June 9, 2014

Interleague Report

Week 11

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:

Kevin Kiermaier sat against the lefty, while Desmond Jennings sat against the righty (both usually start in such situations when the Rays can utilize a DH).

Kurt Suzuki and Josmil Pinto each spent one game at catcher and one game serving as Ron Gardenhire’s security blanket.

Billy Butler sat both games at Busch Stadium.

Against the two righties, Adam Dunn started both games in left field, relegating Alejandro De Aza to bench duties. Dunn sat against the lefty with Moises Sierra starting in the outfield.

The Mariners put together some strange lineups against the Braves. Besides starting Willie Bloomquist at first base (which is apparently a thing now), Lloyd McClendon started an outfield of Endy Chavez, Stefen Romero, and Cole Gillespie against the lefty and an outfield of James Jones, Michael Saunders, and Dustin Ackley against the righty. Ultimately, Chavez probably lost a start against the righty, and John Buck might have lost a start against the lefty.

NL at AL:

With Jarrod Saltalamacchia on the DL and Derek Dietrich being demoted, Justin Bour (real baseball player) got the start at DH against the righty, and Donovan Solano got a start against a lefty with Ed Lucas moving to third base and Casey McGehee moving to DH.

The Cardinals used the DH to give Yadier Molina two days of semi rest with Tony Cruz starting at catcher. In the outfield, Jon Jay and Randal Grichuk formed a platoon with Jay playing against the righties and Grichuck against the lefties. This meant Peter Bourjos started four out of five games in center field and Matt Holliday played three games at DH and one in the outfield.

The Brewers put the oft-injured Aramis Ramirez at DH for both games, meaning that Mark Reynolds got two extra starts at third base.

This Week

AL at NL:

With Jon Singleton up, it looks like Chris Carter will be on the bench.

Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron have been splitting time at first base and DH. Consequently, C.J. Cron will be available off the bench for these interleague games.

NL at AL:

With A.J. Pollock and Cliff Pennington on the DL, Tuffy Gosewisch and Nick Evans are now Arizona’s only right-handed bench bats. Therefore, I think we will see Cody Ross at DH and Nick Evans in the outfield against the lefty. Against the righty, we will most likely see Eric Chavez at DH.

Next Week

AL at NL:

I think Jon Singleton gets the start against the righty and Chris Carter gets the start against the lefty.

Regarding the Mariners, please see “Last Week.”

It looks like the Blue Jays will either start Edwin Encarnacion at first base with Adam Lind moving to the bench or start Encarnacion at third base with Juan Francisco moving to the bench. My guess is that they start with the former and will give Lind a start or two if Francisco is not swinging it well.

NL at AL:

The Padres have been rotating Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin, and Will Venable to fill two outfield spots alongside Seth Smith against righties. All three will start with Carlos Quentin at DH against the righty in Seattle. Against the lefty, Quentin will again move to DH with Alexi Amarista getting a start in the outfield.

My guess is that Tyler Colvin and Gregor Blanco both start in the outfield against the righty with Angel Pagan getting a semi-rest at DH. Against the lefty, I would guess that Hector Sanchez starts at catcher with Buster Posey getting the day at DH.

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