Lineup Lowdown: National League

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.

Atlanta Braves

-- In the two games Ronald Acuna missed with a calf issue, Michael Harris got elevated to the leadoff spot versus a right-hander and to the six hole against a lefty. Acuna was then back in action Monday, which meant Harris back in the nine hole. Harris has still managed to be a top-25 fantasy outfielder even with the lion's share of his at-bats coming from the bottom of the lineup. Of course, he'd probably be a top-10 outfielder if he hit in the top-third of the Braves' batting order.

-- On the whole, fantasy managers are undoubtedly happy with the production they've received from Sean Murphy. That's saying a lot about his first half, because he's basically been unstartable since the All-Star break. Not only did Murphy enter Monday's game batting only .181/.326/.293 with three homers in the second half, he also ranked just 24th among catchers in plate appearances. His start Monday was just his fifth over the last 12 games. Atlanta can afford to give him ample rest as they run away with the NL East, but you've got to wonder if he's dealing with a nagging injury, which has also factored into things.

Miami Marlins

-- With Jorge Soler returning from the injured list Sunday as the Marlins' No. 2 hitter (and homering), Jake Burger slid back down to the five hole (and he also homered). Burger comes into action Monday sporting a nifty .306/.362/.531 batting line with eight long balls and 23 RBI across 42 contests since joining Miami. Obviously you'd rather him be hitting third than fifth, but with Luis Arraez, Soler, Josh Bell and Jazz Chisholm in front of him, Burger is still positioned quite well.

-- Garrett Hampson has worked his way into regular at-bats lately as the Marlins push for a playoff spot, drawing eight starts in the last 11 contests. Five of those starts have come at shortstop, as he and Joey Wendle have been sharing that position of late. It hasn't been a strict platoon, with three of Hampson's five starts at short coming versus right-handed pitching.

New York Mets

-- Brett Baty has missed each of the last five games with a nagging groin injury. Filling in at third base during that time has been Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio, with the former getting two starts and the latter three starts at the hot corner. Both guys had already been playing regularly, with Mauricio covering second base and Vientos splitting time between third and designated hitter. The domino effect has led to a couple starts for Rafael Ortega against righties and Tim Locastro against lefties, although Luis Guillorme was back from the IL and starting at second base Monday, pushing Jeff McNeil to the outfield.

-- In the last seven games versus right-handers, DJ Stewart has batted as high as third and no lower than fifth in the Mets' lineup. The left-handed batter also remained in the lineup (but was moved down to the eight spot) in two contests against lefties over the weekend. Stewart has cooled off so far in September after a huge August, but it's clear the out-of-contention Mets intend to continue riding him.

Philadelphia Phillies

-- The Phillies have started Johan Rojas in center field five of their last six games. During those five contests, Brandon Marsh has played left field the three times they faced a righty and Cristian Pache was in left for the two games versus lefties. Kyle Schwarber shifted to DH those days and Bryce Harper occupied first base. This alignment really strengthens the Phillies' outfield defense and their defense as a whole with Harper proving to be a quick study at first base.

-- Prior to Sept. 9, Nick Castellanos hadn't batted lower than fifth all season and he hadn't done that since the first week of the season. However, he hasn't batted higher than sixth in his last 10 tilts and on three occasions was all the way down in the eight spot. The 31-year-old has responded to the demotion by going 11-for-34 with two homers and 10 RBI heading into play Monday, so perhaps he'll begin inching his way back up in the batting order.

Washington Nationals

-- He has trailed off a bit so far in September, but overall Keibert Ruiz has fared quite well amidst a big catcher workload with an .809 OPS and eight home runs so far in the second half. Dating back to Aug. 10, every one of his starts have come from either the third or fourth spot in the Nationals' lineup. He's made six starts at DH over that span and has been used 13 times in the DH spot this season.

-- Luis Garcia is back after spending more than a month back in the minors and since that time has started at second base all eight times the Nats have gone up against a right-hander. He's been out of the lineup each of the three times they've faced a lefty, although Garcia has come off the bench to get some at-bats in each of those contests. While he's yet to find his footing at the major-league level, it's important to remember that Garcia doesn't turn 24 until next May.

