May 19, 2014

Interleague Report

Week Eight

by Jeff Quinton

the archives are now free. All Baseball Prospectus Premium and Fantasy articles more than a year old are now free as a thank you to the entire Internet for making our work possible. Not a subscriber? Get exclusive content like this delivered hot to your inbox every weekday. Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or use the buttons to the right to subscribe and get instant access to the best baseball content on the web.

Subscribe for $4.95 per month Recurring subscription - cancel anytime. Subscribe for $39.95 for one year a 33% savings over the monthly price! Purchase a $39.95 gift subscription a 33% savings over the monthly price! Already a subscriber? Click here and use the blue login bar to log in.

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
LAA	PHI (2)	1R, 1L	OF/Cron
NYY	NYM (2)	2R	Beltran/Johnson

The Angels went with Raul Ibanez and Efren Navarro in the corner outfield spots against the righty and Collin Cowgill and Grant Green against the lefty. C.J. Cron sat out both games.

With Carlos Beltran sidelined with an elbow injury, the Yankees started an outfield of Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Alfonso Soriano in both games. Both games also saw Yangervis Solarte and Brian Roberts playing third base and second base, respectively, leaving Kelly Johnson on the bench.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
NYM	NYY (2)	1R, 1L	Abreu/Lagares
PIT	NYY (3)	2R, 1L	Davis/G Sanchez/T Sanchez
COL	KC (2)	1R, 1L	Barnes

The Mets put Bobby Abreu at DH against the righty and started Juan Lagares in center field against the lefty, moving Eric Young Jr. to DH.

Gaby Sanchez got the first two starts at DH. In game two of Sunday’s doubleheader, Sanchez started at first base, Chris Stewart started at catcher, and Tony Sanchez’s hot bat was moved to DH with Ike Davis sitting against the lefty.

Brandon Barnes got the extra starts in the outfield for both games. Corey Dickerson and Carlos Gonzalez each got a day at DH.

This Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
BAL	PIT (2)	2L	Delmon Young
NYY	CHC (2)	2R	Soriano/Almonte/Ichiro/Johnson
MIN	SD (2), SF (3)	4R, 1L	Pinto/Suzuki

The Orioles have been platooning Delmon Young and David Lough. Young will be missing his usual starts because both games are against lefties.

With Carlos Beltran’s elbow injury, the Yankees have one outfield spot up in the air with Jacoby Ellsbury and Gardner handling the other two spots. Alfonso Soriano is most likely to get both starts, but the (relatively) hot hitting Zolio Almonte might get a start. Given the way Brian Roberts and Yangervis Solarte are hitting, it looks like more bench time for Kelly Johnson.

Josmil Pinto has been getting a lot of run as a DH this year, but it looks like he will have to split duties with Kurt Suzuki in order for the Twins to comply with National League rules. My guess is that Pinto gets two starts with Suzuki getting the other three.

NL at AL: None

Next Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
BAL	MIL (3)	3R	Lough
BOS	ATL (2)	2R	Napoli/Ortiz
NYY	STL (3)	3R	OF
TEX	WAS (3)	3R	Moreland/Choice

Given the Orioles’ Lough-Young platoon discussed in “This Week,” it looks like Lough will be missing three starts as all three games come against righties.

Facing two righties, it looks like David Ortiz might get his first two starts at first base in 2014. The Red Sox might choose to give him one day off and give Mike Napoli a start at his usual first base spot.

The Yankees’ incredible run of only facing right-handed starting pitching when playing the National League continues! This means we can reference notes from both “This Week” and “Last Week.”

If history is any indication, Mitch Moreland and Michael Choice will both be on the bench as long as the rest of the starting lineup stays healthy.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
ATL	BOS (2)	2R	Doumit/Laird/Schafer
COL	CLE (3)	3R	Cuddyer/Dickerson/Rosario
SD	CHW (3)	1R, 2L	OF/Amarista/Hundley

The DH allows the Braves to use Ryan Doumit where he is best suited: at DH. My guess is that he starts one game at DH and that he or Gerald Laird starts at catcher for the second game with Evan Gattis moving to DH. The other route the Braves could go would be to start Jordan Schafer in the outfield and give one of the regulars a semi-rest at DH.

With Michael Cuddyer due to be back, the Rockies can help the oft-injured veteran (and their pitchers) by starting him at DH and deploying Corey Dickerson in the outfield. If Wilin Rosario gets hot, the Rockies can choose to give him a day at DH on Saturday (the afternoon game that follows a night game).

Against the righty, my guess is that Carlos Quentin moves to DH with an outfield of Seth Smith, Cameron Maybin, and Will Venable. Against the lefty, Chris Denorfia, Quentin, and Maybin will most likely start in some capacity leaving one spot open. This could mean an Alexi Amarista start in the outfield or a Yasmani Grandal DH opportunity—or even both.

Jeff Quinton is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @jjq01
Click here to see Jeff's other articles. You can contact Jeff by clicking here