Boston @ Houston Picks & Props

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 94th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. Minute Maid Park grades out as the #10 ballpark in the game for right-handed base hits, via the leading projection system (THE BAT). Among all major league parks, Minute Maid Park's LF fences are the shallowest. Jeremy Pena will possess the home field advantage today, which ought to improve all of his stats. Jeremy Pena has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his batting average this year; his .253 figure is quite a bit lower than his .274 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Minute Maid Park grades out as the #10 ballpark in the game for right-handed base hits, via the leading projection system (THE BAT). Luis Urias pulls many of his flyballs (34% — 83rd percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. The Houston Astros infield defense projects as the 2nd-weakest among every team today. Luis Urias has made sizeable strides with his Barrel% of late, upping his 9.1% seasonal rate to 25% in the past week. In the last week, Luis Urias's 50% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 18.2%.

Triston Casas has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (78% of the time), but he is penciled in 5th in the batting order in today's game. Triston Casas will have the handedness advantage over J.P. France today. The Houston Astros don't have any same-handed relievers in their bullpen, so Triston Casas is guaranteed to never lose the platoon advantage against the bullpen the whole game. The Houston Astros infield defense projects as the 2nd-weakest among every team today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Alex Verdugo in the 96th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. Alex Verdugo is projected to bat 1st in the batting order in this matchup. The #10 park in Major League Baseball for boosting base hits to LHB, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Minute Maid Park. Alex Verdugo will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against J.P. France in today's game. The Houston Astros don't have any same-handed RPs in their bullpen, so Alex Verdugo is guaranteed to never face a bullpen mismatch the whole game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Connor Wong in the 79th percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability. Minute Maid Park grades out as the #10 ballpark in the game for right-handed base hits, via the leading projection system (THE BAT). Among all major league parks, Minute Maid Park's LF fences are the shallowest. The Houston Astros infield defense projects as the 2nd-weakest among every team today. Over the past 7 days, Connor Wong's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 92.7-mph over the course of the season to 101.1-mph recently.

Built just 20 feet above sea level, Minute Maid Park has one of the lowest altitudes in MLB, which generally leads to lower offensive output. The Minute Maid Park roof figures to be closed today, making conditions in this contest -11° colder than the average outdoor game on the schedule today — favorable for pitching. Brayan Bello will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Jose Altuve in today's game. Out of every team in action today, the 5th-best infield defense is that of the Boston Red Sox. Jose Altuve's average exit velocity has fallen off lately; his 86.9-mph seasonal EV has dropped to 82.6-mph over the past week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Trevor Story in the 79th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill. Among all major league parks, Minute Maid Park's LF fences are the shallowest. The Houston Astros infield defense projects as the 2nd-weakest among every team today.

Martin Maldonado pulls a lot of his flyballs (34.9% — 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 game. Martin Maldonado will hold the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Chas McCormick in the 83rd percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill. Minute Maid Park grades out as the #10 ballpark in the game for right-handed base hits, via the leading projection system (THE BAT). Home field advantage typically boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Chas McCormick will hold that advantage in today's game. Chas McCormick has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 95.6-mph average to last year's 93.4-mph mark. Last year, Chas McCormick had an average launch angle of 18.6° on his highest exit velocity balls, while this year it has significantly increased to 23.9°.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Yordan Alvarez ranks as the 2nd-best batter in the league. Yordan Alvarez is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in today's game. The #10 park in Major League Baseball for boosting base hits to LHB, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Minute Maid Park. Homers are generally more common at fields with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the shallowest in Major League Baseball. Yordan Alvarez will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Brayan Bello in today's matchup.

Minute Maid Park grades out as the #10 ballpark in the game for right-handed base hits, via the leading projection system (THE BAT). Among all major league parks, Minute Maid Park's LF fences are the shallowest. The Houston Astros infield defense projects as the 2nd-weakest among every team today. Pablo Reyes has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.8-mph to 91.2-mph over the last 7 days. Sporting a .326 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) based on Statcast data) since the start of last season, Pablo Reyes is ranked in the 75th percentile for hitting ability.

Minute Maid Park grades out as the #10 ballpark in the game for right-handed base hits, via the leading projection system (THE BAT). Home field advantage generally boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Corey Julks will hold that advantage in today's game. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.312) provides evidence that Corey Julks has had bad variance on his side this year with his .288 actual wOBA. Corey Julks ranks in the 95th percentile when it comes to hitting balls between -4° and 26°, the launch angle range that tends to result the most in base hits (50.2% rate this year).

The #10 park in Major League Baseball for boosting base hits to LHB, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Minute Maid Park. Jon Singleton will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Brayan Bello in today's game. The Boston Red Sox have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Jon Singleton can likely count on never facing a bullpen mismatch all game. Extreme groundball bats like Jon Singleton are generally more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Brayan Bello. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Jon Singleton will hold that advantage in today's game.