy relevant.
Jake Bauers aggravated a fractured toe on Monday and sat out of Tuesday’s game. He told reporters he didn’t expect to miss any time, but with the Brewers sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, they could opt to play it safe and give Bauers a few days off.
Juan Soto hit the IL with a strained left calf on Saturday. Tyrone Taylor has started two of the three games that Soto has missed, with A.J. Ewing starting the other.
Cody Bellinger joined fellow Yankees star Aaron Judge on the IL over the weekend. Spencer Jones was called up to take Bellinger’s roster spot, but hasn’t started in left field yet. All three games Bellinger has missed have come against southpaws, though, resulting in Max Schuemann starting in left field. When a righty is on the bump, that playing time should go to Jones.
The Phillies have turned their dismal right field situation into a platoon between Bryan De La Cruz and Gabriel Rincones Jr. This has been a true playing time split, with De La Cruz starting four of eight games since being called up last week. I expect Philadelphia will have a new right fielder by the end of the trade deadline.
Endy Rodríguez returned from the IL on Sunday and should share catching duties with Henry Davis moving forward. If you need a catching upgrade, Rodríguez is a fun target. He was finally putting things together pre-injury, with a .259/.380/.454 slash line through 130 plate appearances.
It appears like Jacob Gonzalez and Jared Triolo are in a shortstop platoon, with Gonzalez starting against righties and Triolo facing lefties.
Luis Rengifo has started his Padres tenure red hot. He’s slashing .320/.370/.560 with his new ball club, and has started seven of the last nine games at four different positions.
Breakout star Casey Schmitt tore his left meniscus on Monday and will miss significant time, potentially the remainder of the season. Schmitt plays all over the diamond, but had mainly been at third base recently. That opening was filled by Christian Koss in the first game that Schmitt missed on Tuesday, but those starts will eventually go back to Matt Chapman once he’s back from his abdominal injury.
Outfielder Grant McCray has started three straight games, two in right field filling in for a banged-up Jung Hoo Lee and one in center. McCray only posted a 97 wRC+ in 211 Triple-A plate appearances, but he has plenty of speed upside. He’s already stolen three bases in 15 MLB plate appearances.
The Mariners activated Rob Refsnyder from the IL on Tuesday. He should resume his lefty-masher role, making him only fantasy viable when Seattle will be facing a series of left-handed starters.
Jordan Walker has moved up a couple of spots in the batting order to the two-hole. He’s hit second in six straight games.
Walker’s lineup promotion means a demotion for Ivan Herrera. The Cardinals’ backstop has moved from second to third or fourth most days, which should increase his RBI opportunities.
A left calf strain sent Josh Jung to the IL last week. In his absence, the Rangers recalled Josh Smith from Triple-A. He’s started four straight games at third base since rejoining the roster.
With Jung sidelined, Ezequiel Duran has moved up the lineup. He’s hit third in five straight.
Evan Carter has also moved up the lineup against righties. He’s hit fifth in four of his last five starts, and has slashed .313/.441/.500 in July. He still isn’t starting versus lefties.
After a short run hitting in the top three lineup spots, Ernie Clement has been sent back down the batting order. He’s hit sixth or seventh in four of the Jays’ last five games.
Toronto recalled Yohendrick Piñango last week. He’s splitting time in left field with Davis Schneider and Myles Straw. Piñango is certainly the most interesting of the trio from a fantasy perspective, so keep an eye on whether he claims more of the playing time share. He’s started five of eight games since being recalled, and has hit leadoff in three of those.
The Nationals trading Curtis Mead to the Red Sox should open the door to Brady House getting a long look at third base in the season’s final months. Surprisingly, House has only started two of four games since being recalled, but I’d expect him to take the bulk of the work at the hot corner moving forward. The former first-round draft pick is a decent power play in NL-only leagues. He’s hit seven home runs in 185 MLB plate appearances this year, and slugged .500 during his stint in Triple-A.
Jorbit Vivas is a potential obstacle to House at third base. Vivas has taken half of the starts since Mead’s departure, all against righties, but he doesn’t seem to have the long-term potential that House does.
