Kansas City @ Tampa Bay Picks & Props

Tropicana Field profiles as the #26 field in the majors for RHB BABIP, per THE BAT projection system. Maximo Castillo will hold the platoon advantage over Yandy Diaz today. The Kansas City Royals outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-best on the slate. Yandy Diaz's average launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls lately (-2.1° in the past two weeks' worth of games) is a significant dropoff from his 5.8° seasonal mark. Yandy Diaz has been very fortunate when it comes to with his wOBA this year; his .394 rate is a fair amount higher than his .370 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

THE BAT X projects Salvador Perez in the 79th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive talent. Salvador Perez is penciled in 3rd in the batting order in this game. Tropicana Field has the 5th-shallowest left field fences in Major League Baseball. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Salvador Perez will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Shane McClanahan in today's game.

THE BAT X projects Drew Waters as the 12th-best batter in the game when estimating his BABIP skill. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Drew Waters has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them out towards the league's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Drew Waters has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 96.4-mph average over the past 7 days to his seasonal EV of 94.3-mph. Drew Waters's average launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls of late (29° in the last 14 days) is significantly higher than his 20.7° seasonal angle.

THE BAT X projects Wander Franco as the 9th-best hitter in MLB as it relates to his batting average talent. Wander Franco is projected to bat 2nd on the lineup card today. Tropicana Field has the 5th-shallowest right field dimensions in Major League Baseball. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Wander Franco will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to improve all of his stats.

Nick Pratto is projected to bat 1st on the lineup card today. Tropicana Field has the 5th-shallowest right field dimensions in Major League Baseball. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Nick Pratto has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 95.4-mph average over the last week to his seasonal 87.9-mph average. Nick Pratto's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased recently, increasing from 53.9% on the season to 71.4% over the last 7 days.

THE BAT X projects Maikel Garcia in the 88th percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability. Maikel Garcia has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (64% of the time), but he is penciled in 1st on the lineup card today. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Maikel Garcia will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Shane McClanahan in today's game. Maikel Garcia's 92.2-mph average exit velocity ranks among the elite in the game this year: 91st percentile.

THE BAT X projects Edward Olivares in the 81st percentile when estimating his batting average talent. Edward Olivares is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card today. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Edward Olivares will hold the platoon advantage against Shane McClanahan in today's game. Edward Olivares pulls a lot of his flyballs (35.1% — 89th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 6th-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup.

Tropicana Field has the 5th-shallowest left field fences in Major League Baseball. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Dairon Blanco will hold the platoon advantage over Shane McClanahan today. Dairon Blanco has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 84.9-mph average in the last week to his seasonal 82.6-mph figure.

Tropicana Field has the 5th-shallowest left field fences in Major League Baseball. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Samad Taylor will hold the platoon advantage over Shane McClanahan in today's game. Samad Taylor has been hot lately, putting up a a 12.5% Barrel% (a reliable standard to assess power) in the past week's worth of games.

The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Francisco Mejia pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (36.6% — 95th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Francisco Mejia will benefit from the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats. Francisco Mejia has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 89-mph average to last season's 87-mph figure.

THE BAT X projects Randy Arozarena in the 97th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive talent. Randy Arozarena is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this game. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Randy Arozarena will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should boost all of his stats. Randy Arozarena has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel%, bettering his 7.9% rate last season to 15.8% this year.

THE BAT X projects Jose Siri in the 87th percentile when assessing his BABIP skill. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Jose Siri pulls many of his flyballs (32.9% — 76th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards baseball's 6th-shallowest LF fences today. Jose Siri will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats. Jose Siri has made notable improvements with his Barrel%, bettering his 6.3% rate last season to 17.2% this season.

The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Taylor Walls will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats. Taylor Walls's launch angle this year (20.7°) is considerably higher than his 16.4° figure last year. Taylor Walls's launch angle in recent games (13.8° in the last week) is a considerable dropoff from his 20.4° seasonal mark.

THE BAT X projects MJ Melendez in the 77th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent. MJ Melendez is penciled in 4th on the lineup card in this game. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. MJ Melendez pulls a lot of his flyballs (32.9% — 76th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 5th-shallowest RF fences today. MJ Melendez has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 93.4-mph average to last season's 90.7-mph average.

Isaac Paredes is penciled in 4th in the lineup today. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Isaac Paredes pulls many of his flyballs (41.2% — 99th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 6th-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Isaac Paredes will possess the home field advantage today, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Isaac Paredes's launch angle this season (20.1°) is considerably higher than his 15.5° angle last season.

The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Vidal Brujan pulls many of his flyballs (34.1% — 83rd percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Vidal Brujan will hold the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should boost all of his stats. Vidal Brujan has had some very poor luck with his batting average since the start of last season; his .167 mark is deflated compared to his .198 Expected Batting Average (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

THE BAT X projects Matt Duffy in the 87th percentile when it comes to his BABIP ability. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Matt Duffy will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Shane McClanahan in today's matchup. Matt Duffy has a 98th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (41.9%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards baseball's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Matt Duffy has compiled a .335 BABIP since the start of last season, checking in at the 84th percentile.

THE BAT X projects Luke Raley in the 84th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive talent. Luke Raley has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this season (52% of the time), but he is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in this matchup. The weather forecast forecasts the 2nd-most favorable hitting weather of all games today, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Luke Raley will have the handedness advantage over Maximo Castillo in today's matchup. The Kansas City Royals have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Luke Raley stands a good chance of never facing a bullpen mismatch all game.

Manuel Margot has gone over 0.5 in 8 of his last 10 games.

Josh Lowe has gone over 0.5 in 9 of his last 10 games.

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