Fantasy Baseball AL Lineup Analysis

American League Lineup analysis is back for the 2025 season. In conjunction with the National League lineup piece, this article will be released biweekly to help keep fantasy baseball managers up to date with the latest news and notes from American League lineups. The five hottest hitters to start the season have been: Aaron Judge, Tyler Soderstrom, George Springer, Logan O’Hoppe, and Wilyer Abreu. Keep reading to stay up to date with the latest from all 15 AL lineups.

Please note that this article was written the day before publication. I will do my best to update the article with any relevant information from the previous night’s games.

Fantasy Baseball Lineup Takeaways

AL East

New York Yankees

• Ben Rice has been leading off
  • The initial plan seemed to be that Austin Wells would handle leadoff duties, but that did not last long
  • Wells has been batting sixth or seventh in the lineup with Ben Rice moving up to the top
  • Rice is even remaining second in the lineup against lefties and is off to a strong start to the year with three homers and two stolen bases already
  • There remain questions over whether or not he will maintain his starting role when Giancarlo Stanton returns, but at this point it is tough to imagine New York taking him out of the lineup
• Cody Bellinger has been in and out of the lineup lately
  • Bellinger was first dealing with a minor injury before getting food poisoning from some hotel wings
  • He returned to the lineup on Wednesday and continues to bat third
  • Bellinger has gotten off to a slow start with the Yankees, but is still hitting the ball hard and getting it in the air regularly. He should see some better fortune in the BABIP department as the season moves along
• DJ LeMahieu is nearing a rehab assignment
  • The third base situation is currently a timeshare between Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza
  • Cabrera is currently batting over .300, but there is nothing in his profile that suggests that this success is sustainable (remember he got off to a fast start last season as well)
  • LeMahieu figures to come back and take all of the at-bats against lefties and a handful of starts against righties

Boston Red Sox

• Connor Wong was placed on the IL with a hand injury
  • A fractured pinky will keep Wong sidelined for a few weeks. He was serving as the team’s primary catcher prior to the injury
  • In Wong’s absence, Carlos Narvaez appears likely to get the majority of starts behind the plate
  • Narvaez has never shown much offensive upside and is not worth adding outside of deep AL-only leagues. Blake Sabol was also recalled from Triple-A and figures to get an occasional start
• Wilyer Abreu has been excellent to start the season
  • Abreu has been batting sixth in the lineup against righties and is unfortunately still sitting against lefties
  • He has three homers and a steal so far. The most noticeable difference has been the improvements Abreu is showing in his chase and whiff rates. Abreu has all the looks of a breakout star
  • Rob Refsnyder continues to take at-bats away from Abreu against lefties, but this should start to change if Abreu’s success continues
• Triston Casas is struggling and sitting against lefties
  • Against righties, Casas has been batting fourth in the lineup, but the team’s propensity to platoon him remains a concern moving forward
  • Casas has just one home run and a batting average below .200 on the season
  • Making consistent contact has always been the biggest issue in Casas’ profile, and that has not seemed to get any better. The season is still too young to panic, but fantasy managers may need to adjust expectations of Casas’ future production

Tampa Bay Rays

• Jonny DeLuca is on the IL with a shoulder injury
  • DeLuca was getting a chance to start in center field this year, but landed on the IL after just nine games
  • Prior to getting injured, DeLuca had already stolen four bases and was hitting for excellent batting average. He is a sneaky stash in deep leagues
  • With DeLuca out, Kameron Misner has taken over in center field and has been batting sixth in the lineup
• Curtis Mead still is not getting regular playing time
  • A strong Spring Training earned Mead a spot on the Rays’ Opening Day Roster, but he has not gotten many at-bats
  • He is currently stuck on the short side of a platoon with Jonathan Arand,a who is playing well to start the season
  • Mead appears reliant on an injury to get regular playing time and is not worth holding onto
• Jake Mangum has been the surprise starter for Tampa this year
  • Mangum has been playing right field for the Rays every day and batting eighth in the lineup
  • Mangum’s speed has resulted in some fantasy hype early on this season, and he is up to five stolen bases already
  • While the early-season success has been fun to watch, this is not a breakout fantasy baseball managers should be buying. Mangum chases far too frequently, leading to plenty of weak contact. He has never shown an ability to hit for consistent power, and as his batting average comes down, he is likely to lose playing time

