Kansas City @ Oakland Picks & Props

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Drew Waters as the 19th-best batter in the majors as it relates to his BABIP talent. Dingers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 9th-shallowest among all major league parks. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics.

Dingers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 9th-shallowest among all major league parks. Nelson Velazquez will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Hogan Harris in today's game. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics. Compared to his seasonal average of 8.3°, Nelson Velazquez has significantly improved his launch angle lately, posting a 12° figure in the past 7 days.

Dingers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 9th-shallowest among all major league parks. Shea Langeliers will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats. Shea Langeliers has been unlucky this year, putting up a .277 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .319 — a .042 gap.

Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics. Kyle Isbel's launch angle this season (13.9°) is a significant increase over his 10.5° mark last year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bobby Witt Jr. as the 18th-best hitter in Major League Baseball when assessing his batting average ability. Bobby Witt Jr. is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card today. Bobby Witt Jr. will hold the platoon advantage over Hogan Harris today. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics. Bobby Witt Jr. has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 93.5-mph average to last year's 90.1-mph EV.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Maikel Garcia in the 94th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. Maikel Garcia is projected to bat 1st in the batting order today. Maikel Garcia will hold the platoon advantage over Hogan Harris in today's game. Extreme groundball batters like Maikel Garcia tend to perform better against extreme flyball pitchers like Hogan Harris. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Dairon Blanco in the 91st percentile when estimating his BABIP talent. Dairon Blanco will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Hogan Harris in today's matchup. Extreme groundball batters like Dairon Blanco tend to be more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Hogan Harris. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics. Dairon Blanco has gotten much quicker this year, improving from last season's 28.86 ft/sec to 30.36 ft/sec now (according to Statcast's Sprint Speed metric).

Michael Massey is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in this matchup, which would be an upgrade from his 56% rate of hitting in the top-half of the batting order this year. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics. Michael Massey has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 92.7-mph average in the last 7 days to his seasonal 90-mph figure. In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Michael Massey has experienced some negative variance this year. His .280 rate falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .330.

When assessing his overall offensive talent, Salvador Perez ranks in the 78th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Salvador Perez is penciled in 4th on the lineup card in this matchup. Dingers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 9th-shallowest among all major league parks. Salvador Perez will hold the platoon advantage over Hogan Harris in today's matchup. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics.

Zack Gelof's BABIP ability is projected in the 95th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Zack Gelof is penciled in 2nd in the lineup in this matchup. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Zack Gelof will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Zack Gelof's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased lately, going from 48.2% on the season to 75% over the last 7 days. Zack Gelof has recorded a .293 Expected Batting Average since the start of last season, placing in the 96th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jordan Diaz in the 79th percentile when assessing his batting average skill. Home field advantage typically boosts batter stats in all categories, and Jordan Diaz will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

Freddy Fermin has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (100% of the time), but he is penciled in 5th on the lineup card in today's game. Dingers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 9th-shallowest among all major league parks. Freddy Fermin will hold the platoon advantage over Hogan Harris today. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics. Posting a .297 Expected Batting Average (an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) using Statcast data) this year , Freddy Fermin finds himself in the 95th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Brent Rooker in the 78th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill. Brent Rooker is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in this game. Dingers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 9th-shallowest among all major league parks. Brent Rooker will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should improve all of his stats. Brent Rooker has made significant improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, upping his 14.7% seasonal rate to 27.3% in the last week.

Samad Taylor will hold the platoon advantage against Hogan Harris today. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics. Ranking in the 92nd percentile for Sprint Speed at 29.1 ft/sec this year, Samad Taylor is remarkably quick.

Ryan Noda is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this game. Ryan Noda will possess the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats. This year, Ryan Noda's 14.6% Barrel%, an advanced standard for measuring power, places him in the 93rd percentile among his peers. Grading out in the 86th percentile, the hardest ball Ryan Noda has hit this year reached a maximum exit velocity of 113.9 mph -- a reliable indication of underlying power ability. Ryan Noda has done a strong job optimizing his launch angle on his hardest-hit balls. His 21.2° figure is among the highest in the league this year (92nd percentile).

Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics across the board, and Nick Allen will hold that advantage today. Nick Allen has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 88.2-mph average to last season's 85.9-mph EV. Nick Allen has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his batting average this year; his .199 BA is considerably lower than his .251 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Aledmys Diaz is projected to hit 5th in the lineup today. Dingers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 9th-shallowest among all major league parks. Home field advantage typically bolsters batter metrics in all categories, and Aledmys Diaz will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Aledmys Diaz has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 95.8-mph average in the past 7 days to his seasonal 88.4-mph mark. In the past 7 days, Aledmys Diaz'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 44.1%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Matt Duffy in the 86th percentile as it relates to his BABIP talent. Matt Duffy will have the handedness advantage over Hogan Harris in today's game. Extreme groundball bats like Matt Duffy tend to be more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Hogan Harris. Among all the teams today, the 4th-worst outfield defense belongs to the Oakland Athletics.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Esteury Ruiz in the 83rd percentile when assessing his BABIP skill. Dingers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 9th-shallowest among all major league parks. Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter metrics in all categories, and Esteury Ruiz will hold that advantage today. Esteury Ruiz has seen a big gain in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 85.8-mph average over the last 14 days to his seasonal 82.9-mph average. In the last two weeks' worth of games, Esteury Ruiz's 37.5% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 16%.

Lawrence Butler has gone over 0.5 in 5 of his last 10 games.