Here's what we're dealing with right now pretty much two months into the season:
Jose Ramirez: .199 BA, 4 HR, .299 OBP, .301 SLG, .600 OPS, 0.1 WAR, 12 SB
Bad luck or not, he's giving us literally nothing right now when this offense needs him to be at a near MVP level. He is also fielding at a career worst rate right now. He needs to figure it out, quick, or this team is screwed.
Jason Kipnis: .222 BA, 2 HR, .300 OBP, .333 SLG, .633 OPS, -0.2 WAR, 4 SB
He's got that little on-base in consecutive game streak going right now, but he's not giving us dick either. Anybody with a negative WAR at the big-league level this far into the season is absolutely useless. Needs to be better. At least get that OPS up around .700 where it has been the past two seasons. I would say call up Chang, but he's only got a .451 OPS at Columbus. He's not ready.
Jake Bauers: .217 BA, 5 HR, .303 OBP, .344 SLG, .647 OPS, -0.7 WAR
He somehow has a higher OPS than Ramirez and Kipnis, but Bauers really isn't bringing shit for us either and he's pretty lousy out in the field. If your DH has a -0.7 WAR, you're in trouble. Bring up Bradley and send this dud down to Columbus to see if he can figure it out.
Kevin Plawecki: .151 BA, 1 HR, .250 OBP, .302 SLG, .552 OPS, -0.1 WAR
Guy has been trash in four of his five years in the majors. When Navarro gets a few more reps in at Columbus, I'd bring him up and give him a shot at being the backup.
Greg Allen: .105 BA, .167 OBP, .158 SLG, .325 OPS, -0.4 WAR
Constantly overmatched and only useful as a pinch runner right now. Not worth a roster spot.
Leonys Martin: .220 BA, 6 HR, .303 OBP, .363 SLG, .666 OPS, 0.2 WAR
Batting average isn't sexy, but Leonys hasn't been too bad this year. Has a higher slugging percentage than Ramirez, Kipnis, and Bauers and plays a pretty good outfield. He's not one of our problems right now.
Mike Freeman: .222 BA, .405 OBP, .665 OPS, -0.1 WAR
Hasn't been completely useless as a utility guy due to a few timely hits and a nice walk rate, but if we can upgrade him at some point, then I'd be down to do so. Freeman getting at-bats in any meaningful games down the stretch is scary. At least he's better than Stamets?
Jordan Luplow: .247 BA, 6 HR, .306 OBP, .519 SLG, .825 OPS, 0.2 WAR
Has resurged in a big way since his callup. Has a 1.28 OPS against lefties (that's very, very good), but has been a complete dud against righties (.353 OPS). Limited sample size, I know, but I think those numbers should even out. Needs to be getting everyday at-bats so we can really see what we have with him.
Oscar Mercado: .261 BA, .346 OBP, .391 SLG, .737 OPS
Figures he got hurt pretty much right when he got called up, but he's been swinging a pretty good stick too in limited time. Another guy that should be in the lineup pretty much everyday as soon as he's healthy so we can see what we've got.
Tyler Naquin: .278 BA, 1 HR, .316 OBP, .378 SLG, .694 OPS, -0.1 WAR
Hasn't been great, but hasn't been terrible either. Most of his advanced metrics kind of suck and I would expect him to regress back down a bit more with regular playtime, but when he's healthy, we pretty much have to give him at least semi-regular at-bats if he's going to be getting on base almost 32% of the time.
Roberto Perez: .226 BA, 6 HR, .331 OBP, .415 SLG, .746 OPS, 1.1 WAR
Quietly has been our third best regular hitter this season. Take that for what you want about the state of the team, but he's been pretty damn good thus far and is doing well calling games too. Regular at-bats seem to let him get into a grove. Second highest WAR on the team for position guys behind only Santana (Lindor would most likely be ahead of him too if he would have been healthy from the jump).
Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana
Both have been completely fine (Santana has been far better than I expected him to be) and are definitely our two most consistent bats right now. Nothing bad to say about either of them.
So honestly, outside of Lindor, Santana, Perez, and maaybe Luplow and Martin, we really have zero consistency from any of our hitters. Ramirez and Kipnis have been terrible and Bauers isn't giving us anything either.
Here's what I'd do with the lineup (assuming everybody is healthy):
1B - Carlos Santana
3B - Jose Ramirez
SS - Francisco Lindor
LF - Jordan Luplow
C - Roberto Perez
DH - Bobby Bradley
CF - Leonys Martin
RF - Oscar Mercado
2B - Jason Kipnis
Send Bauers to Triple-A so he can keep getting regular at-bats. Bradley has got a .926 OPS down in Columbus - time to give him a shot.
Four man bench of Freeman, Plawecki (for now), Naquin, and some other throw-in that won't play very much (Stamets, Haase, whoever).
I don't have faith in Kipnis ever getting back to all-star caliber production, but we really need Jose to start resembling a starting third basemen, or this is all moot anyways. We won't be doing anything if he's going to hover around a .600 OPS all year. It needs to be .850, minimum.
Sucks that neither of the CarGo or Hanley lottery tickets worked out.