Colorado @ Houston Picks & Props

Martin Maldonado pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.8% — 82nd percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics across the board, and Martin Maldonado will hold that advantage in today's game. Martin Maldonado has made substantial gains with his Barrel% recently, upping his 7.5% seasonal rate to 27.3% in the past week's worth of games. In the past two weeks' worth of games, Martin Maldonado's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 90.4-mph over the course of the season to 99.9-mph in recent games. In the past week's worth of games, Martin Maldonado's 36.4% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 16.7%.

Minute Maid Park's altitude is near sea-level, one of the lowest in the majors, which generally leads to less offense. The Minute Maid Park roof figures to be closed today, making the temperature in this contest -6° colder than the average outdoor game of all games on the slate — favorable for pitching. Chase Anderson will hold the platoon advantage against Yainer Diaz in today's game. Yainer Diaz hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (39.3% — 92nd percentile) and and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of the league's 8th-deepest CF fences in today's game. Out of every team in action today, the 2nd-strongest infield defense belongs to the Colorado Rockies.

Minute Maid Park's altitude is near sea-level, one of the lowest in the majors, which generally leads to less offense. The Minute Maid Park roof figures to be closed today, making the temperature in this contest -6° colder than the average outdoor game of all games on the slate — favorable for pitching. Chase Anderson will hold the platoon advantage against Jose Abreu in today's matchup. Jose Abreu hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (40.7% — 99th percentile) and and will have to hit them out towards baseball's 8th-deepest CF fences in today's game. Out of every team in action today, the 2nd-strongest infield defense belongs to the Colorado Rockies.

Kyle Tucker projects as the 17th-best batter in the league, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Kyle Tucker is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this matchup. Kyle Tucker will hold the platoon advantage against Chase Anderson in today's game. The Colorado Rockies outfield defense grades out as the 5th-best among all the teams playing today. Colorado's 3rd-worst outfield defense of the day creates a favorable matchup for Kyle Tucker, who tends to hit a lot of flyballs.

Jurickson Profar is penciled in 1st in the batting order today. Jurickson Profar's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved from last season to this one, increasing from 13.4% to 16.9%. Jurickson Profar's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased in recent games, rising from 16.9% on the season to 25% over the past 14 days.

Ryan McMahon is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. Ryan McMahon will have the handedness advantage against J.P. France today. The Houston Astros have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Ryan McMahon can likely count on holding the advantage against every reliever all game. Ryan McMahon has a 94th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (38.9%) and has the good fortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Last season, Ryan McMahon had an average launch angle of 11.9° on his hardest-hit balls, while this season it has significantly increased to 15.4°.

When it comes to his BABIP talent, Nolan Jones is projected as the 13th-best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Minute Maid Park has the shallowest fences among all stadiums — generally good for dingers. Nolan Jones will have the handedness advantage over J.P. France in today's game. The Houston Astros have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Nolan Jones has a strong chance of never losing the platoon advantage against the 'pen all game. With a .268 Expected Batting Average (an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) based on Statcast data) since the start of last season , Nolan Jones grades out in the 84th percentile.

Among all major league stadiums, Minute Maid Park's left field dimensions are the 2nd-shallowest. Randal Grichuk has notched a .341 BABIP this year, grading out in the 85th percentile.

Jeremy Pena's BABIP ability is projected in the 94th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Among all major league stadiums, Minute Maid Park's left field dimensions are the 2nd-shallowest. The Colorado Rockies outfield defense grades out as the 5th-best among all the teams playing today. Jeremy Pena will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats. Over the last 14 days, Jeremy Pena has improved his Barrel% substantially, increasing it from his seasonal rate of 5.9% to 11.8%.

Elias Diaz is penciled in 4th in the lineup today. Among all major league stadiums, Minute Maid Park's left field dimensions are the 2nd-shallowest. Over the last two weeks, Elias Diaz's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 92.7-mph over the course of the season to 95.1-mph of late. In the past 14 days, Elias Diaz's 22.7% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 15%. Elias Diaz'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, increasing from 41.2% to 48.1%.

Home field advantage typically boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Chas McCormick will hold that advantage today. Chas McCormick's launch angle this year (17.1°) is a significant increase over his 12.6° mark last year. Compared to his seasonal average of 17.1°, Chas McCormick has significantly improved his launch angle of late, posting a 23.1° mark in the last two weeks. Posting a .363 wOBA (a leading indicator of offensive ability) this year, Chas McCormick grades out in the 86th percentile. With a .319 BABIP since the start of last season, Chas McCormick has performed in the 79th percentile.

Harold Castro's BABIP ability is projected in the 92nd percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Harold Castro will have the handedness advantage over J.P. France today. The Houston Astros have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Harold Castro stands a good chance of holding the advantage against every reliever all game. Harold Castro has a 96th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (39.5%) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Harold Castro's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased in recent games, going from 48.1% on the season to 62.5% over the past two weeks.

Bligh Madris will hold the platoon advantage over Chase Anderson in today's game. Bligh Madris has an 83rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.3%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. The Colorado Rockies outfield defense grades out as the 5th-best among all the teams playing today. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Bligh Madris will hold that advantage in today's game. Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.281) may lead us to conclude that Bligh Madris has suffered from bad luck since the start of last season with his .231 actual wOBA.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Alex Bregman in the 94th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill. Alex Bregman is projected to hit 2nd in the lineup in this game. Alex Bregman pulls a lot of his flyballs (38.2% — 97th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. The Colorado Rockies outfield defense grades out as the 5th-best among all the teams playing today. Alex Bregman will benefit from the home field advantage today, which ought to improve all of his stats.

Corey Julks pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.9% — 88th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. The Colorado Rockies outfield defense grades out as the 5th-best among all the teams playing today. Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics in all categories, and Corey Julks will hold that advantage in today's game. Corey Julks has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 94.3-mph average in the last week's worth of games to his seasonal 87.7-mph mark. In the past 7 days, Corey Julks's 12.5% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 16.7%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Kris Bryant in the 80th percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability. Kris Bryant is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in this matchup. Kris Bryant pulls many of his flyballs (35.7% — 91st percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ezequiel Tovar in the 83rd percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability. In the last 7 days, Ezequiel Tovar's 26.7% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 15%. Ezequiel Tovar ranks in the 97th percentile when it comes to hitting balls between -4° and 26°, the launch angle range that tends to result the most in base hits (51.7% rate this year).

Jose Altuve has gone over 1.5 in 5 of his last 10 games.

Mauricio Dubon has gone over 1.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.

C.J. Cron has gone over 0.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.