Toronto Blue Jays

• Alan Roden is getting a chance
  • Roden was excellent during Spring Training and earned a starting spot on the Blue Jays’ Opening Day Roster
  • Roden has been playing right field and batting ninth. He has occasionally been sitting against lefties in favor of Myles Straw or Davis Schneider
  • The early numbers have been underwhelming but he is making contact at a high rate. The batted ball data leaves plenty to be desired, and a high ground ball rate is discouraging for his 2025 power projection
• Alejandro Kirk could be starting to lose playing time
  • Kirk entered the 2025 season in line to see more of a true primary catcher’s workload than in previous seasons, but is off to a slow start offensively
  • Despite an average exit velocity of over 90 mph, Kirk is batting just .250 and remains without a home run. Both Kirk’s chase and whiff rates have taken a major step back early on this season
  • With Kirk struggling, Tyler Heineman has been seeing some additional at-bats. Heineman is not a threat to usurp Kirk as the team’s starting catcher, but any loss of playing time would dissolve Kirk’s fantasy value

Baltimore Orioles

• Heston Kjerstad is playing every day
  • With Colton Cowser on the IL, Kjerstad is getting a chance to prove what he is capable of
  • He has been batting seventh in the lineup most games and is currently chasing too much to put together any reliable production
  • He has plenty of talent, but seems to be pressing at the plate. He is not worth adding at this point
• Jackson Holliday is batting ninth in the lineup
  • Holliday is getting another chance to play every day at second base, batting at the bottom of Baltimore’s lineup
  • The biggest issue right now is that he continues to hit too many ground balls. Yes, Holliday is striking out a lot, but his plate discipline and contact skills look sharp early on
  • The biggest key to unlocking his success is going to be getting more balls in the air to tap into his raw power more consistently
• Gunnar Henderson is working to shake off the rust.
  • Henderson returned to the Orioles’ lineup quickly after starting the season on the IL
  • He has been batting leadoff, but the numbers have not returned to the levels fantasy managers are used to seeing
  • Henderson still already has two stolen bases in six games and is hitting the ball extremely hard. His plate discipline should settle back in, and fantasy managers should not press any panic buttons

AL West

Houston Astros

• Cam Smith made the Opening Day Roster and is playing every day
  • Smith, the prized return for Kyle Tucker, is batting at the bottom of Houston’s lineup and playing right field
  • Smith’s strong spring has not carried over into the regular season. So far, he has looked overmatched at the plate. Right now, Smith is whiffing 43.6% of the time, seeming especially susceptible to breaking balls
  • The Astros are going to give Smith a chance to succeed and work through these growing pains, but if progress is not made soon, he could be sent back to Triple-A for more development
• Jose Altuve is having no trouble at the plate with the move to left field
  • Altuve is playing outfield for the first time in his career, but that has not impacted his performance at the plate
  • He continues to bat leadoff for the Astros and has three homers and three stolen bases already
  • The one warning sign is that Altuve has also been caught stealing twice already. He may start to run less if he is not finding the same success he is used to. Besides that, fantasy managers should enjoy the multiposition eligibility
• Yainer Diaz has slid down to seventh in the lineup
  • Fantasy baseball managers had high expectations for Diaz entering 2025 but that has not worked out so far
  • Diaz is struggling offensively, with all of his numbers taking a step back
  • While it is early, this situation concerns me. Diaz has always struggled laying off pitches out of the zone and this year, pitchers are throwing him more off-speed pitches
  • He is not at risk of losing playing time, but this is a situation to monitor

Los Angeles Angels

• Kyren Paris is the talk of the fantasy community
  • Like many Angels’ prospects, Paris was pushed aggressively through the Minor Leagues and fell flat on his face in his first taste of Major League action. He is back now and playing at an elite level
  • An injury to Yoan Moncada has opened up a starting role for Paris, who has been batting seventh in the lineup
  • Paris combines power and speed to form an enticing fantasy profile. A high strikeout rate has been his kryptonite at every level of his professional career, and that appears to still be an issue. Early on, he is whiffing nearly 40% of the time. The power and speed are great, but fantasy managers should temper expectations for Paris in 2025
• Logan O’Hoppe is off to a fast start
  • The Angels signing of Travis d’Arnaud cast some doubt into the team’s willingness to use O’Hoppe as an everyday catcher
  • That concern has been put to rest quickly. O’Hoppe is playing every da,y batting fifth in the Angels’ lineup
  • O’Hoppe is already up to five homers with a batting average well over .300. The batting average is going to come down, and O’Hoppe is still displaying suspect plate discipline, but his power is legit, and he has a chance to be a 25-homer catcher this season

