Fantasy Baseball Lineup Lowdown: National League Latest Trends

The goal with Lineup Lowdown is simple: we're looking for trends which could help identify players that might be undervalued or overvalued. Who is playing more/less? Who is moving up/down? We'll be doing a deep dive into one league each week as we navigate the lineup landscape.

To track all the latest changes around the league, visit our MLB batting order changes and MLB playing time changes pages.

Atlanta Braves

– There are a bunch of reasons why the Braves have been one of baseball's biggest disappointments this season, but Michael Harris' struggles are certainly on that list. From May 20 to June 6, Harris didn't bat higher than eighth, regardless of whether it was a right-hander or left-hander on the bump. He even hit ninth behind the offensively-inept Nick Allen in all three games last week against the Diamondbacks. Harris has inched back up since then, batting sixth twice and fifth once over the last three games.

– Each of Drake Baldwin's last eight starts have come from the No. 2 spot in the lineup. However, Baldwin and Sean Murphy have alternated starts at catcher over the last 12 tilts. This is after a stretch during which Baldwin started seven of eight versus righties. Baldwin is just 4-for-28 during the former span, although two of those hits have left the yard.

Miami Marlins

– Otto Lopez's last start before he went on the injured list and first start after he was activated came from the seven spot in the lineup. However, he's spent most of his time of late batting third, including in all three games this past weekend before he hit cleanup Monday. Lopez has also assumed everyday shortstop duties, flipping positions with Xavier Edwards, who is now handling second base.

– The left-handed-hitting Liam Hicks has started seven of the last eight tilts against righties. Traditionally a catcher, the Rule 5 pick has been so good offensively since the start of May — slashing .296/.356/.574 with three homers — that the Marlins have looked to keep him in the lineup at other positions, as six of the seven starts during the aforementioned stretch have come either at first base (four games) or designated hitter (two games). Hicks batted cleanup Sunday before moving down to seventh Monday.

New York Mets

– Ronny Mauricio has started five of six games since being recalled last week, playing third base three times while occupying shortstop and the DH spot once apiece. Brett Baty has also drawn five starts during that stretch (three at third base, two at second base), while Jeff McNeil has started all six tilts (four at second base, two in center field). The hot-hitting McNeil has been up in the fifth spot in the batting order for each of the last four games.

– In the last eight games versus righties when all four players were healthy, the Mets have used Francisco Lindor-Brandon Nimmo-Juan Soto-Pete Alonso as their top four in the lineup. Prior to that, the regular top four against right-handers had been Lindor-Soto-Alonso-Nimmo. Nimmo's walk rate is way down this year at 7.9 percent and he's on a career-best home run pace, seemingly making him a better fit at cleanup. It seems likely that the walk rate will perk back up, though.

Philadelphia Phillies

– A wrist issue has landed Bryce Harper on the IL, and as a result Alec Bohm has shifted over from third base to first base for the last four contests. Getting the start at third base in all three games (one against a righty and one against a lefty) since being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley has been Otto Kemp. The 25-year-old broke out in the minors last year and has been even better this year at Lehigh Valley with a 1.010 OPS, 14 homers and 11 steals. Kemp — who has hit seventh in all three starts — is interesting but doesn't figure to have much leash, as Edmundo Sosa looms as a third-base alternative and Harper's absence probably won't be lengthy.

– Speaking of Bohm, he hasn't hit lower than fifth since May 27 after spending a long stretch batting eighth regularly against right-handed pitching. He's hit third in each of the Phillies' last four tilts versus lefties and batted cleanup against a righty Sunday. Unfortunately, the infielder has cooled off since being moved back up in the batting order, sporting a .668 OPS.

Washington Nationals

– The switch-hitting Keibert Ruiz batted eighth the last time the Nationals faced a right-hander and has been out of the lineup four of the last five times the team has gone up against a lefty. Ruiz has spent most of this season batting either third or fourth, but he has a sub-.500 OPS and is homerless since the beginning of May.

