In Some Depth: Position Battles and Lineup Changes

Another week, another tour around the league's depth charts and batting orders. With three weeks in the books, we can start to take some playing time trends more seriously, and injuries and slumps have availed opportunities for some interesting folks.

Without any further ado...

Cubs C
Starter: Miguel Montero
Next: Welington Castillo, David Ross

The Cubs have three catchers, and they're using all three with some regularity. Miguel Montero is the defacto No. 1 catcher, but he has only made 46 plate appearances through the first three weeks of the season. The reason? Welington Castillo has replaced him against left-handed starting pitchers, and David Ross continues to serve as Jon Lester's personal catcher. Hence, there may be some instances of Montero only making three starts per week, depending on how the matchups.

Diamondbacks 2B
Starter: Chris Owings
Next: Aaron Hill, Cliff Pennington

Chris Owings started the season in something of a timeshare with Aaron Hill at second base. However, the need for Hill on the other side of the diamond (due to Jake Lamb's injury) has resulted in Owings making nine consecutive starts at second. He has slashed .308/.325/.462 over those nine contests (40 plate appearances), leaving little need for Cliff Pennington to serve as a sub. Hill is likely to stay at third, as it does not seem as if the Diamondbacks are prepared to entrust Yasmany Tomas with too many starts there.

Twins C
Starter: Kurt Suzuki
Next: Chris Hermann
In the minors: Josmil Pinto

This time last season, Josmil Pinto had just hit his fifth home run of the year, and he closed out April with a .410 OBP while splitting time between catcher and DH. However, Kurt Suzuki was on the brink of his second career season with an OPS+ over 100, so Pinto was sent down to Triple-A Rochester once his bat cooled. Now Suzuki is off to a cold start (73 OPS+ through 55 PA's), and the Twins' offense as a whole ranks last in the American League by that metric. Meanwhile, Pinto has an .872 OPS for Rochester. Suzuki received a relatively large extension last year, so a promotion won't happen tomorrow. However, one may be in the making if the Twins' offense continues its unimpressive run.

Royals RF
Starting: Paulo Orlando
Next: Jarrod Dyson
On the DL: Alex Rios

Take a look at the official depth chart on the Royals' website, and you shall see Jarrod Dyson atop the right field position. Take a look at the team's lineup history, and you shall see that Dyson's start Monday was his first in right field since April 16. Paulo Orlando has been the Royals' man in Alex Rios' stead, striking up an .880 OPS and knocking a league-leading five triples in his 12 games. As a 29-year-old rookie who did not even have a Rotowire outlook entering 2015, chances are he will not be able to keep this up for a full 162-game season. However, the Royals only need him to remain productive for a few more weeks, as Rios could return from the DL at some point in May. Dyson could still be valuable as a pinch runner, but it took him until Monday to pick up his first stolen bases of the season (and he had three against Corey Kluber).

Red Sox RF
In the mix: Daniel Nava, Allen Craig, Brock Holt.
On the DL: Shane Victorino
In the minors (and on the DL): Rusney Castillo

It only took 15 games, but Shane Victorino hit the disabled list with a hamstring injury last week. The Red Sox claimed they had to make a move to meet a short-term need of more bullpen arms, but color us unimpressed re: Victorino's durability His placement on the disabled list somewhat cleared up the Red Sox's logjam in the outfield in that it allows Daniel Nava and Allen Craig to share starts at the position. Manager John Farrell could also use the opportunity to throw more at-bats at uber-utility guy Brock Holt. Of course now all eyes turn to Triple-A Pawtucket, where Rusney Castillo is slated to return to the lineup Wednesday after hitting the minor league disabled list following the third game of the season. A few strong games, and he could potentially be in the Red Sox outfield sooner rather than later.

Mets No. 2

David Wright started the year as the Mets' No. 2 batter. Then he got hurt. Then Travis d'Arnaud slotted in that spot. Then he got hurt. Now it's Juan Lagares' turn. Hopefully he does not get hurt. Now he's hitting toward the top third of a Mets lineup that is much better than we would have imagined a few weeks ago. You don't need me to tell you Lagares' .403 BABIP is unsustainable, but he should still have some value hitting in the top-third of an improved Mets' offense, especially if he starts stealing bases again.

Indians No. 1

Michael Bourn has served as the Indians' primary leadoff hitter for much of the young season. Unfortunately he has only put the ball in play in two-thirds of his plate appearances (continuing a downward trend from the past few seasons), and he has an OPS+ of 32. When he has reached base, he has only stolen one bag on three attempts. In other words, things could be better. Instead of wait for better, manager Terry Francona has placed Jason Kipnis in the leadoff slot three times over the past week. Kipnis is only hitting marginally better at this point than Bourn, but he is the only other logical replacement on the roster at this point. Non-prospect Tyler Holt has a .407 OBP while playing center for Triple-A Columbus.

Marlins No. 2

With Christian Yellich hitting the disabled list, the Marlins have slid Martin Prado up from the No. 4 spot to the No. 2 spot in the order (yes, Martin Prado was the cleanup batter for a supposed playoff team). Other than helping him accumulate a few extra at-bats per week, the biggest impact of the lineup change is that Prado goes from hitting directly behind Giancarlo Stanton to directly in front of him. Prado has held his own in the spot for now (.300/.323/.400 over the past week), but Ichiro Suzuki or Adeiny Hechavarria could replace him at some point.

Phillies No.1

Last week, I discussed how Odubel Herrera had displaced Ben Revere as the Phillies' leadoff hitter. However, Revere made his triumphant return to the top over the weekend after a nine-game banishment to the bench and bottom third of the order. It sounds like manager Ryne Sandberg will permit Revere plenty of time to establish himself as the Phillies' leadoff man. Both Revere and Herrera should receive plenty of permission to remain active on the basepaths as long as they can get on base.