Texas Rangers

• Josh Jung is back from the IL
  • Jung was dealing with neck spasms but returned to the Rangers’ lineup on Tuesday
  • He has been batting in the back half of the lineup against righties but moving up in the lineup against lefties with Joc Pederson heading to the bench
  • Injuries have been a consistent theme up to this point in Jung’s career, but if he can stay healthy, he should be a reliable source of production for fantasy baseball managers
• Wyatt Langford is on the IL with an oblique injury
  • The Rangers are reporting that this injury is not serious, but oblique injuries are always scary and have the potential to linger
  • With Langford sidelined, the combination of Kevin Pillar and Josh Smith projects to fill in
  • Smith has been used in a super-utility role to start the season. He is producing offensively both for the Rangers and for fantasy managers. His three stolen bases already come as a bit of a surprise, and hopefully project more good things to come this season for Smith
• Jonah Heim is DHing some to stay in the lineup
  • The Rangers signed Kyle Higashioka this past offseason, and he is mixing into the fold at catcher against lefties
  • While Heim takes a seat for some games, the Rangers have been using him at DH against lefties to keep his bat in the lineup
  • Heim has been batting eighth in most games for Texas. He is up to three homers already and should be rostered in all 12+ team leagues

Athletics

• Tyler Soderstrom – that is all
  • Soderstrom was featured in nearly every one of my articles this off-season for Fantrax. Man does that call look good
  • Soderstrom is batting third in the A’s lineup and has been one of the best hitters in baseball so far
  • The power is there, and the plate discipline and contact improvements from the end of last season have stuck. This is a true breakout and a player to buy now, even with an increased price
• Jacob Wilson is certainly worth discussing
  • Wilson is playing every day and batting seventh in the A’s lineup
  • The shortstop known for his elite contact skills is putting up incredible numbers to start the season
  • Although fantasy managers should still be skeptical of his power output, the ability to play home games in a Triple-A ballpark is paying huge dividends. Wilson could hit 10-15 homers in that ballpark while providing fantasy managers with an elite batting average
• Max Muncy is playing second base every day
  • No, not that Max Muncy, but the new Max Muncy that the A’s drafted in the first round back in 2021
  • Muncy has been batting ninth in the lineup to start the season and is not off to a fast start
  • Muncy looks overmatched at the dish with his plate discipline and contact skills struggling. He is not a player worth adding and could start to see his playing time decrease if his struggles continue

Seattle Mariners

• Ryan Bliss suffered a torn tricep
  • Bliss was serving as Seattle’s primary second baseman but will now miss an extended period of time
  • With Bliss out, Miles Mastrobuoni seems most likely to get a majority of the playing time at second base. Donovan Solano will also likely mix in there. Neither option has much fantasy appeal
  • The player to watch is Cole Young in Triple-A. Young is off to a strong start and should earn a Major League promotion at some point in the near future. His exclusion from the current 40-man roster is a significant roadblock to his promotion
• Rowdy Tellez is playing on the strong side of a platoon
  • Tellez has landed in Seattle after a rough season in Pittsburgh
  • He is batting sixth or seventh in the lineup most nights, but is struggling to get much of anything going offensively
  • He is unlikely to maintain a starting spot and is not worth rostering in fantasy
• Jorge Polanco has moved up to second in the lineup
  • As Seattle’s lineup has thinned out, Polanco has been playing well rotating between DH and third base
  • He is already up to two homers on the season and looks healthy again
  • While his batting average is bound to come down, Polanco has years of fantasy-relevance in the past and could be a strong asset for the 2025 season

AL Central

Detroit Tigers

• Who is not hurt on the Tigers
  • Gleyber Torres is dealing with a strained oblique that landed him on the IL
  • With Torres out of the lineup, Colt Keith has shifted to second base, Spencer Torkelson to first base, and Justyn-Henry Malloy has entered the lineup at DH
  • Malloy has been batting leadoff since joining the team and is posting impressive on-base numbers thanks to an elite walk rate. The rest of Malloy’s production is underwhelming but he is a useful add if you are looking for consistent at-bats
• Dillon Dingler is catching every day
  • Jake Rogers is also on the IL, leaving Dingler with little competition for the starting catcher role
  • Dingler is batting seventh in the lineup against righties and fifth against lefties
  • His strikeout rate is concerning, but he has two homers and an average of over .300. His chase rate is below-average, but his contact rates are excellent, and he should see his strikeout rate drop below 30% as the season moves along. He is a strong add in 14+ team leagues
• Javier Baez is seeing more playing time
  • Baez started the season on the short side of a platoon with Trey Sweeney, but is seeing more playing time with Manuel Margot’s injury
  • Margot’s injury has opened up more playing time for Zach McKinstry in the outfield, which has allowed Baez more time at third base
  • He is batting ninth in the lineup but is batting over .300. His underlying metrics do not paint a picture of a player who has made much of any adjustments. He is not worth adding outside of very deep formats

