San Diego @ Pittsburgh Picks & Props

Home field advantage typically improves batter stats across the board, and Jack Suwinski will hold that advantage in today's game. Jack Suwinski has made notable strides with his Barrel%, bettering his 12.3% rate last season to 17.7% this year. Jack Suwinski's launch angle this year (23.6°) is a considerable increase over his 14.4° mark last season. Jack Suwinski's launch angle lately (38.9° in the past two weeks' worth of games) is considerably higher than his 23.6° seasonal angle. Placing in the 80th percentile, Jack Suwinski has posted a .353 wOBA (widely regarded as the top measure of overall offense) this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Trent Grisham in the 80th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability. Trent Grisham will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Mitch Keller in today's game. The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense profiles as the 5th-weakest out of every team today. Trent Grisham's launch angle this season (21.5°) is considerably better than his 14.6° figure last season. In the past week's worth of games, Trent Grisham's 66.7% rate of hitting balls at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 38.3%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew McCutchen in the 87th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill. Andrew McCutchen is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in this game. The #6 venue in Major League Baseball for boosting BABIP to RHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is PNC Park. Yu Darvish will have the handedness advantage over Andrew McCutchen in today's game. Home field advantage generally improves batter stats in all categories, and Andrew McCutchen will hold that advantage in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Cronenworth in the 82nd percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability. Jake Cronenworth will have the handedness advantage against Mitch Keller today. The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense profiles as the 5th-weakest out of every team today. When it comes to his batting average, Jake Cronenworth has had some very poor luck this year. His .210 rate falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .242.

Juan Soto projects as the 4th-best hitter in baseball, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Juan Soto is penciled in 3rd in the batting order in today's game. Juan Soto will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Mitch Keller in today's matchup. The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense profiles as the 5th-weakest out of every team today. Juan Soto has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 99-mph average over the past 7 days to his seasonal 93.2-mph mark.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Xander Bogaerts in the 95th percentile as it relates to his batting average ability. Xander Bogaerts is projected to bat 5th in the lineup in today's game. The #6 venue in Major League Baseball for boosting BABIP to RHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense profiles as the 5th-weakest out of every team today. In the past 7 days, Xander Bogaerts's 26.7% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 16%.

Rodolfo Castro is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card today, which would be an upgrade from his 84% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season. The #6 venue in Major League Baseball for boosting BABIP to RHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is PNC Park. The switch-hitting Rodolfo Castro will lose the platoon advantage while batting from his bad side (0) today against Yu Darvish Home field advantage typically bolsters batter stats in all categories, and Rodolfo Castro will hold that advantage today.

Connor Joe is penciled in 1st in the lineup in this matchup. The #6 venue in Major League Baseball for boosting BABIP to RHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is PNC Park. Yu Darvish will have the handedness advantage over Connor Joe today. Connor Joe will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to bolster all of his stats. In the past 7 days, Connor Joe's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 11.1% up to 16.7%.

The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 8-mph in this game, the 3rd-strongest of the day for hitters. Rougned Odor will hold the platoon advantage against Mitch Keller in today's matchup. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.354) provides evidence that Rougned Odor has had bad variance on his side this year with his .306 actual wOBA.

Matt Carpenter will hold the platoon advantage over Mitch Keller today. The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense profiles as the 5th-weakest out of every team today. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Matt Carpenter's true offensive talent to be a .326, providing some evidence that he this year given the .039 gap between that figure and his actual .287 wOBA. Since the start of last season, Matt Carpenter's 13.7% Barrel%, a reliable metric for measuring power, places him in the 92nd percentile among his peers. Matt Carpenter has done a good job optimizing his launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls. His 24.1° angle is among the highest in the game since the start of last season (97th percentile).

Carlos Santana is projected to bat 4th in the batting order in today's game. The #6 venue in Major League Baseball for boosting BABIP to RHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is PNC Park. The switch-hitting Carlos Santana will lose the platoon advantage while batting from his weak side (0) today against Yu Darvish Carlos Santana will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats. Carlos Santana has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 95.4-mph average over the past two weeks to his seasonal mark of 90.8-mph.

When estimating his overall offensive talent, Manny Machado ranks in the 94th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Manny Machado is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in this game. The #6 venue in Major League Baseball for boosting BABIP to RHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense profiles as the 5th-weakest out of every team today. Manny Machado has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 94.9-mph average in the last 7 days to his seasonal figure of 91.2-mph.

The #6 venue in Major League Baseball for boosting BABIP to RHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense profiles as the 5th-weakest out of every team today. In the last week's worth of games, Gary Sanchez's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 93.6-mph over the course of the season to 104.3-mph recently.

Henry Davis is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card in today's game, which would be an upgrade from his 50% rate of hitting in the top-half of the lineup this season. The #6 venue in Major League Baseball for boosting BABIP to RHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is PNC Park. Yu Darvish will have the handedness advantage over Henry Davis today. Henry Davis will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Henry Davis has been hot in recent games, putting up a a 13.3% Barrel% (an advanced stat to evaluate power) over the last 14 days.

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

Austin Hedges has gone over 0.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.

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

Fernando Tatis Jr. has gone over 1.5 in 2 of his last 10 games.