One minute, it looks like a player is trending towards capturing a full-time starting role. The next thing you know, he’s riding the bench more often than not. Big league managers tinker with their lineups to play their best matchups every single day, and you should be doing the same with your fantasy teams.
We’ve seen plenty of notable lineup changes over the last week. Let’s dive in and see whose fantasy baseball stock is rising and falling alongside their playing time.
We recently discussed Adrian Del Castillo being worth a look in two-catcher leagues even without an everyday role, but now he’s trending towards becoming an everyday player, having started eight of the last nine games for the D-backs. He also has a prime lineup position, hitting fourth or fifth. He’s only slashing .224/.269/.347 so far, but there’s a lot of upside in his profile.
Carlos Cortes has now started 14 straight games against right-handed pitchers, and he’s recently moved up the lineup from eighth to third or fifth. The 29-year-old outfielder has hit the ground running this year, hitting .387/.457/.694 with four home runs in 70 plate appearances.
Darell Hernaiz has started both games at third base since Max Muncy’s injury. The A’s just called up Brett Harris from Triple-A, though, so he and Hernaiz will both be factoring into the playing time puzzle at third base in Muncy’s absence.
Michael Harris II and Mike Yastrzemski have essentially flipped lineup positions when the Braves face a right-handed starting pitcher. Harris has moved up to a middle-of-the-order role while Yastrzemski has slid down to hit eighth or ninth.
Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies have also recently changed lineup spots, although it’s a smaller change. Over the last three games against righties, Albies has moved up to clean up while Riley has shifted down two spots to hit sixth.
Colton Cowser has been on the bench an awful lot recently. He’s started just two of the club’s last eight games. Four of those sits came against lefties, which wasn’t surprising, but two of them came against righties, indicating that he’s losing playing time to Leody Taveras. He’s started 14 of the Orioles’ last 17 games in center. Taveras is putting together a solid season so far, slashing .286/.392/.429 with two homers and a steal. He’s not rostered in a lot of leagues, and could produce 10-15 homers with 15-20 steals if he can hold onto a starting gig.
Jarren Duran was moved back to the leadoff role against righties last week after a brief demotion to the fifth through seventh spots. He’s maintained that top of the order status against righties even after the major coaching shakeup in Boston.
With Duran hitting leadoff, Roman Anthony has slid down to hit third against righties. He’s still hitting leadoff against lefties, though.
Moisés Ballesteros‘ hot hitting has moved him into a near-everyday role. He’s always in the lineup versus righties, but he even saw one start against a lefty last week. Manager Craig Counsell has moved Ballesteros up the batting order, penciling in the 22-year-old DH and his .364/.419/.557 slash line into the two-hole in each of the last two games.
With Ballesteros playing more, Matt Shaw and Miguel Amaya have both lost playing time. Shaw’s started three of four but just five of the last 13. Meanwhile, Amaya’s been in the starting nine just twice in the last six games.
The White Sox recently activated Austin Hays from the IL. He had started eight of the club’s 10 games before his injury, but just one of three since his return. Sam Antonacci has taken over most of the playing time in left field, and it’d be surprising to see Hays win it back. He’ll likely split DH platoon duties with Andrew Benintendi moving forward.
Nathaniel Lowe has started six straight games as the designated hitter, and two of those were even against a lefty starter. As long as Eugenio Suárez is on the IL with an oblique injury, Lowe looks like he has a hold on the Reds’ DH job. He’s hitting .277 with four home runs over 52 plate appearances. Lowe’s batted ball numbers are much improved, and I’d be looking to add him in deep formats.
The Guardians called up Travis Bazzana, the first overall pick of the 2024 draft, to make his MLB debut on Tuesday night. Bazzana will take over as the clear-cut starter at second base, and he’s hit seventh in his first two career games. Juan Brito was demoted to Triple-A as the corresponding move.
Amidst a slow start, Ezequiel Tovar has moved down the lineup. He’s slashing .193/.228/.294 and has hit seventh or eighth in each of the last five games.
Brenton Doyle has moved down the depth chart. He’s only started three of the last seven games, with Mickey Moniak and Jake McCarthy picking up some time in center field.
The Astros’ banged-up outfield has opened up a spot for Brice Matthews, who has started six of the last seven games. New acquisition Dustin Harris is also factoring into the outfield mix, starting five of the last six games for which he’s been available.
