Fantasy Baseball Lineup Lowdown: American League 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? This week, we will be focusing on players from the American League.

Trending Up

Luke Keaschall, 2B/OF, Minnesota Twins

Keaschall began the 2026 campaign as the Twins' No. 3 hitter, but a poor start led to a quick move down in the batting order. However, a scorching-hot stretch has cemented the 24-year-old in the leadoff spot of late.

In each of the Twins' last 14 contests, Keaschall has been perched atop the lineup, regardless of the handedness of the opposing pitcher. It came after a four-month stretch during which the outfielder rarely batted higher than sixth. You could argue that the move was overdue, as Keaschall has slashed a robust .333/.429/.530 with seven home runs, four stolen bases and a 19:29 BB:K over 49 contests since July 1. The batted-ball data with Keaschall remains unimpressive and has not really improved much during his hot stretch (33 percent hard-hit rate, 86.1 mph average exit velocity), but he's an elite contact hitter who has benefitted from some batted-ball luck (.360 BABIP).

Cal Raleigh, C, Seattle Mariners

Raleigh finally rediscovered his power stroke in August. Is it too little, too late for the Mariners?

Through his first 90 games this season, Raleigh sported a woeful .156/.266/.291 batting line with 12 home runs and a 32.1 percent strikeout rate. In early August, Raleigh had dipped all the way down to the No. 8 spot in the Mariners' batting order on three occasions. Suddenly, though, the reigning AL MVP runner-up has slashed .308/.400/.897 with seven long balls across his last 11 tilts. Included during that stretch was a three-homer game, something Raleigh didn't accomplish last year during his 60-homer season. Raleigh has been back up to the cleanup spot in each of his last three starts, with two of them being against righties and the other against a lefty.

Henry Bolte, OF, Athletics

A bevy of injuries to their position-player group has left the Athletics' lineup virtually unrecognizable. Part of the fallout is some players getting prime spots in the batting order that they might not have otherwise received, and new leadoff man Bolte is an example of that.

Bolte has moonlighted as a leadoff man on occasion this season, usually against left-handed pitching. He's been the everyday leadoff hitter lately, though, occupying the spot in each of the Athletics' last 14 contests and 16 of their last 17 tilts (he batted second in that other game). In the game prior to this stretch, Bolte hit ninth, and he's spent time in every lineup slot other than third and fourth this season. Bolte rebounded from a dreadful July (.164/.243/.224) with his best month thus far in the majors, slashing .310/.366/.451 in August.

Christian Moore, 2B, Los Angeles Angels

It's a little odd that in yet another rebuilding season for the Angels it's taken them this long to give Moore an extended look in the big leagues, but that opportunity has finally arrived.

Upon his promotion from Triple-A Salt Lake in late August, Moore has garnered 10 straight starts at second base. He spent the first two of those starts hitting eighth, but the 23-year-old has crept up since then, hitting cleanup once and fifth twice among his last five starts. The production hasn't been there yet for Moore, as he's collected a .581 OPS with one home run to go along with a 32.8 percent strikeout rate. He does have an 11.1 percent barrel rate and Moore has no issues lofting the ball in the air, so he's capable of going on a home run binge even if it comes with lots of swing and miss.

Quick Hits: Jeff McNeil has hit second for the Athletics in 10 of his last 11 starts … Lawrence Butler has batted either third or fourth in his last nine starts … Coby Mayo has hit between the third and fifth slots in 12 of his last 15 starts … The Tigers have handed Hao-Yu Lee 12 consecutive starts … Taylor Trammell has been in the Houston lineup nine of the last 10 times they've faced a righty … Kansas City has included Nick Loftin in its lineup for 12 of its past 13 tilts … Jonny DeLuca has started 12 straight games for the Rays … The Rangers have penciled Cody Freeman into their lineup for 12 consecutive contests.

Trending Down

Taylor Ward, Seattle Mariners

Ward has been dreadful during his brief tenure in Seattle, and it seems the Mariners are already out of patience.

Top prospect Lazaro Montes was called up Tuesday and homered as part of a two-hit major-league debut in Boston. He was slotted in at designated hitter, while Randy Arozarena, Julio Rodriguez and Dominic Canzone patrolled the outfield. The left-handed-hitting Montes is going to play regularly versus righty hurlers, and the other three will rarely come out of the lineup. That seemingly leaves Ward — who did not start against a right-hander Tuesday — stuck in a short-side platoon. The trade deadline acquisition is just 8-for-66 (.121) with a 28 percent strikeout rate since joining the Mariners.

Trevor Larnach, OF, Minnesota Twins

From mid-June to mid-August, Larnach was slotted in as the Twins' leadoff hitter nearly every time the team faced a right-handed hurler. However, between a poor August (.594 OPS) and the emergence of the aforementioned Luke Keaschall, Larnach has been demoted to a lower placement in the batting order.

In the left-handed-hitting Larnach's last nine starts (all versus righties), he's batted sixth five times and seventh on four occasions. The last time he hit that low against a righty came all the way back on April 5. Larnach is slashing .279/.362/.435 against right-handed pitching this season, but he's hit .215/.282/.355 versus all hurlers since the All-Star break, while Keaschall has put up a .321/.412/.500 batting line in the second half. 

Heliot Ramos, OF, New York Yankees

The Yankees acquired Ramos at the trade deadline primarily for his ability to hit left-handed pitching. However, because of injuries to Aaron Judge (rib) and Cody Bellinger (hamstring), the righty-swinging Ramos was forced to play every day and did so from the middle of the batting order.

Bellinger is healthy now, though, and in six games against righties since Bellinger came off the injured list, Ramos hasn't started once. Ramos batted cleanup twice and third twice the last four times versus left-handers, but there's no longer room for him in the lineup against right-handers, and it's only going to get more crowded in the outfield soon with Judge possibly nearing a return. In 74 plate appearances since joining the Bronx Bombers, Ramos is slashing only .148/.297/.279 with one long ball.

Cam Smith, OF, Houston Astros

The Astros are clinging to first place in a bad AL West division, so they need every win they can get down the stretch. That has resulted in less playing time lately for Smith, who has flashed but who has been unable to break through offensively.

Smith's quality of contact has improved in his sophomore season, as we've seen his hard-hit rate (40.8 percent to 44.1 percent), barrel rate (6.9 percent to 10.9 percent) and average exit velocity (87.9 mph to 89.1 mph) all go up year-over-year. However, while he has nearly doubled last year's home run total in essentially the same number of plate appearances, Smith's batting average (.236 to .212) and on-base percentage (.312 to .278) are both way down. His slugging percentage is better but still sits at a poor .388. The 23-year-old has been out of the lineup two out of the last three games and three out of the last six contests versus right-handers.

Quick Hits: Patrick Bailey has sat out in favor of Austin Hedges in five of the Guardians' last eight contests … Royce Lewis has batted seventh in three straight games, which is the lowest he's hit for the Twins since early June … Nearly all of Trent Grisham's starts against right-handers this season have come from the leadoff spot, but he batted fifth once and sixth once the last two times the Yankees have gone up versus a righty.