Kansas City Royals

• Salvador Perez is catching most days
  • There was some thought that the Royals would take it easy on their almost 35-year-old backstop this season and get him to DH more, but Perez is getting the majority of his starts at catcher
  • This is keeping Freddy Fermin out of the lineup, and he is not worth rostering in any fantasy format
  • The team is instead deploying Jonathan India as the primary DH. India is batting leadoff for his new team
• MJ Melendez may be starting to lose playing time
  • Melendez has already been taking a seat against lefties, but his ongoing struggles offensively could push him to the bench against righties as well
  • Melendez is batting below .100 on the season after failing to reach a 100 wRC+ in each of his first three professional seasons
  • If the Royals grow impatient with Melendez, they could give more playing time to Cavan Biggio or recently recalled Drew Waters
• Maikel Garcia is generating plenty of attention in the fantasy community
  • Garcia has been serving as the team’s primary third baseman this season and batting eighth in the lineup
  • He is up to two homers and a stolen base this season and is hitting the ball extremely hard
  • The issue is that we saw the same thing from Garcia last season. A hot start got him the attention, but his ground ball issues prevented him from ever putting up respectable power numbers. Garcia’s speed is enough to keep him in fantasy-relevance regardless

Chicago White Sox

• Chase Meidroth was recalled from Triple-A
  • Meidroth is the first of many prospects this season to be called up to Chicago
  • He has experience playing all over the infield, but has played second base and shortstop exclusively this season in Triple-A. The most likely outcome is Meidroth plays a little bit of both positions but focuses on shortstop, getting Jacob Amaya out of the lineup
  • Meidroth has a great hit tool and an excellent eye, but his power production is suspect. He also does not run often. His fantasy value is highest in OBP leagues, but outside of that, his ceiling is capped
• Andrew Benintendi is on the IL after a fast start to the season
  • Benintendi was playing every day and was already up to two home runs on the year
  • With both Benintendi and Mike Tauchman on the IL, Austin Slater appears in line to play every day in the outfield
  • He is not worth picking up and will likely split time with Joshua Palacios and Michael A. Taylor
• Matt Thaiss is playing as the everyday catcher
  • Thaiss beat out Omar Narvaez for the starting spot and is batting in the middle of the White Sox lineup
  • The only fantasy relevance to this is seeing how long Thaiss can hang onto the job
  • Both Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero are considered top-100 prospects and are currently in Triple-A. Thaiss is not doing much outside of walking a lot and should not be expected to hang onto the starting job for much longer

Minnesota Twins

• Edouard Julien is getting another chance
  • With both Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis on the IL, Julien is getting another chance on the strong side of a platoon
  • Julien has never lived up to the hype he had as a prospect, proving incapable of limiting his strikeout rate
  • This issue has not seemed to go away early on this season,n and Julien is not worth rostering in fantasy
• Byron Buxton is dealing with a personal matter
  • Buxton has been absent from the lineup since Wednesday, but this has nothing to do with an injury or his struggles
  • He should return to the lineup soon and jump back into the top of the order
  • Buxton is healthy this season but has gotten off to a slow start with just one homer and an average below .200. The days of Buxton being a fantasy star are in the past

Cleveland Guardians

• Nothing seems to have changed for Nolan Jones
  • Jones was acquired by the Guardians just before the start of the season
  • Jones is getting a chance to play on the strong side of the platoon, batting sixth in the lineup
  • Unfortunately for fantasy managers, Jones is still striking out way too much and has zero home runs. He is not worth rostering and is a prime candidate to lose his starting role
• The Guardians are not platooning Kyle Manzardo
  • The fear with Manzardo has always been him staying in the lineup against lefties. So far, he is
  • Manzardo is batting fourth in most games and slides down to fifth against lefties
  • He is already up to four home runs and is showing off all of the skills that made him a top prospect just a couple of seasons ago. He should be a reliable fantasy asset for the 2025 season