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

– The Braves re-acquired former World Series MVP Jorge Soler in a deadline deal. He'll bat leadoff, which is where he sometimes hit during that playoff run and also where he'd thrived of late with the Giants, recording a .911 OPS over his last 24 games. That pushes Jarred Kelenic down the batting order, and on Wednesday he was all the way down in the eight spot. Kelenic initially did well after being moved to the top of Atlanta's batting order, but he had a .428 OPS and 31.3 percent strikeout rate in July before homering Tuesday.

– Atlanta lost Ozzie Albies to a fractured wrist last week and is expected to be without their second baseman until September. It was Nacho Alvarez filling in at second base in seven of eight games, and Alvarez started at third base in that other contest. Unfortunately, the 21-year-old has looked overmatched at the plate, going 3-for-30 with 10 strikeouts, and he's been sent down. A finger injury had limited Whit Merrifield to one pinch-running appearance since signing with the Braves after the Albies injury, but he returned to the lineup at second base Wednesday and should be the everyday guy there for now.

Miami Marlins

– The Marlins' lineup looks quite different since the last time I wrote about them in this space. Out are Jazz Chisholm, Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz. In are Connor Norby, Kyle Stowers and David Hensley. Unfortunately, Norby was immediately optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in a move that was no doubt service-time related. Stowers, on the other hand, was at Triple-A Norfolk when the trade with the Orioles was consummated but has been recalled and batted third in his Marlins debut Wednesday. Hensley, a waiver claim, could play a good amount given his defensive versatility and Miami's lack of other options.

– With Bell now in Arizona, the plan seems to be to shift Jake Burger over to first base full time, where he's a better fit defensively. Emmanuel Rivera, Jonah Bride and Hensley should see action at the hot corner, with Bride and Rivera receiving the first two shots there. Otto Lopez will also become an option at third base when/if Norby is brought back to take over at second.

New York Mets

– The Mets made an inter-division trade in acquiring Jesse Winker from the Nationals. Winker is the new right fielder against right-handed pitching and he's batted fifth in each of his two starts with his new club. With Winker now in right, Jeff McNeil will go back to seeing most of his action at second base. That's bad news for Jose Iglesias, who has been out of the lineup for two of the last three games. Iglesias had started 10 of the previous 11 tilts and has provided a surprising amount of offense, although he came into action Wednesday having slowed a bit with a 2-for-18 stretch.

– The Mets will have some decisions to make upon the return of Starling Marte (knee), who is close to a rehab assignment. Marte was having a solid bounceback season before getting hurt and should be the guy in right field, although perhaps with some extra off days mixed in to keep him healthy. Against righties, the Mets might use Winker in left field and Brandon Nimmo in center some days, with Harrison Bader on the bench.

Philadelphia Phillies

– The Phillies swung a deal for Austin Hays and have handed him five straight starts in left field. Hays has batted ninth in the three games versus right-handers and has hit sixth once and second once against two lefties. With Hays taking over as the regular left fielder, Brandon Marsh will now see most of the action in center field. Johan Rojas should still receive plenty of starts in center against left-handed pitching, although his start there Wednesday was his first since the Hays trade, with Marsh handling center in their other game versus a southpaw.

– Bryson Stott has been out of the lineup each of the last five times the Phillies have faced a left-handed starter who wasn't an opener. He's also been down in the eighth spot for four straight starts. The left-handed hitting Stott actually has better career numbers against lefties (.711 OPS to .697 OPS) and has been only marginally better versus righties (.696 OPS) than lefties (.630 OPS) in 2024. Unfortunately, he's simply been bad no matter what hand the pitcher throws with.

Washington Nationals

– In addition to trading the aforementioned Jesse Winker, the Nationals thinned out their offense further by dealing Lane Thomas. Alex Call drew starts in right field in the first two games post-Thomas and started in center field the third game. Meanwhile, Juan Yepez has slid up from cleanup to the two hole in Thomas' old slot. There could now be a lane in right field for Joey Gallo (hamstring) to get regular starts when he returns, but it's unclear when that might happen.

