June 16, 2014

Interleague Report

Week 12

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
HOU	ARI (2)	2R	Chris Carter
LAA	ATL (3)	2R, 1L	C.J. Cron

With Jon Singleton up, Chris Carter sat.

Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron have been sharing first base and DH duties. Consequently, C.J. Cron was on the bench for these interleague games.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
STL	TAM (2)	1R, 1L	Jay/Bourjos
MIA	TEX (2)	2R	Justin Bour
ARI	HOU (2)	1R, 1L	Gregorius/Evans

The Cardinals used the DH to play both sides of their not-so-strict center-field platoon, allowing Peter Bourjos to play center field both games and giving Jon Jay a start against a lefty.

Justin Bour was at DH for both games for Miami.

For the Diamondbacks, Nick Evans was at DH against the lefty and Aaron Hill moved to DH with Didi Gregorius playing second base against the righty.

This Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
HOU	WAS (2)	1R, 1L	Carter/Singleton
SEA	SD (2)	1R, 1L	OF/Montero/Morrison
TOR	CIN (3)	3R	Lind/Francisco

I think Jon Singleton gets the start against the righty and Chris Carter gets the start against the lefty, but I would not be surprised to see Singleton get both starts.

Against the righty, two of the four of Endy Chavez, Stefan Romero, James Jones, and Cole Gillespie will probably start alongside Dustin Ackley, but hey, maybe Michael Saunders gets a start. It is hard to tell when an outfield is that loaded. Recently recalled Jesus Montero will probably lose a start at DH against the lefty, unless he starts at first in place of Logan Morrison.

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 go with the former unless Francisco is really not swinging it well.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
SD	SEA (2)	1R, 1L	Outfield
SF	CWS (2)	1R, 1L	Colvin/Blanco/Sanchez

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 potentially 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.

Next Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
OAK	NYM (2), MIA (3)	4R, 1L	Catcher/Callaspo
CLE	ARI (2)	2R	Swisher/Murphy/Gomes

The Athletics like to DH John Jaso against righties, while starting Derek Norris and occasionally Stephen Vogt at catcher. Absent the DH, however, I am guessing that Norris gets two or three starts (one or two against a righty the other against the lefty) and Jaso gets two starts with Vogt maybe getting a start. Against righties, the Athletics have been starting Brandon Moss in the outfield, Kyle Blanks at first base, and Alberto Callaspo at DH. Consequently, it looks like Callaspo will sit against the lefty.

I think that Terry Francona sits either Nick Swisher or David Murphy for one game with the other player starting in right field. I also think that Swisher gets a start at first base for the other game with Carlos Santana moving to catcher and Yan Gomes moving to the bench.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
PIT	TB (2)	2R	Sanchez/Harrison
LAD	KC (2)	1R, 1L	Outfield
ATL	HOU (3)	3R	Doumit/Gattis

Pittsburgh plays at Tampa Bay on June 24 and June 25. Neil Walker is eligible to come off the disabled list on the 24th and is expected to do so as of today. Clint Hurdle has used the DH this season to bat both sides of his first base platoon, which would mean two starts against righties for Gaby Sanchez. The other option would be to DH Walker in order to ease him back into game action, while starting Josh Harrison at second base.

If Carl Crawford is back and healthy (although he hit a snag in his recovery yesterday), then it looks like he, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and Yasiel Puig will all start against the righty, while one of the lefties will probably sit for Scott Van Slyke against the lefty. If Crawford is not back, then Ethier, Kemp, Puig, and Van Slyke will probably all start both games.

The Braves usually start Ryan Doumit at DH when playing by American League rules. I think they will do so for the first two games of the series and will DH Evan Gattis for the Thursday day game with Gerald Laird starting at catcher.

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