St. Louis @ Pittsburgh Picks & Props

THE BAT X projects Brendan Donovan in the 88th percentile when it comes to his batting average skill. Brendan Donovan has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this season (51% of the time), but he is projected to bat 1st in the lineup today. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in the league for left-handed BABIP, per THE BAT projection system. Brendan Donovan's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better in recent games, going from 45.1% on the season to 51.7% over the past 14 days.

THE BAT X projects Nolan Arenado in the 3rd percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. Nolan Arenado pulls many of his flyballs (42.7% — 100th percentile) and but may find it hard to clear the league's 9th-deepest LF fences today. The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense projects as the 3rd-best of the day. Nolan Arenado will be at a disadvantage playing away from home today. Nolan Arenado's launch angle this season (16.7°) is a significant dropoff from his 21.7° angle last year.

Connor Joe is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this game. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in MLB for right-handed BABIP, via THE BAT projection system. Connor Joe will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats. A consistent launch angle is a proxy for good hitting, and Connor Joe has been very consistent with his of late, putting up a 36° launch angle standard deviation in the past two weeks' worth of games.

PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in the league for left-handed BABIP, per THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Rodolfo Castro will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

Tucupita Marcano has been pulled from the game early 19% of the time when starting against a righty on the mound this year. Tucupita Marcano has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.9%) but may find it hard to clear the game's 9th-deepest LF fences in today's matchup. The St. Louis Cardinals infield defense grades out as the 5th-best of all teams on the slate. Tucupita Marcano has negatively regressed with his Barrel% of late; his 7.6% seasonal rate has fallen off to 0% in the past week. Tucupita Marcano's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has decreased from last year to this one, going from 16.5% to 12.7%.

Jack Suwinski is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order today. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in the league for left-handed BABIP, per THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Jack Suwinski will hold the platoon advantage against Miles Mikolas in today's game. Jack Suwinski will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to bolster all of his stats.

THE BAT X projects Nolan Gorman in the 81st percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill. Nolan Gorman is penciled in 3rd in the batting order in this matchup. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in the league for left-handed BABIP, per THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Nolan Gorman has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 98.1-mph average over the past week to his seasonal average of 95.6-mph.

Carlos Santana is projected to hit 4th in the batting order today. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in the league for left-handed BABIP, per THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Carlos Santana will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Carlos Santana has exhibited favorable plate discipline this year, grading out in the 82nd percentile with a 1.68 K/BB rate.

THE BAT X projects Andrew McCutchen in the 86th percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill. Andrew McCutchen is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order in this game. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in MLB for right-handed BABIP, via THE BAT projection system. Andrew McCutchen will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats.

THE BAT X projects Alec Burleson in the 77th percentile when assessing his batting average talent. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in the league for left-handed BABIP, per THE BAT projection system. Alec Burleson has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 98.8-mph average in the last week's worth of games to his seasonal average of 92.5-mph. Alec Burleson's launch angle of late (18.2° in the last two weeks' worth of games) is considerably higher than his 12.3° seasonal angle.

PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in MLB for right-handed BABIP, via THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Austin Hedges will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should bolster all of his stats. Austin Hedges has experienced some negative variance in regards to his wOBA this year; his .197 mark is quite a bit lower than his .251 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in MLB for right-handed BABIP, via THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Paul DeJong will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Rich Hill in today's game.

THE BAT X projects Jordan Walker in the 93rd percentile when estimating his BABIP ability. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in MLB for right-handed BABIP, via THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Jordan Walker will have the handedness advantage against Rich Hill today. Jordan Walker is quite toolsy, grading out in the 85th percentile in Sprint Speed at 28.5 ft/sec this year.

THE BAT X projects Willson Contreras in the 94th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill. Willson Contreras is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in MLB for right-handed BABIP, via THE BAT projection system. Willson Contreras will have the handedness advantage over Rich Hill in today's matchup.

Juan Yepez is penciled in 5th in the batting order in this game. PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in MLB for right-handed BABIP, via THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Juan Yepez will hold the platoon advantage against Rich Hill in today's game. Juan Yepez's launch angle this year (23.3°) is considerably better than his 17.2° mark last year.

PNC Park profiles as the #7 stadium in MLB for right-handed BABIP, via THE BAT projection system. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest elevation among all parks. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense. Andrew Knizner will hold the platoon advantage over Rich Hill today. Andrew Knizner has made notable strides with his Barrel%, upping his 3.5% rate last season to 13% this year. Andrew Knizner has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 94.6-mph average to last year's 87.5-mph EV.

Ke'Bryan Hayes has gone over 0.5 in 7 of his last 10 games.

Ji-Hwan Bae has gone over 0.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.

Bryan Reynolds has gone over 1.5 in 0 of his last 10 games.

Tommy Edman has gone over 1.5 in 6 of his last 10 games.

Paul Goldschmidt has gone over 1.5 in 2 of his last 10 games.