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
Hector Rodriguez, OF, 
Cincinnati Reds
When Reds manager Terry Francona decided to throw Rodriguez into the leadoff spot for the first time on Aug. 26 versus the Giants, he did so with the idea that it could help spark the rookie. Mission accomplished.
In his first 15 big-league games following his promotion, Rodriguez slashed just .182/.265/.295 with one home run. In 12 contests since then — the first of which that coincides with his move to the leadoff spot — he's hit .340/.377/.600 with four long balls. The rookie outfielder has slotted in at the top of the batting order each of the Reds' last seven times against righties. The left-handed-hitting Rodriguez has stayed in the lineup versus southpaw during that span but has batted eighth twice and ninth three times.
Connor Norby, 1B/2B/3B, 
Colorado Rockies
When it comes to the number of teams he's played on, Norby is hoping the third team's the charm. So are the Rockies.
Norby was shipped from the Marlins to the Rockies at the trade deadline and was recalled to the big club one week after that. He started seven of his team's first 11 contests, batting as high as fifth and as low as eighth during that
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
Hector Rodriguez, OF, Cincinnati Reds
When Reds manager Terry Francona decided to throw Rodriguez into the leadoff spot for the first time on Aug. 26 versus the Giants, he did so with the idea that it could help spark the rookie. Mission accomplished.
In his first 15 big-league games following his promotion, Rodriguez slashed just .182/.265/.295 with one home run. In 12 contests since then — the first of which that coincides with his move to the leadoff spot — he's hit .340/.377/.600 with four long balls. The rookie outfielder has slotted in at the top of the batting order each of the Reds' last seven times against righties. The left-handed-hitting Rodriguez has stayed in the lineup versus southpaw during that span but has batted eighth twice and ninth three times.
Connor Norby, 1B/2B/3B, Colorado Rockies
When it comes to the number of teams he's played on, Norby is hoping the third team's the charm. So are the Rockies.
Norby was shipped from the Marlins to the Rockies at the trade deadline and was recalled to the big club one week after that. He started seven of his team's first 11 contests, batting as high as fifth and as low as eighth during that span. Norby has been in the lineup for 13 of the past 15 tilts since then, batting second on four occasions and hitting between fifth and seventh in the other starts. The 26-year-old is sporting a healthy .266/.364/.405 batting line with two home runs and two stolen bases since landing in Colorado. After this week, the Rockies have 10 more games at Coors Field and just three more on the road.
Leo Bernal, C, 
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals have already had three players make more than 30 starts at catcher for them this season. Bernal will not reach that number before the curtains close on the regular season, but he's poised to see the lion's share of the work behind the dish the rest of the way.
Bernal was summoned from Triple-A Memphis when rosters expanded Sept. 1, and he's been in the lineup for all eight contests since then, making five starts at catcher, two at designated hitter and one at first base. He batted sixth in his major-league debut before making seven consecutive starts in the five spot. Bernal has held his own offensively early on in his big-league tenure, reaching base in every game thus far, driving in seven runs and sporting a ridiculous small sample hard-hit rate of 68 percent.
Sean Murphy, C, 
Atlanta Braves
Murphy has suffered through yet another injury-shortened season, but he's at least doing his best to have a strong finishing kick.
Murphy was reinstated to the active roster in early August after missing almost three months with a fractured finger. He was in the Atlanta lineup only seven times in his team's first 18 games upon his activation. Across the club's last 15 contests, however, Murphy has been included in the lineup on 10 occasions, and he's sporting an 1.047 OPS with three home runs, two doubles and a 6:11 BB:K. Nine out of Murphy's first 10 starts upon his return came from the No. 9 spot in the batting order, but in his last six starts he's hit sixth once, seventh four times and ninth once.
