Los Angeles @ Houston Picks & Props

Martin Maldonado pulls many of his flyballs (33.7% — 82nd percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-worst on the slate. Martin Maldonado will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which ought to improve all of his stats.

The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-worst on the slate. Chas McCormick will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats. Chas McCormick's launch angle lately (37.7° in the past 7 days) is considerably higher than his 14.6° seasonal figure. Chas McCormick has done a favorable job optimizing his launch angle on his hardest-hit balls. His 18.8° figure is among the highest in the league since the start of last season (95th percentile).

The Houston Astros have been the 6th-unluckiest offense in the league this year, according to THE BAT X, and are likely to perform better in the future Minute Maid Park's elevation is near sea-level, one of the lowest in the league, which often leads to lower offensive output. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-worst on the slate. Shohei Ohtani will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player today. Shohei Ohtani's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has dropped off in recent games, decreasing from 39.6% on the season to 23.3% in the past two weeks' worth of games.

Minute Maid Park's elevation is near sea-level, one of the lowest in the league, which often leads to lower offensive output. Griffin Canning will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Jeremy Pena today. Jeremy Pena has displayed bad plate discipline this year, grading out in the 21st percentile with a 3.61 K/BB rate.

Yordan Alvarez projects as the 2nd-best batter in Major League Baseball, per THE BAT X. Yordan Alvarez is projected to hit 3rd in the lineup today. Minute Maid Park has the least fair ground in Major League Baseball — generally good for long-balls. Yordan Alvarez will have the handedness advantage over Griffin Canning in today's matchup. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-worst on the slate.

Jared Walsh will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against J.P. France in today's matchup. The Houston Astros don't have any same-handed relief pitchers in their bullpen, so Jared Walsh is guaranteed to hold the platoon advantage against every reliever all game.

THE BAT X projects Alex Bregman in the 95th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability. Alex Bregman is projected to bat 4th in the lineup today. Alex Bregman pulls many of his flyballs (38.5% — 97th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-worst on the slate. Alex Bregman will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which should boost all of his stats.

THE BAT X projects Yainer Diaz in the 83rd percentile when it comes to his batting average talent. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-worst on the slate. Yainer Diaz will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to boost all of his stats. Yainer Diaz has experienced some negative variance in regards to his wOBA since the start of last season; his .260 mark is a fair amount lower than his .314 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

Corey Julks pulls many of his flyballs (37.2% — 96th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 4th-worst on the slate. Corey Julks will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to improve all of his stats. Corey Julks has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 90.4-mph average in the past week to his seasonal 87.6-mph average. Corey Julks's average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls recently (17.5° in the past week) is considerably better than his 7.8° seasonal angle.

THE BAT X projects Gio Urshela in the 94th percentile as it relates to his batting average skill. Gio Urshela's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved in recent games, going from 49.4% on the season to 54.5% in the last two weeks' worth of games. Gio Urshela has notched a .313 batting average this year, ranking in the 97th percentile.

Kyle Tucker projects as the 19th-best batter in MLB, according to THE BAT X. Kyle Tucker is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card in this game. Kyle Tucker will have the handedness advantage over Griffin Canning in today's game. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-worst on the slate. Kyle Tucker is an extreme flyball hitter and squares off against the weak outfield defense of Los Angeles (#2-worst of all teams on the slate today).

Mike Trout projects as the 7th-best batter in Major League Baseball, per THE BAT X. Mike Trout is projected to bat 2nd on the lineup card in this matchup. Mike Trout's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better recently, increasing from 19% on the season to 25.8% in the last two weeks' worth of games. Mike Trout has compiled a .390 Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year, grading out in the 96th percentile for hitting ability (according to THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data). Mike Trout has notched a .284 Expected Batting Average this year, ranking in the 87th percentile (according to THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

Matt Thaiss has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (81% of the time), but he is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card in this game. Minute Maid Park has the least fair ground in Major League Baseball — generally good for long-balls. Matt Thaiss will hold the platoon advantage over J.P. France today. The Houston Astros don't have any same-handed relievers in their bullpen, so Matt Thaiss is guaranteed to hold the advantage against every reliever the entire game. Matt Thaiss has seen a big gain in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 97.4-mph average over the last 14 days to his seasonal mark of 92.9-mph.

Luis Rengifo has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his batting average this year; his .219 BA is a good deal lower than his .244 Expected Batting Average (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data). Luis Rengifo has displayed strong plate discipline this year, grading out in the 78th percentile with a 1.77 K/BB rate.

THE BAT X projects Zach Neto in the 81st percentile when assessing his BABIP ability. Zach Neto has been unlucky in regards to his wOBA this year; his .309 figure is considerably lower than his .345 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data). Zach Neto has done a strong job optimizing his launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls. His 17.8° angle is among the highest in MLB this year (91st percentile).

Hunter Renfroe pulls many of his flyballs (38.8% — 98th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Hunter Renfroe's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved lately, rising from 38.6% on the season to 61.5% over the past week.

THE BAT X projects Jose Abreu in the 85th percentile as it relates to his batting average ability. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 4th-worst on the slate. Jose Abreu will hold the home field advantage today, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Jose Abreu has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 94.2-mph average in the past week to his seasonal 87.9-mph figure. Jose Abreu's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better recently, rising from 39.5% on the season to 64.7% over the past 7 days.

THE BAT X projects Brandon Drury in the 76th percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill. Brandon Drury has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (57% of the time), but he is projected to hit 3rd in the lineup today. Brandon Drury pulls a lot of his flyballs (33.3% — 77th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Brandon Drury has seen a big gain in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 97.5-mph average in the last week's worth of games to his seasonal EV of 91.4-mph. Brandon Drury's 12.3% Barrel% (a reliable metric to assess power) ranks in the 81st percentile this year.

THE BAT X projects Taylor Ward in the 93rd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill. Taylor Ward is projected to bat 4th in the lineup in this matchup. Taylor Ward has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 96.2-mph average over the past 7 days to his seasonal 90.4-mph average. Taylor Ward's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved in recent games, increasing from 15.6% on the season to 22.7% in the last two weeks. Taylor Ward has been unlucky this year, posting a .296 wOBA despite THE BAT X estimating his true talent level to be .347 — a .051 difference.

Mauricio Dubon has gone over 1.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.