If there’s one thing completely within a manager’s control, it’s the lineup card. The manager may not have much say, if any, about who is on the roster, but which of those players make it off the bench and on to the field is his call. Today we’ll look at some of the extremes related to the lineup card.

Mike SciosciaLos Angeles Angels

No team has fewer plate appearances this season in which the hitter has had the platoon advantage than the Angels at only 43.9 percent. Some of the blame for this falls on the front office as LA has a pretty righty-heavy lineup, and they have only had the platoon advantage in 32 percent of their plate appearances against a right-handed pitcher.

But Scioscia has done his part to contribute to the problem as well. Yunel Escobar got the vast majority of playing time at third base prior to going on the DL about a week ago with a hamstring strain. Escobar has a career wRC+ of 101 against right-handed pitching. Sitting on the bench for plenty of those Escobar starts has been Luis Valbuena who has had a wRC+ vs. RHP of 123 or higher in each of the last three seasons.

What’s odd here is that a manager doing something that is arguably detrimental to his club can be beneficial to fantasy owners. If you happen to own Escobar, you like seeing him play every day. He’s not awful without the platoon advantages, so you just want him in the lineup and racking up counting numbers no matter what. The downside is that Scioscia keeps a player like Valbuena from having some value in deeper leagues.

As a rule-of-thumb, managers who tend not to platoon as much provide more fantasy value to shallower leagues as they allow players to rack up high PA totals and counting numbers. Just beware of hitters who really struggle without the platoon advantage if their manager runs them out there every day no matter what. On the flip side, managers who platoon a lot can limit the counting numbers of players, but they can also spread the wealth around and make more players fantasy relevant in deeper leagues.

It should be noted that the Pirates, Padres and Reds are the only three teams that only have nine players currently on pace to reach 400 PA this season. It’s no surprise that only NL teams make that list since they have one less spot for a position player in the lineup. But there are no AL teams with only 10 players on pace to crack 400 PA, so those three teams are very committed to their regulars and apparently not too interested in platooning.

Terry FranconaCleveland IndiansTerry CollinsNew York Mets

Cleveland and New York lead the league in PAs in which their hitters have the platoon advantage. Cleveland leads the league in that department going away with a rate of 73.9 percent, while the Mets are in second at 66.4 percent.

Roster makeup has a lot to do with why Cleveland so often has the platoon advantage. First, they have three regulars, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana and Jose Ramirez, who hit from both sides of the plate. But they also have plenty of lefties, which helps when roughly two-thirds of all PAs are against a right-handed pitcher across the league.

But it’s not just roster construction. Francona is using that flexibility and spreading the wealth as 13 Indians are currently on pace to eclipse 400 PA, though that will obviously change when some of their outfielders get healthy. Austin Jackson and Brandon Guyer are currently on the DL, and their return will impact the bottom third of the order. Lonnie Chisenhall and Bradley Zimmer will lose work if not roster spots.

The good news is that Francona doesn’t mess with the studs much as the usual top six in their order are all on pace for 600+ PA. But two of their three outfield spots may be a revolving door at times this year. That hurts the shallower league value of Chisenhall, Jackson, Guyer, etc. to the extent they have value in those leagues. But it does mean they should be seeing a high percentage of PAs with the platoon advantage when they do play, which makes them more appealing in deeper leagues and in DFS.

As for the Mets, they have quite a few switch hitters and a good mix of lefties and righties as well, so Collins can mix and match plenty.  When Yoenis Cespedes returns from the DL the lefties in the Mets outfield are going to lose some PAs. Curtis Granderson may be the odd man out, but Michael Conforto and Jay Bruce may still lose a bit of work as well. And when Asdrubal Cabrera is healthy and back at short, there will be the potential for platoons on the corners between Jose Reyes, T.J. Rivera and Lucas Duda.

The long story short is that the shallower your league the less you want a manager to platoon. The one exception is if your guy is well below average without the platoon advantage. But the more platooning managers do the deeper the pool of fantasy relevant players in deeper leagues. Platooning also helps generate more options in DFS, and generally cheaper options since those players aren’t regulars.