– Gallo might also be an option at DH, where Winker had been seeing most of his playing time since James Wood was called up. For now, it's been Harold Ramirez at DH for four straight starts, with three of them coming against right-handers. Ramirez has batted cleanup the last two games and third in the game before that.

Chicago Cubs

– Given how much they had been using him at DH of late, it had become clear that the Cubs no longer had any trust that Christopher Morel could handle third base. Then they shipped him to the Rays at the trade deadline, with Isaac Paredes coming back. Paredes isn't exactly a defensive wizard himself at the hot corner, but he's about average, and that's a quantum leap over Morel. Paredes batted fifth against a righty in his first game with the Cubs and then hit second in the next tilt versus a southpaw.

– Paredes' first game was also Cody Bellinger's first contest back from the injured list. It meant a shakeup to the lineup, with Nico Hoerner the biggest loser, as he's been demoted from leadoff to sixth. Ian Happ has moved to the top of the batting order, with Bellinger sliding into Happ's old cleanup spot.

Cincinnati Reds

– TJ Friedl is back from the IL but not back in the leadoff spot. That responsibility has remained with Jonathan India, who has cooled off with a .175 average across his last 12 games heading into play Wednesday. Friedl has bounced around a bit, hitting cleanup three times and second once against right-handers and batting sixth the one time the Reds have faced a lefty.

– The Reds made a trade for Ty France but did not have him in the lineup in either of his first two games, and they faced one righty and one lefty. Instead, it's been Jeimer Candelario and Spencer Steer playing first base one time each. The Reds are paying France $1 million over the final two months, so you'd have to think he'd get some chances, but clearly it hasn't been a priority yet for manager David Bell.

Milwaukee Brewers

– Christian Yelich's chronic back injury flared up again recently, sending him to the IL. While surgery will be delayed until the offseason, it's uncertain when he might be ready to return to the active roster. Yelich had been seeing the bulk of his action at DH before going down and since then the Brewers have used Rhys Hoskins three times, William Contreras twice and Gary Sanchez and Eric Haase once apiece in the DH slot. Up in the third spot in the batting order in Yelich's old slot has been Jake Bauers (twice), Sal Frelick (once) and Jackson Chourio (once) versus righties and Hoskins (once), Contreras (once) and Sanchez (once) against lefties.

– Jackson Chourio has batted leadoff seven of the last eight times the Brewers have faced a left-hander. He's been inching his way up against righties, too, batting no lower than fifth in his last four starts against them. It's been an up-and-down season for the 20-year-old, as one might expect, but he's been on an upswing since the start of June with a .313/.362/.520 batting line coming into Wednesday's action.

Pittsburgh Pirates

– Jared Triolo has made four straight starts at second base after Nick Gonzales (groin) landed on the IL. However, the Pirates swung a deal for Isiah Kiner-Falefa (knee) at the trade deadline, who should be in line to see the bulk of the starts at the keystone during Gonzales' absence, which is expected to last a while. Kiner-Falefa should be activated from the IL any day now.

– Another bat added to the mix in Pittsburgh was Bryan De La Cruz. Bryan Reynolds has held down left field, but the Pirates have filtered through numerous outfielders in the other two spots. De La Cruz is in line for everyday duties in right field and hit cleanup in the first game with his new club Wednesday. In center, the team sent Jack Suwinski back down and are rolling with Ji Hwan Bae (knee) and Michael Taylor. Bae, though, is banged up, while Taylor homered in back-to-back contests this week in Houston.

St. Louis Cardinals

– The Cardinals picked up Tommy Pham from the White Sox as part of the Erick Fedde trade and plan to use him regularly in the outfield against left-handed pitching. Who sits when Pham plays could be a bit of a revolving door. On Wednesday, with Pham making his first start, Lars Nootbaar and Nolan Gorman were both out of the lineup, as the Cards went with Alec Burleson, Michael Siani and Pham in the outfield and Brendan Donovan at second base.

