Detroit @ Kansas City Picks & Props

24% of the time that Zach McKinstry has started against a northpaw this year, he has been lifted for a pinch-hitter. Zach McKinstry hits many of his flyballs to center field (40.2% — 98th percentile) and and has the misfortune of hitting them towards MLB's 4th-deepest CF fences in today's game. The Kansas City Royals infield defense profiles as the 3rd-best out of all the teams in action today. Zach McKinstry will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team in today's matchup.

Long-balls are generally less common at stadiums with deep fences, and Kauffman Stadium has the 2nd-deepest among all parks. Zack Greinke will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Spencer Torkelson in today's matchup. The Kansas City Royals infield defense profiles as the 3rd-best out of all the teams in action today. Playing on the road typically lowers hitter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Spencer Torkelson in today's game. Ranking in the 24th percentile, Spencer Torkelson sits with a .231 batting average this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Drew Waters as the 11th-best batter in the game when assessing his BABIP talent. The #7 ballpark in the game for boosting batting average to lefties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. Out of every team playing today, the 11th-weakest infield defense is that of the the Detroit Tigers.

Michael Lorenzen will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Maikel Garcia today. Maikel Garcia hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (39.1% — 89th percentile) and and will have to hit them out towards MLB's 4th-deepest CF fences in today's game. Maikel Garcia's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has declined in recent games, falling from 11.5% on the season to 0% in the past week's worth of games. Maikel Garcia has been cold of late, posting a 0% Barrel% (a reliable metric to assess power) over the last two weeks. Maikel Garcia's 4.7° launch angle (a reliable standard to assess a batter's ability to lift the ball for power) is among the most groundball-inducing in MLB: 6th percentile.

Michael Lorenzen will have the handedness advantage against Salvador Perez today. Salvador Perez pulls a lot of his flyballs (32.8% — 75th percentile) and and has the misfortune of hitting them towards the game's 4th-deepest LF fences in today's game. In terms of plate discipline, Salvador Perez's skill is quite bad, posting a 7.43 K/BB rate this year while placing in in the 1st percentile.

The #7 ballpark in the game for boosting batting average to lefties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. Nick Pratto will hold the platoon advantage over Michael Lorenzen in today's matchup. Out of every team playing today, the 11th-weakest infield defense is that of the the Detroit Tigers.

Kerry Carpenter has been pulled from the game early 29% of the time when starting against a northpaw this year. In Major League Baseball, Kauffman Stadium's right field fences are the deepest. The Kansas City Royals infield defense profiles as the 3rd-best out of all the teams in action today. Kerry Carpenter will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today's matchup. In the last week, Kerry Carpenter's exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off from his seasonal EV of 95 mph to 92.1 mph.

Long-balls are generally less common at stadiums with deep fences, and Kauffman Stadium has the 2nd-deepest among all parks. Zack Greinke will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Javier Baez today. The Kansas City Royals infield defense profiles as the 3rd-best out of all the teams in action today. Javier Baez will be at a disadvantage playing away from home today. Over the last week, Javier Baez's exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off from his seasonal EV of 90.5 mph to 63.2 mph.

Michael Lorenzen will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Edward Olivares in today's game. Edward Olivares pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35.7% — 91st percentile) and and will have to hit them out towards the league's 4th-deepest LF fences today. Edward Olivares's exit velocity on flyballs has declined this season; his 94.3-mph figure last year has lowered to 89.7-mph. Edward Olivares's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has fallen off from last season to this one, falling from 45.2% to 38.9%. The standard deviation of Edward Olivares's launch angle this year (30.7°) is in the 5th percentile. A high deviation like this tends to lead to a lower batting average on balls in play.

The #7 ballpark in the game for boosting batting average to lefties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. Nicky Lopez will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Michael Lorenzen today. Out of every team playing today, the 11th-weakest infield defense is that of the the Detroit Tigers.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects MJ Melendez in the 75th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability. MJ Melendez is penciled in 4th in the batting order in today's game. The #7 ballpark in the game for boosting batting average to lefties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°.

Kyle Isbel is projected to hit 2nd in the batting order today, which would be an upgrade from his 74% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this year. The #7 ballpark in the game for boosting batting average to lefties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. Kyle Isbel will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Michael Lorenzen in today's matchup.

The #7 stadium in MLB for boosting batting average to RHB, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. When it comes to his wOBA and overall offense, Andy Ibanez has had some very poor luck this year. His .291 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .316.

The #7 stadium in MLB for boosting batting average to RHB, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. Despite posting a .235 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Eric Haase given the .065 discrepancy between that mark and his estimated true talent wOBA of .300.

Riley Greene has an 81st percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35%) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards MLB's 4th-deepest LF fences in today's game. The Kansas City Royals infield defense profiles as the 3rd-best out of all the teams in action today. Kansas City's #3-ranked outfield defense of all teams on the slate today poses a formidable challenge for Riley Greene, who tends to hit a lot of flyballs. Riley Greene will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today's game. Over the last 7 days, Riley Greene's Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 10.3% down to 0%.

The #7 ballpark in the game for boosting batting average to lefties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. Michael Massey will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Michael Lorenzen in today's game. Out of every team playing today, the 11th-weakest infield defense is that of the the Detroit Tigers.

The #7 ballpark in the game for boosting batting average to lefties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. Akil Baddoo will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Zack Greinke in today's matchup. The Kansas City Royals don't have any same-handed RPs in their bullpen, so Akil Baddoo is guaranteed to never face a bullpen mismatch the whole game.

The #7 ballpark in the game for boosting batting average to lefties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium. Built 886 feet above sea level, Kauffman Stadium has the 4th-highest elevation among all major league stadiums, which generally leads to better offense. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and the weather forecast expects the 2nd-hottest temperature of all games on the slate today at 85°. Nick Maton will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Zack Greinke today. The Kansas City Royals don't have any same-handed relievers in their bullpen, so Nick Maton is guaranteed to never face a bullpen mismatch the whole game.

Jake Rogers has gone over 0.5 in 7 of his last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has gone over 1.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.

Matt Vierling has gone over 1.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.