Kansas City @ Miami Picks & Props

Garrett Hampson hits many of his flyballs to center field (39.6% — 94th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting out towards baseball's 6th-shallowest CF fences in today's matchup. Garrett Hampson will hold the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats. Garrett Hampson's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved of late, going from 18.7% on the season to 46.2% over the past 14 days.

Nick Pratto is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in this game. Nick Pratto will hold the platoon advantage against Edward Cabrera today. Nick Pratto has made significant strides with his Barrel% of late, upping his 12% seasonal rate to 23.8% in the past 14 days. Nick Pratto has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 101.6-mph average in the past 7 days to his seasonal average of 93.9-mph.

LoanDepot Park's elevation is near sea-level, one of the lowest in the majors, which tends to lead to less offense. Jordan Lyles will have the handedness advantage over Bryan De La Cruz today. Bryan De La Cruz's average exit velocity has declined of late; his 90.6-mph seasonal average has decreased to 85.8-mph over the last 7 days. Bryan De La Cruz's average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls this year (9.3°) is quite a bit lower than his 13.2° angle last year. Bryan De La Cruz has been lucky this year, compiling a .355 wOBA despite THE BAT X estimating his true talent level to be .319 — a .036 gap.

THE BAT X projects Edward Olivares in the 82nd percentile when estimating his batting average ability. Edward Olivares has made big strides with his Barrel% lately, bettering his 9% seasonal rate to 14.3% over the last week. Edward Olivares has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 99.1-mph average in the last two weeks to his seasonal EV of 89.9-mph. Edward Olivares's launch angle lately (21.6° in the last two weeks' worth of games) is significantly higher than his 13.3° seasonal figure. Edward Olivares has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his wOBA this year; his .312 rate is considerably lower than his .371 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

THE BAT X projects Maikel Garcia in the 85th percentile when estimating his BABIP ability. LoanDepot Park has the 5th-shallowest centerfield fences in the majors. Maikel Garcia has made notable gains with his Barrel% in recent games, upping his 7.6% seasonal rate to 16.7% in the past week. Maikel Garcia has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 93.7-mph average in the past two weeks to his seasonal 91.5-mph figure.

THE BAT X projects Jesus Sanchez in the 76th percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability. Jesus Sanchez has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this season (52% of the time), but he is penciled in 3rd in the batting order today. Jesus Sanchez will hold the platoon advantage against Jordan Lyles in today's matchup. The Kansas City Royals have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Jesus Sanchez stands a good chance of never facing a bullpen mismatch all game.

THE BAT X projects Drew Waters as the 12th-best hitter in Major League Baseball when assessing his BABIP ability. Drew Waters has been hot of late, posting a a 14.3% Barrel% (an advanced standard to evaluate power) in the past 7 days. Drew Waters has been honed in on the ideal launch angle for base hits in recent games, angling balls between -4° and 26° 53.3% of the time in the past two weeks' worth of games.

THE BAT X projects Jorge Soler in the 94th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability. Jorge Soler is projected to hit 2nd in the lineup in this game. Jorge Soler will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Jorge Soler has made significant strides with his Barrel%, upping his 12.2% rate last season to 18.3% this season. Jorge Soler's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last year to this one, going from 13.8% to 25.5%.

Nicky Lopez will hold the platoon advantage against Edward Cabrera in today's matchup. Nicky Lopez's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved from last year to this one, going from 44.3% to 50%. Nicky Lopez has experienced some negative variance in regards to his batting average since the start of last season; his .227 BA is considerably lower than his .264 Expected Batting Average (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

Michael Massey will hold the platoon advantage over Edward Cabrera today. Michael Massey has made significant improvements with his Barrel% of late, upping his 11.3% seasonal rate to 21.1% over the past two weeks. Michael Massey has seen a big increase in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 95.6-mph average over the past 14 days to his seasonal 91.2-mph average. Michael Massey's launch angle this season (19.4°) is significantly higher than his 15.8° angle last season.

Yuli Gurriel is projected to hit 4th in the batting order in this game. LoanDepot Park has the 5th-shallowest centerfield fences in the majors. Yuli Gurriel will possess the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats. Yuli Gurriel has seen a big increase in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 91.4-mph average in the last 14 days to his seasonal 88-mph mark.

THE BAT X projects Jean Segura in the 90th percentile when assessing his batting average talent. Jean Segura hits many of his flyballs to center field (40% — 97th percentile) and is fortunate to face the game's 6th-shallowest CF fences in today's matchup. Extreme groundball batters like Jean Segura tend to perform better against extreme flyball pitchers like Jordan Lyles. Jean Segura will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats.

THE BAT X projects Joey Wendle in the 79th percentile when it comes to his batting average skill. Joey Wendle has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (100% of the time), but he is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this game. Joey Wendle will have the handedness advantage over Jordan Lyles in today's game. The Kansas City Royals have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Joey Wendle stands a good chance of never facing a bullpen mismatch all game.

THE BAT X projects Salvador Perez in the 83rd percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability. Salvador Perez is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card today. Salvador Perez's launch angle in recent games (21.3° in the last 14 days) is a significant increase over his 17.4° seasonal angle. Salvador Perez has notched a .278 batting average this year, grading out in the 79th percentile.

THE BAT X projects MJ Melendez in the 80th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent. MJ Melendez is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in this matchup. MJ Melendez will have the handedness advantage over Edward Cabrera in today's matchup. MJ Melendez has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity this season; just compare his 94.1-mph average to last year's 90.7-mph mark.

THE BAT X projects Garrett Cooper as the 13th-best batter in the majors when it comes to his BABIP ability. Garrett Cooper is penciled in 4th in the batting order today. Garrett Cooper will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats. Garrett Cooper has made notable strides with his Barrel% in recent games, upping his 10.3% seasonal rate to 33.3% in the last week. Garrett Cooper has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 99.6-mph average in the past week's worth of games to his seasonal 91.7-mph mark.

THE BAT X projects Vinnie Pasquantino in the 92nd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill. Vinnie Pasquantino is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card in this game. Vinnie Pasquantino will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Edward Cabrera in today's matchup. Vinnie Pasquantino's launch angle this year (17.3°) is quite a bit higher than his 12° angle last year.

Jacob Stallings will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to improve all of his stats. Jacob Stallings has made big strides with his Barrel%, bettering his 3.4% rate last season to 9.8% this season. Jacob Stallings has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity this season; just compare his 89.9-mph average to last year's 86.7-mph figure. Jacob Stallings has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his wOBA this year; his .204 figure is significantly deflated relative to his .258 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

Bobby Witt Jr. has gone over 0.5 in 6 of his last 10 games.

Luis Arraez has gone over 1.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.

Jon Berti has gone over 0.5 in 6 of his last 10 games.

Jackie Bradley Jr. has gone over 0.5 in 2 of his last 10 games.