Chicago Cubs

-- The Cubs have lost five straight and over the weekend shook up their lineup a bit in an effort to stem the tide. Ian Happ was elevated to leadoff for the team's last two games, a lineup spot he hadn't occupied since 2021. In Happ's old three spot for those two contests was Christopher Morel, as the two basically just flip-flopped spots in the order. The switch makes some sense, as Happ is a much stronger on-base percentage bet and Morel has shown more power in 2023.

-- Nick Madrigal had taken the reins as the Cubs' everyday third baseman in starting 11 of his team's previous 13 contests before sitting out Sunday with a hamstring injury. The Cubs insist that it's minor in nature and the diminutive infielder should avoid a stint on the IL, but all too often we've seen hamstring problems drag on longer than anticipated. The Cubs dusted off Patrick Wisdom and gave him a start at the hot corner Sunday. It was the first time since the All-Star break that he made a start against a right-hander. Seriously.

Cincinnati Reds

-- The Elly De La Cruz star burned bright for a while but has started to fade. After starting every game from Aug. 3 to Sept. 12, Cruz was on the bench for two games in a three-game stretch and in the contest he did start he was lifted for a pinch-hitter. The Reds were facing a lefty both times Cruz didn't start, and the rookie switch-hitter entered play Monday slashing just .186/.232/.275 with a 41.3 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitching. Cruz did start Sunday versus a southpaw but did so from the nine spot in the lineup. His two starts prior to that against righties came from the eight spot.

-- Joey Votto's return from the IL has put the squeeze on Christian Encarnacion-Strand's playing time. Encarnacion-Strand was on the bench Monday for the fifth time in eight contests since Votto was activated. Unlike De La Cruz, Encarnacion-Strand has been hitting well lately when given a shot, having homered in back-to-back games and entering play Monday with a .961 OPS in September. Votto is still ahead of him in the pecking order at first base, though, and Jake Fraley is soaking up the starts at DH versus righties.

Milwaukee Brewers

-- Christian Yelich was out of the lineup Monday for the ninth time in 10 contests due to a nagging back issue and could possibly need an IL stint. It's opened up left field and the leadoff spot for the Brew Crew. Rowdy Tellez and Joey Wiemer have picked up playing time during this stretch, albeit a bit indirectly, although Wiemer has since been sent down. Both Mark Canha and Tyrone Taylor had already been playing regularly but more consistently have occupied the corner outfield spots.

-- Josh Donaldson has started all but one game over a week since being summoned to the big club. Five of his seven starts have come at third base, where he's displaced Andruw Monasterio. Monasterio, though, has just one fewer start than Donaldson during that span, splitting them between second and third base. Brice Turang has yielded the keystone to Monasterio each time Milwaukee has gone up against a southpaw.

Pittsburgh Pirates

-- From late July to late August, Alika Williams operated as the Pirates' primary shortstop. Since then, though, he's mostly been limited to starts against left-handed pitching. Liover Peguero has started all but one game since Aug. 26, handling shortstop versus righties and second base against southpaws. Peguero is sporting a 29.8 percent strikeout rate so far at the major-league level and his batted ball data isn't great, but between the majors and minors in 2023 he's accumulated 20 home runs and 26 stolen bases.

-- Since Andrew McCutchen went down for the season with an Achilles injury, Ke'Bryan Hayes has batted third in nine of 11 starts. He batted leadoff twice against lefties in the other two starts, although on Sunday he hit third versus a southpaw while the aforementioned Peguero was elevated to the top of the order. Hayes hasn't hit lower than cleanup since Aug. 8. You might recall on Opening Day he batted sixth, just behind Canaan Smith-Njigba.

St. Louis Cardinals

-- Nolan Gorman suffered a season-ending right hamstring strain on Sept. 12. He had been seeing most of his starts at second base, and since the injury the Cardinals have used three different players at the position in five games. The biggest beneficiary of Gorman going down looks to be Alec Burleson, who has batted third each of the last four times the Cards have faced a right-hander.

-- Burleson is also a candidate to get some starts in left field with Tyler O'Neill (foot) also suffering a season-ending injury. However, occupying that position in each of the two games since O'Neill went down and in each of the last three contests versus a righty has been Richie Palacios. The 26-year-old has made a nice impression during his brief time up with St. Louis, heading into action Monday with an .851 OPS and four long balls in 19 tilts. Palacios can also handle second base, opening up another avenue for starts down the stretch.

