Interleague Impact (2016): June 27 – July 3: Carlos Santana, Alex Rodriguez, Matt Joyce (Sleeper) & More

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

We all know that interleague play can cause some changes for our lineup construction.  Which NL teams are going to benefit from adding a DH for a few games?  Which AL teams are going to lose their DH, which may lead to fantasy owners needing to sit that player down?  Let’s take a look (all stats are through Friday unless otherwise noted):

Cleveland at Atlanta (3 games)
While Carlos Santana is the Indians’ primary DH, he’s capable of playing the field and isn’t going to be on the bench for these three games.  He’s played 22 games at first base this season (132 games there last year), and that’s most likely where he’ll find his playing time in this series.  Those starts would come at the expense of Mike Napoli, and it’s likely that Santana starts at least 2 of the games.  With a 7-game week, the other four games come in Toronto, Santana remains a must use option for the coming week.  As for Napoli, it all depends on your alternatives but in most formats he’s a borderline play.

Toronto at Colorado (3 games)
With Jose Bautista on the DL, the situation of losing their DH isn’t a big loss as the team has recently been using the spot for a variety of different players.  Edwin Encarnacion will play at 1B, Josh Donaldson at 3B and Devon Travis at 2B (the three players who have seen time in the spot in recent days).  It’s Justin Smoak who will lose his AB, but that’s certainly not the biggest loss.

Oakland at San Francisco (2 games)
San Francisco at Oakland (2 games)

Oakland A’s
Billy Butler could be considered team’s primary DH, though he doesn’t necessarily play every day with Kris Davis getting time there as well.  Butler could draw a start at 1B in one of the two games in San Francisco, but that’s hardly a guarantee.  As it is if you are utilizing him you are already scraping the bottom of the barrel (.257 with 2 HR over 47 games entering Friday) and it shouldn’t move the needle from a fantasy perspective.  Davis should draw a pair of starts in the outfield, so there’s no reason to consider sitting him.

San Francisco Giants
The team will use at least one of these two games to keep Buster Posey’s bat in the lineup while not having to endure the rigors of catching.  It’s not like you are going to sit him anyways, but it’s obviously good news for fantasy owners.

Kansas City at St. Louis (2 games)
Kansas City at Philadelphia (3 games)

We’ll lump the two Royals’ road series together, as it obviously has the same impact.  When the team recently played in New York Kendrys Morales found himself on the bench for both games.  Maybe he draws a start at 1B since it would be five straight games of being utilized as a pinch hitter only, but it’s not like he’s hitting enough to justify the move.  With just two guaranteed starts there is no way to trust using him for the coming week.

St. Louis at Kansas City (2 games)
If we had to guess Matt Holliday would be utilized as the DH in at least one of the games, and potentially both, as it would allow the team to use Kolten Wong, Stephen Piscotty, Brandon Moss and Matt Adams all in the lineup.  The biggest benefactor could be Adams (though with a left-handed pitcher scheduled he may only play in one of the games anyways).  At the end of the day the value of the Cardinals’ players are hardly impacted by these two games as there is a lot of moving parts to their lineup.
Miami at Detroit (2 games)
Two games with a DH means that Ichiro Suzuki is guaranteed to be in the lineup.  Obviously once they get out of Detroit he’s no guarantee to play, so he’s not a player to be trusting.
New York Yankees at San Diego (3 games)
This is an easy one, as Alex Rodriguez is the Yankees “main” DH and has not yet played a game in the field in 2016.  It’s easy to imagine that trend continuing, which means that Rodriguez is going to be limited to DH duties for these 3 games.  It is a 7-game week for New York, but are four potential starts really enough to justify utilizing him as your utility option?  Outside of deeper formats he’ll be a sit for the coming week.

Baltimore at San Diego (2 games)
Pedro Alvarez and Mark Trumbo both see starts as DH, but Trumbo could just as easily play the outfield (which is something we’d expect him to do for these two games).  It’s harder for Alvarez, with Manny Machado at 3B and Chris Davis at 1B.  It’s highly unlikely either of them take a seat, meaning Alvarez will find himself utilized as a pinch hitter.  With a left-hander on the schedule later in the week we are talking about maybe three starts for a hitter who hasn’t produced all that much as it is.  He’s a non-factor for the coming week.

Pittsburgh at Seattle (2 games)
Pittsburgh at Oakland (3 games)
The Pirates get five games with a designated hitter, and that could mean sneaky value for Matt Joyce with five right-handed starters on the schedule.  He entered Saturday with a .298/.422/.631 slash against RHP this season and could potentially draw starts in all five of these games.  While it’s hard to depend on him in most formats, in deeper leagues (and specifically NL-Only formats), there’s enough potential to roll the dice.

Sources – Fangraphs, CBS Sports

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