Fantasy Baseball Lineup Lowdown: National 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 National League.

Trending Up

Joey Ortiz, SS/3B, Milwaukee Brewers

Ortiz is known primarily for his glove, and that is likely always going to be the case. However, the infielder has been swinging a hot bat in the second half and, as a result, has seen his name penciled into the everyday lineup of late.

Through the first three months of this season, Ortiz was one of the worst hitters in baseball, slashing just .208/.286/.272 in 70 contests. In his final 14 starts of June, 10 of them came against left-handed pitching, as Ortiz was largely stuck on the short side of a platoon at that time while David Hamilton and Cooper Pratt handled the left side of the infield versus righties. Since July 1, Ortiz is hitting .305/.359/.525 with five home runs and four stolen bases in 39 tilts. He has started each of the last 12 contests for the Brew Crew and over his last five starts has hit seventh three times, sixth once and eighth once. Prior to that, Ortiz had not been placed that high in the lineup since April 7.

Agustin Ramirez, C, Miami Marlins

Unlike Ortiz, Ramirez is decidedly not known for his defense. However, he still has enough potential with the bat that the Marlins have given him lots of looks lately in the designated hitter slot.

Upon being recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on Aug. 4, Ramirez started only two of the Marlins' next seven contests. Over his club's last nine games, however, Ramirez has been in the lineup on seven occasions, and all of those starts came at DH. Though he has yet to go deep in 17 games this month, Ramirez has reached base at a .360 clip thanks in large part to a 16 percent walk rate. The return of Kyle Stowers from the injured list could complicate Ramirez's path to playing time, but the 24-year-old has enough offensive upside to be rostered in two-catcher leagues even without an ideal playing time outlook.

Pedro Ramirez, 2B/3B, Chicago Cubs

Ramirez's playing time since his promotion to the big leagues in late May has been sporadic overall. Of late, though, he's been slotted into the lineup on a regular basis following the injury to Dansby Swanson (oblique).qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq

Ramirez has started every game at second base since Swanson landed on the 10-day injured list, with Nico Hoerner shifting over to shortstop. The rookie infielder has been in the lineup for 10 consecutive contests and 12 of the last 13, and thus far in the second half he is sporting a healthy .317/.384/.465 batting line with two home runs and five stolen bases. There is not a clear path to at-bats for Ramirez when the Cubs' roster is fully healthy, but Swanson is not expected back until at least mid-September and Ramirez should continue to play regularly until that time.

Rafael Flores, C/1B, Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates have been searching for reliable offensive production from the catcher position for several years. Flores has been getting increased reps lately as the club looks to see if he can be that guy.

Flores has been in the Pittsburgh lineup for 10 of the last 12 contests, splitting his playing time between catcher (six starts) and first base (four starts). Prior to this span, the 25-year-old had never made back-to-back starts for the Pirates. During this stretch, Flores has slugged five home runs (which includes two two-homer contests) while sporting a 1.074 OPS. He batted ninth in the first of those starts, but the right-handed-hitting Flores has hit fifth in his team's last three games versus lefties. Flores has struck out in nearly one-third of his plate appearances in the majors, but when he makes contact he's hit the ball very hard, boasting a 44.7 percent hard-hit rate and 18.6 percent barrel rate in 2026. 

Quick Hits: Ildemaro Vargas has made eight straight starts since Ketel Marte (knee) went on the injured list and has hit leadoff in five of them versus lefties … Alek Thomas has made three consecutive starts in center field since Andy Pages (hand) went down … Owen Caissie hit second once and third once the last two times the Marlins have faced a righty … The Giants have used Drew Gilbert in the leadoff spot the last six times they've gone up against a right-hander … Turner Hill has netted six straight starts in lefty field versus righties … Blaze Jordan was in the Cardinals' lineup for 10 consecutive contests before a day off Tuesday … The Nationals have penciled Brady House into their lineup 12 times in the past 14 tilts.

Trending Down

Garrett Mitchell, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

It's partly due to the schedule and partly due to the emergence of Luis Lara, but Mitchell has been out of the lineup more often than he's been in it lately.

Mitchell has been in the Brewers' lineup for only six of the past 12 contests. All but one of those times he sat out came against a lefty, though the lefty-swinging Mitchell was also out of the lineup versus Mariners righty Logan Gilbert. While Mitchell hasn't exactly been an everyday player this season, he often started against lefties before Lara arrived on the scene, and he's actually been a tick better in terms of OPS versus southpaws (.781) than right-handers (.778) in 2026. The 27-year-old has slowed offensively thus far in the second half, posting a .667 OPS with one home run (compared to an .822 OPS and eight homers in the first half).

Xander Bogaerts, SS, San Diego Padres

Bogaerts was locked into the No. 5 spot in the Padres' lineup for most of the first two months of the season, and he's spent ample time in the Nos. 2-4 slot, as well. Lately, though, the veteran shortstop has mostly occupied the eight spot in the batting order.

Over his last 16 starts, Bogaerts has batted eighth 13 times and hit sixth on the other three occasions. The 33-year-old is sporting a career-high 12.4 percent walk rate in 2026 and his 40.9 percent hard-hit rate is his highest over the last five seasons. However, while the 11 home runs and 17 stolen bases have been fine for Bogaerts, the rate stats have been among the worst of his career. Bogaerts' best chance at moving back up in the batting order might be if the Padres move Jake Cronenworth down, though that would require multiple tweaks if manager Craig Stammen wants to keep a lefty in the two hole.

Lars Nootbaar, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

Nootbaar was the Diamondbacks' lone major acquisition at the trade deadline, but the former Cardinal has been used in a platoon role in his new digs.

The Diamondbacks have faced seven left-handers since the deadline, and Nootbaar's lone start in those games came against a lefty opener in Alec Gamboa (righty Brayan Bello was the bulk reliever that day). All but one of those lefties started within Arizona's last 11 games, and Nootbaar has started only five contests during that stretch (he was also out of the lineup once versus a righty). The setup isn't altogether surprising, as Nootbaar is sporting just a .473 OPS against southpaws this season, and Arizona's outfield and DH spot is relatively crowded and will be even more so when Lourdes Gurriel (adductor) comes back.

Cooper Pratt, SS, Milwaukee Brewers

Joey Ortiz was highlighted above in the Trending Up section. When one player trends up, it often comes at the expense of another trending down, and that's the case here with Pratt.

Pratt was shelved earlier this month with a strained hamstring, and since he's come off the injured list he's started four of six contests and only one of three tilts versus right-handed pitching. It was poor timing for the injury, as Pratt had already been starting to scuffle while Ortiz continued a hot stretch. Manager Pat Murphy is likely to continue playing the hot hand, and while Ortiz could wind up stealing more at-bats from David Hamilton if he keeps swinging a hot stick, Pratt has not done himself any favors in going 6-for-36 at the plate so far in August.

Quick Hits: Jim Jarvis had made only five starts over Atlanta's past 11 contests before being optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett … Dominic Smith has been included in the Atlanta lineup just four times across the team's last 12 games against right-handed pitching … After starting the first two games upon Oneil Cruz's (hand) return from the injured list, Jake Mangum has since been in the Pirates' lineup just three times in the last six contests. He's also hit either sixth or seventh in his last nine starts, and that was after his previous 27 starts came from the leadoff spot …