Arizona Diamondbacks

-- On Sept. 7 the Diamondbacks summoned top prospect Jordan Lawlar from Triple-A Reno, designating veteran Nick Ahmed for assignment in the process. Lawlar, though, has looked overmatched during his first go-round in the majors, going 3-for-20 with eight strikeouts. As a result, he's started just one of the last four games and three of the last eight. Geraldo Perdomo had slid over to third base to accommodate Lawlar but has since regained his spot as the team's primary shortstop. Emmanuel Rivera has started at the hot corner in six of the last nine tilts.

-- The D-backs have used a steady rotation in the leadoff and two hole and also the five and six spots in the lineup lately, depending on whether the opposition is starting a right-hander or left-hander. It's been Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte at 1-2 and Alek Thomas and Lourdes Gurriel at 5-6 against righties. Carroll and Marte flip-flop and Gurriel moves up to the five spot versus lefties, with Thomas either shifting to the lower-third of the order or to the bench.

Colorado Rockies

-- From Aug. 26-30, Elehuris Montero was on the bench for five straight games. Since then, he's started 17 straight, and coming into action Monday he had collected a .333/.422/.537 batting line with two homers and five doubles over that stretch. Twelve of those starts have been at first base, with the other five coming in the DH spot. Montero began the stretch batting eighth, but he hasn't hit lower than fifth in his previous six contests, peaking in the three hole.

-- Kris Bryant has also only played first base (four starts) and DH (three starts) since he returned from the IL on Sept. 11. Whether the Rockies determine a long-term move to the dirt is the best thing for Bryant's health remains to be seen, but it does not appear they intend to use him in the outfield down the stretch. As a result, Charlie Blackmon has seen more action in right field since Bryant returned (five starts), with Hunter Goodman (three starts) also mixed in there.

Los Angeles Dodgers

-- Max Muncy is not a guy the Dodgers have had to platoon for the last six seasons because his splits have been pretty even. That hasn't been the case this year, though, as the left-handed batter entered action Monday with just a .663 OPS against southpaws (granted, he does have 11 homers versus lefties). Muncy has been benched in favor of Enrique Hernandez at third base a couple times this month, and on one occasion Muncy started but moved down to the six spot.

-- Dating back to Aug. 12, Chris Taylor has started just 17 of 33 games, with 15 of them coming in left field. He started back-to-back contests on five occasions during that span, but not once did he start three games in a row. Like Muncy, Taylor is not a guy who has had notable splits in his career, but he's essentially fallen into the short-end of a platoon in left field with David Peralta at this point.

San Diego Padres

-- Manny Machado hasn't made a single start at third base this month while dealing with nagging tennis elbow and has been out of the lineup an uncharacteristic three times in the Padres' last eight contests. It sounds like he could have surgery as soon as the Pads are eliminated from the playoff hunt, although they've helped to delay that seeming inevitability by coming into action Monday with four straight victories. Machado's situation and Jake Cronenworth's season-ending wrist injury has led to Matthew Batten being in the lineup for all but one game since Aug. 31. Batten has split his time between second base (seven starts) and third base (eight starts), with one game at first base mixed in.

-- Since Gary Sanchez suffered a season-ending fractured wrist, Luis Campusano has started nine of 10 games, with all but one of those coming at catcher (he also made one start at DH). The soon-to-be 25-year-old came into action Monday sporting a .307/.353/.468 batting line with five long balls across 133 second-half plate appearances. He's certainly worthy of being a second fantasy catcher and could even be worth a look in deeper one-catcher leagues.

San Francisco Giants

-- Mike Yastrzemski was all over the place in the Giants' batting order for the first week upon his return from the IL late last month, but more recently seven of his last eight starts have come out of the leadoff spot. Yastrzemski has put up a 1.015 OPS with three home runs in 17 games since coming back from his hamstring injury. LaMonte Wade had been the club's leadoff man against right-handed pitching, but he's been down in the five or six spot since Yastrzemski's ascension.

-- Brandon Crawford and Paul DeJong have formed a strict platoon at shortstop since the former returned from a forearm injury on Sept. 1. The only time Crawford was in the lineup against a left-hander during that span came this past weekend when the Rockies used southpaw Brent Suter as an opener. Since being traded away by the Cardinals, DeJong has gone 10-for-91 with a 34:0 K:BB for the Blue Jays and Giants.