– Jacob Young returned from the IL this past Friday, but Robert Hassell — who was the everyday center fielder while Young was out — remains on the big-league roster. The right-handed-hitting Young started both times the Nationals faced a lefty over the weekend, while the left-handed-hitting Hassell started in center against the lone righty and also drew a start in right field against one of the southpaws. It's not clear how manager Dave Martinez plans to deploy the two moving forward.

Chicago Cubs

– Since Ian Happ's return from the IL, Pete Crow-Armstrong has settled in as the Cubs' cleanup man against right-handed pitching and their No. 5 hitter versus southpaws. The left-handed-swinging PCA has just a .567 OPS and 33.8 percent strikeout rate against left-handers, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he moves down in the order against same-handed hurlers eventually unless he picks up the pace.

– Even with Miguel Amaya (oblique) shelved, Carson Kelly has been splitting catching duties with Reese McGuire, starting eight of the last 14 contests. Kelly has, unsurprisingly, cooled off since his scorching-hot start to the season. Since Amaya was hurt, Kelly is just 2-for-30 and without an RBI.

Cincinnati Reds

– Christian Encarnacion-Strand started and homered in all three games over the weekend against the Diamondbacks after returning from the IL, accumulating multiple hits in all three contests, as well. CES was at first base and hit fifth versus a lefty in his first game back before shifting over to third base and batting fourth in the next two tilts. He was then back at first base Monday. If Reds manager Terry Francona continues to view Encarnacion-Strand as a viable option at the hot corner, it will mean Santiago Espinal back to the bench most days. Noelvi Marte's (oblique) eventual return would throw a wrench into things, as he's sure to regain an everyday role once healthy given how he performed before getting hurt.

– Will Benson continues to play every day against righties, but since his stretch with five homers in four games, he's sporting a .500 OPS with one home in 18 contests. He's batted fifth twice and sixth once over the last three games versus righties in spite of the slump, but Benson seems like a safe bet to be sent back to Triple-A Louisville once Austin Hays (foot) and/or Marte returns.

Milwaukee Brewers

– Manager Pat Murphy's only real lineup decision these days is who to start in left field, at least until Garrett Mitchell (oblique) returns. Christian Yelich is a full-time DH now, leaving Isaac Collins, Jake Bauers and Daz Cameron as the underwhelming left field "committee." The switch-hitting Collins leads the club with 25 starts at the position this season, but he's been there just three times over the last nine tilts, with Cameron starting there all four times versus lefties and Bauers grabbing two starts against righties over that span.

– The Brewers' patience with Caleb Durbin looks to be starting to pay off. The rookie infielder has been an everyday player since being promotion in mid-April, and while he got off to a brutal start at the dish, he's slashed .276/.348/.448 with one home run, three stolen bases and a 4:4 K:BB over his last 16 contests. Forty-two of his 44 starts have come from the seven spot or lower (he hit sixth in the other two games).

Pittsburgh Pirates

– Nick Gonzales returned from the IL last week and has been thrown right back into the mix, starting six of seven contests at second base. He batted sixth in his first game back but has hit higher since then, thanks in part to the Pirates facing lefties in three of their last five contests. The right-handed-hitting Gonzales also batted second once and fifth once the last two times Pittsburgh faced a righty.

– Alexander Canario and Tommy Pham have been operating in a quasi-platoon in left field. They each started six games in left field during a 12-game stretch before Adam Frazier handled the position Monday, with Canario also netting an additional two starts in center field over that span. Both players have offered next to nothing offensively to this point, with Pham sporting a .509 OPS and 27.3 percent strikeout rate and Canario collecting a .593 OPS and 32.1 percent strikeout rate.

St. Louis Cardinals

– Ivan Herrera has been used as the Cardinals' primary DH since returning from the IL in early May, with only five of his 27 starts coming at catcher. Because he's essentially been a full-time hitter, Herrera has had just one day off during that stretch, and that came back on May 10. Pedro Pages has made 18 starts behind the dish over that span, with Yohel Pozo being mixed in for five starts.

– Herrera and Willson Conteras have both inched up one spot over the last few weeks to the fifth and fourth slots, respectively, with Nolan Arenado dropping from cleanup to sixth for each of his last 17 starts. Arenado is as good as he's ever been in terms of contact, striking out at just an 11.3 percent clip. However, the quality of contact has rebounded only a smidge from last year's disappointment, with the 34-year-old sporting just a 33.7 percent hard-hit rate and 4.9 percent barrel rate.

