St. Louis @ Texas Picks & Props

THE BAT X projects Tommy Edman in the 92nd percentile when assessing his batting average skill. Tommy Edman has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% of late, improving his 6.5% seasonal rate to 12.9% in the last two weeks' worth of games. Tommy Edman has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 94.7-mph average in the past week's worth of games to his seasonal 89.1-mph EV. Tommy Edman's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased lately, going from 41.7% on the season to 58.1% over the past 14 days. Tommy Edman has put up a .275 Expected Batting Average this year, ranking in the 79th percentile (according to THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

THE BAT X projects Nolan Gorman in the 80th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability. Nolan Gorman is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card in this matchup. Nolan Gorman will hold the platoon advantage over Dane Dunning in today's matchup. Extreme flyball batters like Nolan Gorman are generally more successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Dane Dunning. Nolan Gorman has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 99.4-mph average in the past two weeks to his seasonal EV of 95.9-mph.

THE BAT X projects Brendan Donovan in the 90th percentile when assessing his batting average ability. Brendan Donovan has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (52% of the time), but he is penciled in 1st on the lineup card in this game. Brendan Donovan will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Dane Dunning today. Brendan Donovan has seen a big increase in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 97-mph average over the past week to his seasonal EV of 93.3-mph. Brendan Donovan's launch angle this season (9.1°) is significantly higher than his 5.8° angle last year.

The switch-hitting Robbie Grossman will have the advantage of batting from from his better side (0) today against Matthew Liberatore. Robbie Grossman will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats. Robbie Grossman has made significant improvements with his Barrel% of late, upping his 6.2% seasonal rate to 12.5% over the last week. Robbie Grossman has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 99.4-mph average over the last week to his seasonal figure of 90.3-mph.

THE BAT X projects Mitch Garver in the 76th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability. Mitch Garver will hold the platoon advantage over Matthew Liberatore in today's game. Mitch Garver will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which should bolster all of his stats. Mitch Garver has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 105.8-mph average in the last week's worth of games to his seasonal mark of 93.6-mph. Mitch Garver's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better lately, going from 17.6% on the season to 40% in the last week's worth of games.

Paul Goldschmidt projects as the 11th-best hitter in MLB, according to THE BAT X. Paul Goldschmidt is projected to hit 2nd in the lineup today. Paul Goldschmidt has seen a big gain in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 93.3-mph average to last season's 90.8-mph mark. Paul Goldschmidt's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased from last season to this one, increasing from 45.5% to 51.5%. Paul Goldschmidt's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased recently, increasing from 51.5% on the season to 69.2% over the past 7 days.

Alec Burleson will hold the platoon advantage against Dane Dunning in today's game. Alec Burleson has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% recently, improving his 5% seasonal rate to 10% over the last week. Alec Burleson has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 97.5-mph average in the past week's worth of games to his seasonal EV of 93-mph. Alec Burleson's launch angle recently (31.3° over the past 7 days) is significantly better than his 12.8° seasonal mark. Alec Burleson has had some very poor luck with his wOBA this year; his .286 figure is significantly deflated relative to his .350 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

Extreme flyball bats like Paul DeJong generally hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Dane Dunning. Paul DeJong's average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls of late (23° in the past two weeks) is significantly better than his 17.6° seasonal mark.

Nolan Arenado is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in this game. Extreme flyball bats like Nolan Arenado tend to be more successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Dane Dunning. Nolan Arenado has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 90.9-mph average in the past week to his seasonal 88.2-mph EV. Nolan Arenado's launch angle in recent games (24.2° in the last two weeks) is significantly higher than his 17.2° seasonal figure.

THE BAT X projects Willson Contreras in the 94th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive talent. Willson Contreras is penciled in 5th on the lineup card today. Willson Contreras has made sizeable gains with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 10.9% seasonal rate to 25% in the last 7 days. Willson Contreras has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 97.2-mph average over the past week to his seasonal 91.7-mph EV. Willson Contreras has been unlucky this year, notching a .287 wOBA despite THE BAT X estimating his true talent level to be .351 — a .064 difference.

THE BAT X projects Adolis Garcia in the 75th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill. Adolis Garcia is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in this game. Adolis Garcia will hold the platoon advantage over Matthew Liberatore today. Adolis Garcia will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats. Adolis Garcia has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 99.6-mph average in the past 14 days to his seasonal figure of 96.1-mph.

THE BAT X projects Marcus Semien in the 91st percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill. Marcus Semien is penciled in 1st on the lineup card in this game. Marcus Semien will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Matthew Liberatore in today's matchup. Marcus Semien will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Marcus Semien has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 99.9-mph average in the past week to his seasonal EV of 90-mph.

The switch-hitting Leody Taveras will get to bat from his good side (0) today against Matthew Liberatore. Leody Taveras will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats. Leody Taveras's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better of late, rising from 14% on the season to 25% in the last week's worth of games. Leody Taveras has notched a .289 Expected Batting Average this year, ranking in the 90th percentile (according to THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data). Leody Taveras has posted a .353 BABIP since the start of last season, grading out in the 95th percentile.

THE BAT X projects Josh Jung in the 93rd percentile as it relates to his BABIP talent. Josh Jung is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card today. Josh Jung will have the handedness advantage over Matthew Liberatore today. Josh Jung will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Josh Jung's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased recently, increasing from 50.3% on the season to 61.8% over the past 14 days.

Jonah Heim has gone over 0.5 in 5 of his last 10 games.

THE BAT X projects Jordan Walker in the 93rd percentile when estimating his BABIP skill. Jordan Walker has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 97.8-mph average over the past 7 days to his seasonal average of 90.4-mph. Jordan Walker has had bad variance on his side thus far when it comes to his wOBA this year; his .296 rate is significantly deflated relative to his .334 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

THE BAT X projects Ezequiel Duran in the 80th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. Ezequiel Duran will hold the platoon advantage against Matthew Liberatore today. Ezequiel Duran will possess the home field advantage today, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Ezequiel Duran has made notable strides with his Barrel%, improving his 4.6% rate last year to 10.7% this year. Ezequiel Duran has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 91.2-mph average to last year's 85.4-mph EV.

Corey Seager has gone over 1.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.

Nathaniel Lowe has gone over 1.5 in 1 of his last 10 games.

Josh H. Smith has gone over 0.5 in 2 of his last 10 games.