– Speaking of Gorman, he's been absent from the lineup five times over the last seven tilts. Four of those have been versus lefties, but Gorman was also on the bench once against a right-hander. Gorman has a .634 OPS and a hideous 40.4 percent strikeout rate since the beginning of June. Five of Donovan's last six starts have been at second base. Prior to that, he had made just nine starts at the keystone all season. With Pham now in the mix and Gorman struggling, Donovan could continue to see most of his reps at second base.

Arizona Diamondbacks

– The Diamondbacks lost Christian Walker to an oblique strain Monday and he went on the IL a day later. If there's a silver lining, it's that it happened a day before the trade deadline and not the day after, which allowed the club to pick up the red-hot Josh Bell from the Marlins for cash. Bell won't report to the club until this weekend in Pittsburgh but will be the everyday first baseman while Walker is out. Walker's strain is mild, so the hope is the absence won't be long.

– Sliding into the cleanup spot in Walker's place has been Eugenio Suarez, who promptly slugged three home runs in his first game there and added a couple more hits in the second contest. Suarez, who had been batting sixth or (mostly) seventh lately, finished July with 10 home runs.

Colorado Rockies

– Sam Hilliard has basically become a regular against right-handed pitching, starting nine of the last 11 games against righties while also drawing additional starts against one lefty and one lefty opener during that span. He's almost exclusively batted ninth when in the lineup but does have three homers and three stolen bases in his first 56 plate appearances. Nolan Jones (back) has begun a rehab assignment, so Hilliard's playing is about to be cut.

– Kris Bryant has made four starts in right field and two starts at DH since coming off the IL. He's batted either fourth or fifth in all of those contests. Heading into action Wednesday, Bryant had struck out nine times in 22 plate appearances since being activated.

Los Angeles Dodgers

– Gavin Lux apparently worked on his swing with his uncle — who is a former minor-league player and current college coach — over the All-Star break and the two of them apparently figured something out. Lux came into action Wednesday having gone 14-for-32 with three home runs, four doubles, nine RBI and a stolen base in 11 games since the break. With Freddie Freeman away from the club dealing with a personal issue, the red-hot Lux has hit third for the Dodgers in four straight contests.

– The Dodgers acquired Tommy Edman (wrist/ankle), Kevin Kiermaier and old friend Amed Rosario at the trade deadline. Edman figured to play the most of the trio once he's healthy, but he's still working his way back from wrist surgery and an ankle sprain. Edman, of course, has the ability to play all over the diamond, but the most immediate need for him is probably at third base while Max Muncy (oblique) continues to be sidelined.

San Diego Padres

– President of baseball operations A.J. Preller was aggressive as usual at the trade deadline, but all of his additions were on the pitching side (this doesn't include the trade for Luis Arraez back in May, of course). Arraez is the Padres' primary DH now since Xander Bogaerts came back, although manager Mike Shildt has used the spot to give other players semi-days off, with Arraez handling first base on those occasions.

– Kyle Higashioka has supplanted Luis Campusano as the Padres' top option at catcher. Since the latter returned from the IL in early July, the former has started 12 of 19 games. Metrics rate Campusano among the worst defensive catchers in baseball, and he's regressed majorly on offensive after a promising showing last year in a small sample. Meanwhile, Higashioka continues to be a plus framer and has put together a career-best year at the plate.

San Francisco Giants

– The Giants traded Jorge Soler just as he had taken off offensively, essentially replacing him with Mark Canha in a separate deal. Canha won't report to the team until this weekend in Cincinnati. He figures to play first base against left-handed pitching while Wilmer Flores (knee) is out and could see regular reps at DH versus right-handers.

– Getting the start at DH in each of the last two games has been Marco Luciano, who was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento this week. Luciano no longer appears to be a real option at shortstop, both because of his defensive shortcomings there and also Tyler Fitzgerald's emergence. Six of his last eight starts in the field at Sacramento came at second base, and he could be used there on days Canha is the designated hitter.