The Marlins recently activated both Christopher Morel and Esteury Ruiz from the IL. I don’t think either will see the field enough to be fantasy relevant outside of deep NL-only leagues, but there’s a chance that Morel’s power and speed toolset could break through to shallow-league relevancy if he gets frequent looks in the lineup. He’s only started one of the three games he’s been active for, though.
Tyler Black was called up to make his season debut over the weekend. He’s started three of five games at DH since his promotion, and three of four against right-handers. It looks like he’ll play the strong side of the DH platoon, taking away at-bats from Gary Sánchez. Black is an intriguing pick-up in deep points and OBP leagues. He has yet to really click in small samples at the big league level, but he’s posted double-digit walk rates at every minor league stop he’s made.
With their recent stretch of facing a righty starter in nine of their last 10 games, Trevor Larnach and Kody Clemens are finally getting some run in the starting lineup. As confirmed strong-side-of-the-platoon players, their fantasy values are both heavily schedule dependent, but they’re hitting in good lineup spots whenever the Twins face a right-hander, which they’re projected to do in 12 of their next 15 games.
Ronny Mauricio has taken over as the starting shortstop with Francisco Lindor on the IL. He’s started five of six games since Lindor went down. The 25-year-old shortstop has yet to find success against MLB pitching, but he’s flashed good talent at Triple-A Syracuse. He was slashing .293/.349/.638 before his promotion.
Bo Bichette has been moved up to the leadoff spot, hitting at the top of the lineup in seven straight games. There’s a good shot he holds that role until Lindor returns from the IL.
The Mets’ Tommy Pham experiment was short-lived. They designated the veteran outfielder for assignment last weekend after 14 hitless plate appearances to start his season. In his place, the Mets signed Austin Slater, who had recently been DFA’d by the Marlins. Slater has a similar lefty-masher skillset that Pham had, so it seems likely he’ll exclusively start and pinch-hit against southpaws.
The Yankees placed Giancarlo Stanton on the IL with a calf injury and called up Jasson Domínguez to take his roster spot. Domínguez has started all three games since his promotion, so he’s worth a pickup in the short term. His playing time when Stanton returns is still very uncertain.
Anthony Volpe is nearing a return from the IL and will likely return to his starting shortstop duties upon activation. That means José Caballero will probably move into a super utility role. He’s played well, so maybe Aaron Boone can work him into the lineup regularly enough to keep his fantasy value up, but be prepared that you may need to find a replacement if you’re rostering Caballero.
Since Felix Reyes‘ promotion to MLB on April 18, he’s started against all four lefties the Phillies have faced, spelling either Brandon Marsh or Justin Crawford. Reyes has only started once in seven games against right-handers.
Rafael Marchán has taken over as the starting catcher with J.T. Realmuto injured. Marchán has started five of seven games in Realmuto’s absence.
Nick Gonzales is the new starting third baseman in Pittsburgh. He’s started seven of the last eight games at the hot corner, and has started 10 straight overall. Nick Yorke is the unlucky man out, starting just one of the last eight contests.
Ty France has turned back the clock with his .317/.364/.634 slash line, and has earned more time in the starting nine. He’s started five of the last six games at first base, eating a little bit into Gavin Sheets‘ playing time.
The Fernando Tatis Jr. experiment at second base has continued sporadically, making more time in the outfield for Nick Castellanos and Bryce Johnson. Tatis is up to five starts at the keystone and will earn second base eligibility once he has five more.
It’s too soon to know if this will be a long-term change, but we saw Willy Adames demoted from first to sixth in the batting order in the Giants’ last two contests. Those games mark the first time Adames hasn’t hit leadoff since March 28th. He’s struggled to a .202/.242/.368 batting line, so a temporary lineup demotion isn’t unwarranted. Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos have split the leadoff duties in Adames’ stead.
Manager Skip Schumaker rewarded Josh Jung’s strong performance at the plate with a promotion. Jung opened the season in the bottom third of the lineup, but has recently moved up to hit second in three straight games, and has also hit fourth and fifth recently.
With Wyatt Langford on the IL, Alejandro Osuna has taken over in left field versus right-handed pitchers, starting five of eight games since Langford was hurt. Sam Haggerty has appeared in left field when the team has faced a lefty.
The Jays activated George Springer from the IL on Wednesday, and designated Eloy Jiménez for assignment in a corresponding move. Springer should immediately resume his role as the starting DH and hitting at the top of the order.
Nathan Lukes was placed on the IL over the weekend, opening up time for Jesús Sánchez, Davis Schneider, and Myles Straw to split some time in the outfield.