Arizona Diamondbacks

– Geraldo Perdomo has been elevated back up in the Diamondbacks' batting order, with 11 of his last 12 starts coming from the top three spots in the lineup. He has settled in as the team's No. 3 hitter for each of the last three contests that Corbin Carroll has been healthy. Perdomo will need to get going again if he hopes to remain the club's primary three-hole hitter, as he's sporting just a .524 OPS so far in June.

– Lourdes Gurriel was regularly up in the third spot for Arizona from mid-May to early June when Perdomo was back down in the lower third of the batting order, but Gurriel has reverted to the sixth spot for the last three contests and four of the last five tilts. Gurriel had a dreadful April but has been good since then, putting up a .313/.377/.504 batting line since the beginning of May.

Colorado Rockies

– The Rockies finally decided Michael Toglia's strikeout issues became too much, sending him down in late May. Since then, the club has used a combination of Keston Hiura (four starts), Kyle Farmer (three starts) and Orlando Arcia (one start) at first base. Arcia also earned an additional four starts at other infield spots during that stretch.

– Thairo Estrada returned from the IL in late May, has started seven of eight contests since then and has not batted lower than fifth. He's hit second four times and cleanup once in five games since Ezequiel Tovar (oblique) went back on the IL. Ryan Ritter has started at shortstop in all three games since Tovar landed on the IL, and he was up in the No. 2 spot in the batting order for the Rockies' last game. Ritter is a legitimate prospect with some power and speed.

Los Angeles Dodgers

– Hyeseong Kim has made three starts in a row in center field. Prior to that, he had received only four starts during a 15-game stretch. Kim is slashing an impressive .410/.438/.590 in his first 27 big-league tilts, but nearly all of his starts have come from the nine spot. Andy Pages has played left field once and right field once, and Michael Conforto has handled left field twice over the last three contests. Conforto certainly seems likelier of the two to lose reps to Kim, as he probably would have been benched already if he wasn't making $17 million.

– Max Muncy plunged to as low as eighth in the lineup back in late April, but he's got a 1.082 OPS with seven long balls and 23 RBI across his last 22 contests. As a result, Muncy has spent most of his time batting fifth over the last several weeks, although he's still sitting regularly against left-handed pitching, usually in favor of Enrique Hernandez. Muncy's hot stretch coincides with him starting to wear glasses to combat astigmatism in his right eye.

San Diego Padres

– Tyler Wade has started each of the Padres' last eight games against right-handed pitching, with all but one of those coming in left field (the other one was in right field on a day Fernando Tatis served as the DH). Gavin Sheets is still seeing some action in left field against lefties, but the Padres would prefer to use him only at first base and DH. The club simply doesn't have good left field options right now, and it's a position it will undoubtedly address at the trade deadline, if not before.

– Manager Mike Shildt has been leaning the way of Martin Maldonado again as his 1A catcher to 1B Elias Diaz. After Diaz started 15 times during a 23-game stretch, Maldonado has since drawn six starts across the last 10 tilts. Diaz is the better offensive player of the two, but it's all relative considering he's put up a sub-.600 OPS.

San Francisco Giants

– The Giants jettisoned the struggling LaMonte Wade, signed Dominic Smith and have handed Smith five straight starts at first base. Smith has occupied the No. 5 spot in the batting order for four of those contests and hit sixth in the other one. I was hoping Jerar Encarnacion might get a long look if the Giants bailed on Wade, but the club doesn't seem to trust Encarnacion to handle first base and it wants to keep Wilmer Flores at DH. Encarnacion has started only two of seven games since being activated from the IL, and he played the outfield in both of those.

– Speaking of the outfield, we've also seen a shakeup there with Daniel Johnson receiving four starts over the last five tilts and batting leadoff in three of those. He played right field in place of the struggling Mike Yastrzemski in the first two of those starts before shifting to center field in the last two to cover for the banged up Jung Hoo Lee (back).