Quick Hits: Ha-Seong Kim has been in the Braves' lineup for eight of the past 12 tilts … Adael Amador has drawn six straight starts for the Rockies … Tommy Edman has hit between first and third in seven straight games … The Marlins have inserted Graham Pauley into the lineup each of the last five times they've faced a righty … Dustin Harris is getting a shot in left field for the Padres, starting there eight of the last nine times versus righties … Turner Hill has started 13 of the past 16 tilts, hitting leadoff in two of them … Jonah Cox has hit either leadoff or cleanup in his last 10 starts … Nolan Gorman has started 11 straight tilts against right-handers … The Cardinals have handed Thomas Saggese nine consecutive starts … Bryan Torres has hit leadoff in St. Louis' last seven contests against righties … The Reds have used Carlos Jorge in center field the last two times they've gone up against a righty.
Trending Down
Brice Turang, 2B, 
Milwaukee Brewers
Coming into September, Turang hadn't batted lower than third for the Brewers all season. However, a slump and an injury have conspired to push Turang down in the batting order of late.
In the Brewers' series in Cincinnati this past weekend, Turang batted sixth twice against right-handers and was out of the lineup versus a lefty. Dating back to the beginning of August, Turang has slashed .218/.322/.298 with one home run and a 28.3 percent strikeout rate. He missed four games around the middle of that month with a knee injury, and manager Pat Murphy has admitted the knee issue still affects Turang. He did move back to the two hole versus the last two lefties, which is interesting given that he's sporting a .566 OPS against southpaws this season, though that could be related to Jake Bauers sitting out because he's banged up.
Corbin Carroll, OF, 
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks are fighting for their playoff lives this month, and they're doing so while arguably their best player is battling through a slump.
Over his last 14 contests, Carroll has gone just 6-for-51 (.118) with a 30.4 percent strikeout rate. After hitting either leadoff or second in 40 straight games, Carroll was situated in the No. 5 spot for back-to-back tilts this past weekend. Previously, he hadn't batted lower than third all season. Carroll was then out of the lineup entirely Monday through Wednesday and is set to undergo imaging on his lower back. In 2025, the 26-year-old started trading some contact in order to hit the ball with more authority and pull it in the air more often. The quality of contact (48 percent hard-hit rate) and pull-air rate (21.7 percent) have been there again in 2026, but Carroll's power production has lagged year-over-year.
Ian Happ, OF, 
Chicago Cubs
The switch-hitting Happ has always been a better hitter from the left side of the plate. In 2026, however, he's been so bad from the right side that he appears destined to operate in a platoon role down the stretch.
Happ sat out two of the last three games with a knee issue, but there's a good chance he wouldn't have played Monday against a lefty, anyway. The 32-year-old is slashing only .151/.225/.278 with a 33.8 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitching this season. Prior to the knee injury, he had been out of the lineup for five straight contests versus southpaws, as the Cubs have been using the right-handed-hitting Tyrone Taylor in left field those days instead.
Dane Myers, OF, Cincinnati Reds
From mid-July up until late August, the Reds were using Myers essentially as an everyday player. Since then, however, he's been deployed more as the lefty masher he's better suited to be.
Myers started to get exposed once he found himself in the lineup on a regular basis, with his .655 OPS in August representing his lowest mark of any month thus far. Across the Reds' last 10 contests, Myers has been in the lineup only five times, and four of those have been versus lefties. With the Reds picking better spots to use Myers, he's reached base at a .455 clip so far in September. The 30-year-old outfielder is sporting a .295/.380/.486 batting line against left-handed hurlers this season, as compared to a .248/.341/.307 line versus righties.
Quick Hits: Max Kepler's playing time had been trending downward, and now he's off the Diamondbacks' roster altogether after being designated for assignment and then released … With Mauricio Dubon returning to the outfield more often as Ha-Seong Kim gets looks at shortstop, Mike Yastrzemski has been in Atlanta's lineup just four times in the team's last seven contests against righties … Zac Veen has started just three of the Rockies' past five tilts versus right-handed pitching, and the lefty swinger has yet to draw a start against a southpaw … Luis Lara has been in the Brewers' lineup five times in their last 10 games, and all of those starts came against lefties … Spencer Horwitz was the Pirates' leadoff man versus righties for a while, but with Konnor Griffin retaking that role, Horwitz batted seventh once and sixth once against right-handers in his last two starts … The Cardinals swapped out Jimmy Crooks for Leo Bernal, sending the former back to Triple-A Memphis.
