Los Angeles @ Houston Picks & Props

Martin Maldonado pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35% — 89th 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. Among every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels. Martin Maldonado will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to boost all of his stats. Martin Maldonado has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.4-mph to 92.8-mph over the past two weeks. Martin Maldonado's launch angle this season (17.5°) is significantly better than his 14.1° angle last season.

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Chas McCormick ranks in the 81st percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Chas McCormick has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (80% of the time), but he is penciled in 5th in the batting order in this matchup. Among every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels. Chas McCormick will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Last season, Chas McCormick had an average launch angle of 18.6° on his hardest-contacted balls, while this year it has significantly increased to 24.4°.

When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Alex Bregman ranks in the 95th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Alex Bregman is penciled in 2nd in the lineup today. Alex Bregman pulls many of his flyballs (37% — 95th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Extreme flyball batters like Alex Bregman generally hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Chase Silseth. Among every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Kyle Tucker ranks as the 15th-best hitter in Major League Baseball. Kyle Tucker is penciled in 4th in the batting order in this matchup. Kyle Tucker will have the handedness advantage against Chase Silseth today. Among every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels. Kyle Tucker will hold the home field advantage today, which figures to bolster all of his stats.

Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest left field fences among all major league parks. Since the start of last season, Chad Wallach's 11.4% Barrel%, a reliable metric for measuring power, places him in the 84th percentile among his peers. When it comes to hitting balls between 23° and 34° (the launch angle range that tends to best-produce home runs), Chad Wallach and his 23.4% rank in the 96th percentile since the start of last season.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Shohei Ohtani ranks as the 3rd-best batter in the league. Shohei Ohtani is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in this matchup. Lance Barrett grades out as a Pitchers Umpire and is scheduled to be behind the plate today. Minute Maid Park has the 3rd-highest fence height (on average) in the league. Framber Valdez will hold the platoon advantage over Shohei Ohtani today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 94th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive talent. Jose Altuve is penciled in 1st on the lineup card today. Jose Altuve pulls many of his flyballs (39% — 98th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Among every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels. Jose Altuve will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Yainer Diaz in the 95th percentile when assessing his batting average skill. Yainer Diaz is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this game. Among every team playing today, the 4th-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels. Yainer Diaz will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to bolster all of his stats. Yainer Diaz has made notable strides with his Barrel% of late, improving his 13.4% seasonal rate to 25% over the last week.

Yordan Alvarez projects as the 2nd-best hitter in MLB, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Yordan Alvarez is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest fences among all parks — generally good for homers. Yordan Alvarez will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Chase Silseth in today's matchup. Among every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Luis Rengifo in the 77th percentile when assessing his batting average skill. Extreme flyball bats like Luis Rengifo generally hit worse against extreme flyball pitchers like Framber Valdez. Luis Rengifo's average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls this year (13°) is quite a bit higher than his 9.1° mark last year. As it relates to plate discipline, Luis Rengifo's talent is quite good, posting a 1.88 K/BB rate this year while checking in at in the 78th percentile.

Hunter Renfroe is penciled in 5th in the batting order in today's game. Hunter Renfroe pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (38.8% — 98th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Hunter Renfroe's average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls lately (17.3° over the last two weeks) is quite a bit better than his 11° seasonal angle.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 79th percentile when assessing his batting average ability. Among every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels. Mauricio Dubon will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to bolster all of his stats. Mauricio Dubon has experienced some negative variance in regards to his batting average this year; his .261 rate is considerably lower than his .284 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 93rd percentile when assessing his BABIP talent. Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest left field fences among all major league parks. Among every team playing today, the 4th-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels. Home field advantage typically boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Jeremy Pena will hold that advantage today. Jeremy Pena has seen a big gain in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 99.1-mph average over the past week to his seasonal average of 91.2-mph.

Mike Moustakas is penciled in 4th in the lineup in this matchup. Framber Valdez will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Mike Moustakas in today's game. The Houston Astros don't have any same-handed relief pitchers in their bullpen, so Mike Moustakas is guaranteed to never lose the platoon advantage against the bullpen the whole game. Over the last 7 days, Mike Moustakas's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 91.6-mph over the course of the season to 99.5-mph recently.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Brandon Drury in the 79th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability. Brandon Drury is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this matchup. Brandon Drury pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (32.9% — 75th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Brandon Drury has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 90.1-mph to 94.3-mph in the past week's worth of games. In the past week's worth of games, Brandon Drury'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 16.2%.

Framber Valdez will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Matt Thaiss in today's matchup. The Houston Astros don't have any same-handed RPs in their bullpen, so Matt Thaiss is guaranteed to hold the advantage against every reliever the whole game. Matt Thaiss has an 82nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.1%) and will have a big advantage hitting them out towards the league's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Over the last 7 days, Matt Thaiss's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 10.6% up to 33.3%. Matt Thaiss has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 93.5-mph average in the last week to his seasonal 89.1-mph figure.

Eduardo Escobar has gone over 0.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.

Among every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Angels. Home field advantage generally improves hitter metrics in all categories, and Grae Kessinger will hold that advantage in today's game.