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
Esmerlyn Valdez, OF, 
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates hardly played Valdez initially upon his promotion from Triple-A Indianapolis in mid-June. Of late, he's left them with little choice but to stick him in the lineup every day.
Valdez has been on an absurd power binge, slugging seven home runs over his last eight contests. He also had a stretch in late June during which he homered in four consecutive games, and he's totaled 13 long balls across his first 32 major-league tilts. As a result, Valdez has occupied the cleanup spot for the Pirates in each of the team's last 15 games, and he's started 20 of the past 21 contests. Prior to that, he was in the lineup only three times during a 12-game span. Valdez is striking out at a 37.7 percent clip, but he's hitting the ball with such authority (55.6 percent hard-hit rate, 28.6 percent barrel rate, 93.1 mph average exit velocity) that he's been able to outrun his contact issues. That said, a 65.9 zone contact rate is untenable (Nick Kurtz has the lowest rate among qualifiers at 72.4 percent), leaving Valdez as a sell-high candidate. He's obviously not losing playing time anytime soon, but if Valdez is slumping when
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
Esmerlyn Valdez, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates hardly played Valdez initially upon his promotion from Triple-A Indianapolis in mid-June. Of late, he's left them with little choice but to stick him in the lineup every day.
Valdez has been on an absurd power binge, slugging seven home runs over his last eight contests. He also had a stretch in late June during which he homered in four consecutive games, and he's totaled 13 long balls across his first 32 major-league tilts. As a result, Valdez has occupied the cleanup spot for the Pirates in each of the team's last 15 games, and he's started 20 of the past 21 contests. Prior to that, he was in the lineup only three times during a 12-game span. Valdez is striking out at a 37.7 percent clip, but he's hitting the ball with such authority (55.6 percent hard-hit rate, 28.6 percent barrel rate, 93.1 mph average exit velocity) that he's been able to outrun his contact issues. That said, a 65.9 zone contact rate is untenable (Nick Kurtz has the lowest rate among qualifiers at 72.4 percent), leaving Valdez as a sell-high candidate. He's obviously not losing playing time anytime soon, but if Valdez is slumping when Oneil Cruz (hand) and Spencer Horwitz (hamstring) return, he could be in trouble.
A.J. Ewing, OF, 
New York Mets
It had seemed inevitable that Ewing would eventually find his way into the Mets' leadoff spot, and the club did indeed flip that switch earlier this month.
Ewing broke into the big leagues in the No. 8 spot in mid-May and bounced around mainly from the fifth to eighth slots until July 3, when he made his first start at leadoff. The left-handed-hitting Ewing has remained atop the batting order each of the last 10 times the Mets have faced a right-hander, and he's drawn a couple starts at leadoff versus lefties during that span, too (he's also hit seventh once and eighth once against southpaws this month). Ewing has not been overly splitty, posting a nearly identical OPS versus righties (.767) and lefties (.764), so it's not a given that he'll hit lower versus left-handers moving forward. With Ewing ascending to the top of the order, former leadoff man Carson Benge has been situated mainly in the No. 5 spot lately.
Heriberto Hernandez, OF, 
Miami Marlins
Hernandez was one of the worst hitters in baseball in April, slashing a sickly .159/.284/.190 to earn a trip back to the minors. The trajectory of his season has changed greatly since then.
Hernandez didn't play much in May after being recalled, but he was much better with a .763 OPS. The playing time ticked up in June with 18 starts in 26 games, and Hernandez produced a .849 OPS with six home runs that month. In July, Hernandez has been in the lineup for 13 of 16 tilts — including each of the last 10 games — and has exploded with a .309/.377/.691 batting line and five long balls. Hernandez has batted second five times, fifth three times and third once over the last nine games. The expected stats say he's been unlucky, too, as his .338 wOBA is significantly lower than his .360 xwOBA. Hernandez ranks in the 93rd percentile in hard-hit rate, the 90th percentile in average exit velocity and the 83rd percentile in barrel rate.
Kyle Karros, 3B, 
Colorado Rockies
Through the end of May, Karros had produced a .220/.312/.300 batting line across his first 346 major-league plate appearances. Even though Karros was not a premium prospect, the Rockies stuck with him and they've been rewarded.
Since the calendar flipped to June, Karros has slashed .313/.409/.563 with six home runs, a 16.1 percent strikeout rate and 11.4 percent walk rate over 149 trips to the dish. He's produced a 47 percent hard-hit rate and 90.3 mph average exit velocity during that stretch, and 11 of his 19 barrels this season have come amidst that window. After rarely exiting the bottom-third of the batting order for the first three months, Karros has been trusted with a more favorable lineup spot lately, batting second six times, fifth four times and sixth three times among his last 13 contests.
