April 21, 2014

Interleague Report

Week Four

by Jeff Quinton

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Please note that in the “DH” column, the player listed is the player that has been added or removed from the lineup, not necessarily the player in the DH slot. For example, if the Phillies move Dominic Brown to DH and put Tony Gwynn Jr. in the OF, then I will list Gwynn Jr. in the “DH” column because he is the player that is gaining at bats.

Last Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
SEA	MIA (3)	3R	Hart/Smoke

• Corey Hart got his first taste in the field, picking up one start at both first base and outfield. As a result, Justin Smoak and Michael Saunders each lost a start.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
CHC	NYY (2)	2R	Kalish/Sweeney/Olt

• The Cubs have two very different lineups against lefties and righties, but with the two-game set turning into a doubleheader, the Cubs got some of their righty bats into the lineup. The Cubs played both sides of their third-base platoon during the day game with Mike Olt starting at DH, and they added Darwin Barney to the lineup for the night game, with Emilio Bonifacio moving to center field and Nate Schierholtz moving to DH.

This Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
LAA	WAS (3)	2R, 1L	Ibanez/Shuck
CLE	SF (3)	3R	Raburn/Aviles

• I think Raul Ibanez gets at least one start in the outfield against a righty, with Brennan Boesch potentially getting the other start alongside Mike Trout and JB Shuck. Colin Cowgill will start against the lefty Gio Gonzalez.
• With the return of Michael Bourn, right field looks to be a standard platoon between David Murphy and Ryan Raburn. Because all three games are scheduled to be against righties, it looks like we will see Murphy starting in right field for the entire series. I am also guessing we see Yan Gomes at catcher and Carlos Santana at third base for at least two games. Terry Francona can always tinker with his lineup because of Nick Swisher’s and Carlos Santana’s positional flexibility.

NL at AL:

None

Next Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
TOR	PIT (3)	2R, 1L	Sierra/Francisco

• Adam Lind would be the player at risk of losing at bats here, but now that he has hit the DL, only his fill-ins will be losing time.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
PIT	BAL (2)	2R	1B/Snider/Tabata
LAD	MIN (3)	3R	OF
WAS	HOU (2)	1R, 1L	McClouth/Moore

• Teams like to use the DH to bat both sides of their 1B platoon; thus, it would not surprise me to see Gaby Sanchez added to the lineup one night. The Pirates could also DH Travis Snider and start Jose Tabata in right field.
• The Dodgers seemed to have constructed their roster with the DH in mind. If all the outfielders are still healthy, all four will be able to play every day.
• If Ryan Zimmerman were healthy, Danny Espinosa would be getting the additional at-bats, but that is already happening. Maybe Matt Williams can DH Bryce Harper a game or two, so that Bryce can rest in order to hustle to the skipper’s liking. In all seriousness, I think Tyler Moore gets the start against the lefty and Nate McLouth gets the start against the righty.

Jeff Quinton is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @jjq01
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