August 4, 2014

Interleague Report

Week 19

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 who is gaining at-bats.

Last Week

AL at NL: None

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
MIL	TAM (3)	2R, 1L	Weeks/Schafer/Maldonado
COL	DET (3)	3R	Stubbs/McKenry

Rickie Weeks got a rare start against a righty and he did so from the DH slot. Carlos Gomez then got a semi rest at DH with Logan Schafer getting a start in centerfield. Against the lefty, the Brewers put Martin Maldonado at catcher, Jonathan Lucroy at first base, Mark Reynolds at third base, and Aramis Ramirez at DH. There were no starts for Lyle Overbay in this series.

Drew Stubbs got two starts against righties with Corey Dickerson moving to DH. Michael McKenry got a start at catcher, giving Wilin Rosario and Justin Morneau semi-rests at first base and DH, respectively.

This Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
BAL	WAS (1)	1R	Pearce/Young/Lough
LAA	LAD (2)	1R, 1L	C.J. Cron
HOU	PHI (3)	2R, 1L	Singleton/Carter
BOS	STL (2)	2R	Mike Napoli
KC	ARI (3)	1R, 2L	Ibanez/Kratz/Colon
CLE	CIN (2)	2R	Nick Swisher

Baltimore has been rotating Steve Pearce, Delmon Young, and David Lough in the left field/DH spot not being occupied by Nelson Cruz on any given day. All three will sit and Cruz will start in left field.

The Angels minus the DH equals C.J. Cron not in the starting lineup.

With Jon Singleton and Chris Carter swinging figuratively hot bats, I think that Singleton starts both games against the righties and Carter starts the game against the lefty.

Maybe David Ortiz gets a rest absent the DH, but with both of these tilts being night games and the second being on ESPN, I think Ortiz gets his third and fourth starts at first base. As a result, Napoli will be moved to pinch-hitting/hanging over the dugout rail/chatting with teammates and coaches on the bench.

No DH usually means no Billy Butler; however, Eric Hosmer just landed on the DL. Consequently, Raul Ibanez will lose a start at DH against a righty and Christian Colon and/or Erik Kratz will lose starts against the lefties.

Several weeks ago we saw Nick Swisher relegated to bench duties when an away game at a National League park mercilessly stripped the Indians of the DH. My guess is that this will happen again come the two-game series at Cincinnati.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
CIN	CLE (2)	2R	Lutz/Heisey
ATL	SEA (2)	2R	Doumit/Gattis
SD	MIN (2)	2R	Carlos Quentin
LAD	LAA (2)	1R, 1L	Crawford/Van Slyke

Donald Lutz could see time at DH (a potential great moment for our species). Another option would be to start Chris Heisey in left field and move Ryan Ludwick to DH.

How we have seen the Braves utilize the DH and what I think will happen are the same: Ryan Doumit starts at DH for the night game and Evan Gattis gets to stay in the lineup at DH for the following day game.

When the Padres need a DH, they start Carlos Quentin in that role.

When the Dodgers need a DH, they start their extra outfielders; that means Carl Crawford against righties and Scott Van Slyke against lefties.

Next Week

AL at NL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
DET	PIT (2)	1R, 1L	Nick Castellanos
BOS	CIN (2)	2R	Mike Napoli
CHW	SF (2)	2R	Dunn/De Aza
OAK	ATL (3)	1R, 2L	Punto/Sogard

The Tigers will most likely sit Castellanos, move Miguel Cabrera to third base, and start Victor Martinez at first base. Cabrera currently has eight games played and six games started at the hot corner. Martinez has 20 games played and 18 games started at first base.

Per notes from “This Week,” David Ortiz probably starts at first base and Mike Napoli probably sits. These could potentially be Ortiz’s fifth and sixth games played and started at first base in 2014.

Most likely, Adam Dunn starts his fifth and sixth games in the outfield and Alejandro De Aza sits.

Alberto Callaspo has started both games at DH since the trade deadline. I think he moves to second base and Nick Punto and Eric Sogard sit.

NL at AL:

Away	Opponent (Games)	R/L Faced	DH
ARI	CLE (2)	1R, 1L	Kieschnick/Marte/Gosewich
PHI	LAA (2)	2R	Darin Ruf
PIT	DET	2R	Marte/Snider/Alvarez

With Paul Goldschmidt on the DL, this is even uglier than before. I think that Roger Kieschnick or Andy Marte gets a start against the righty and that Tuffy Gosewich gets a start at catcher against the lefty with Miguel Montero moving to DH.

My guess is that Darin Ruf starts at first base and Ryan Howard starts at DH.

For the Pirates, DH usage will depend on a number of factors. Mainly, Starling Marte’s timetable to return from his concussion and Pedro Alvarez’s throwing problems. My guess, as of right now, is that Josh Harrison starts at third base, Alvarez moves to DH, and either Marte or Travis Snider starts in the outfield.

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