Quick Hits: Jim Jarvis has grabbed six straight starts at shortstop for Atlanta and has manned the position in 11 of the last 13 tilts …The Cubs have stuck Pedro Ramirez in the lineup each of the last three times they've faced a righty … Spencer Steer drew 13 consecutive starts for the Reds before sitting Tuesday with a minor injury, and he has not hit lower than cleanup in their last eight games … Dane Myers is no longer being used in a short-side platoon in center field, logging three starts in the last four games versus righties … Following a stretch when he mostly hit sixth, Jackson Merrill settled in as the Padres' two-hole hitter for 10 straight contests before batting fifth Tuesday … Ty France has been the Padres' first baseman for eight games in a row and has hit cleanup in the last three tilts … Bryce Eldridge has been back up in the No. 2 spot for the last five games for the Giants after he hit sixth or seventh for the previous 10 contests … The Giants have employed Drew Gilbert as their center fielder for nine of the last 10 games … Jose Fermin has been in the Cardinals' lineup for 13 of the last 16 contests.
Trending Down
Teoscar Hernandez, OF, 
Los Angeles Dodgers
After seeing his OPS dip from .840 in 2024 to .738 in 2025, Hernandez in spring training blamed his downturn in production on a nagging groin injury that he played through. Will he use a hamstring injury as an excuse as his numbers continue to plunge in 2026?
Hernandez was slashing .325/.400/.482 in May before a left hamstring strain cost him more than a month of action. In 16 contests since returning to the lineup, Hernandez has hit .125/.194/.196. He hit fifth in his first two games back from the IL but has been down in the No. 7 spot in the Dodgers' last seven tilts before a day off Tuesday. The quality of contact has been down for Hernandez a bit this season. However, outside of a barrel rate that's at 9.7 percent after it came in at 15 percent two years ago, the difference is pretty negligible. That leaves me optimistic that Hernandez will rebound to some level, though even if that does happen he could still remain lower in the lineup, given the Dodgers' other options.
Jakob Marsee, OF, Miami Marlins
Marsee was a revelation for the Marlins down the stretch last season, collecting a .842 OPS with five home runs and 14 stolen bases over 55 contests. This year, Marsee's glove in center field might be the only thing saving his starting job.
Among the 148 qualifiers, Marsee ranks 147th with a .192 batting average and dead last with a .287 slugging percentage. After batting either leadoff (against right-handers) or third (versus lefties) in his first 33 starts this season, Marsee has hit seventh, eighth or ninth in 12 of his last 13 starts, and he's been out of the lineup entirely twice against southpaws during that span. In terms of quality of contact, Marsee has seen significant year-over-year dips in hard-hit rate (41.4 percent to 33.2 percent) barrel rate (8.1 percent to 3.2 percent) and average exit velocity (88.9 mph to 86.7 mph). Not even his 19 stolen bases have salvaged Marsee's fantasy value, as he ranks outside the top-70 fantasy outfielders in 2026.
Cole Carrigg, OF, Colorado Rockies
The Rockies' outfield situation has been a difficult one to navigate this season. Brenton Doyle and Jordan Beck were both in the lineup Opening Day but have been off the radar for most of the season. Mickey Moniak has been great when healthy, Jake McCarthy has had a nice bounce-back season and Troy Johnston has been solid. Then there's Carrigg, who has been terrific since his promotion in early June but whose playing time has been spotty.
Carrigg started 13 straight games after being called up, but since then he's been in the lineup for just 71 percent of the Rockies' contests, and he hasn't started two games in a row versus a righty since July 2-3. The playing time has been extra frustrating considering Carrigg has slashed .301/.376/.522 in his first 35 contests, including .347/.386/.571 in July. All seven times the switch-hitting Carrigg has been on the bench have come versus righties, despite the fact the rookie has a .959 OPS against right-handers (he's been good versus lefties, too, with an .835 OPS). The uneven playing time for Carrigg seems to be due to Moniak, McCarthy and Johnston all batting left-handed. You would like to think Carrigg should be the top priority for playing time among those four guys, but that hasn't been the case.
Jorge Polanco, 2B, New York Mets
It's shaping up to be a lost season for Polanco, who signed a two-year $40 million contract to be the Mets' first baseman but who has started only two games at the position.
Polanco has battled nagging Achilles tendinitis all season and has produced a lowly .489 OPS across 21 contests for the Metropolitans. He returned from the IL shortly before the All-Star break after missing nearly three months, but the 33-year-old has started only six of 11 games, including just two of the past six tilts. Being limited to designated hitter duty for now makes it difficult for Polanco to settle into a regular role, particularly after Luis Robert returned to action Monday to crowd the outfield/DH picture.
Quick Hits: Noelvi Marte's grip on a regular role has slipped, as he's been in the Cincinnati lineup just three times in their last seven games and six times in their past 13 contests … TJ Friedl has started only four of the Reds' last eight games … Though it was seemingly due in part to a nagging hand issue, Jacob Young has started just seven of the Nationals' last 14 games and one of their last five tilts versus right–handed pitching … Willy Adames was down in the seven hole for the Giants for five straight contests before moving up to the No. 5 slot Tuesday … Blaze Jordan has started only three of the past six and eight of the last 15 tilts for the Cardinals … Jared Young was the Mets' regular cleanup man against righties for nearly a month, but his last 11 starts have come from either the six or seven slots.
