New York @ Tampa Bay Picks & Props

Tropicana Field grades out as the #27 ballpark in the league for right-handed BABIP, via the leading projection system (THE BAT). The Tropicana Field roof figures to be closed today, making conditions in this contest -5° colder than the average outdoor game of all games on the slate today — favorable for pitching. Gerrit Cole will have the handedness advantage over Harold Ramirez in today's matchup. Harold Ramirez hits many of his flyballs to center field (40% — 98th percentile) and will be challenged by baseball's 9th-deepest CF fences in today's game. Over the past 7 days, Harold Ramirez's 0% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 14.3%.

Tropicana Field grades out as the #27 ballpark in the league for right-handed BABIP, via the leading projection system (THE BAT). The Tropicana Field roof figures to be closed today, making conditions in this contest -5° colder than the average outdoor game of all games on the slate today — favorable for pitching. Gerrit Cole will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Yandy Diaz today. Yandy Diaz has been lucky in regards to with his wOBA this year; his .394 mark is considerably higher than his .368 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Luke Raley in the 80th percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill. Luke Raley will have the handedness advantage over Gerrit Cole in today's matchup. The New York Yankees have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Luke Raley stands a good chance of holding the platoon advantage against every reliever all game. Luke Raley will hold the home field advantage today, which ought to improve all of his stats. Luke Raley has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 91.2-mph to 93.4-mph in the last two weeks' worth of games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the 83rd percentile as it relates to his batting average skill. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this year (81% of the time), but he is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in today's game. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has a 93rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (38.1%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards MLB's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 95.9-mph average in the last two weeks' worth of games to his seasonal mark of 88.9-mph. There has been a significant improvement in Isiah Kiner-Falefa's launch angle from last year's 4.3° to 7.4° this season.

Osleivis Basabe's BABIP ability is projected in the 83rd percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). The 6th-shallowest LF fences in the majors are found in Tropicana Field. The New York Yankees outfield defense projects as the 5th-worst out of every team today. Osleivis Basabe will possess the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats. Osleivis Basabe has been hot in recent games, tallying a .384 wOBA in the last two weeks.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects DJ LeMahieu in the 85th percentile when assessing his batting average ability. DJ LeMahieu is projected to bat 1st in the batting order in this matchup. DJ LeMahieu has a 99th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (43.6%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. DJ LeMahieu has been unlucky in regards to his batting average this year; his .239 figure is deflated compared to his .257 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Oswald Peraza has been unlucky this year, putting up a .241 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .306 — a .065 disparity.

The New York Yankees outfield defense projects as the 5th-worst out of every team today. Christian Bethancourt will hold the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Over the last two weeks, Christian Bethancourt's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 94.2-mph over the course of the season to 96.9-mph in recent games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Everson Pereira in the 90th percentile when it comes to his BABIP skill. The 6th-shallowest LF fences in the majors are found in Tropicana Field. Everson Pereira has been hot lately, compiling a 94.6-mph average exit velocity over the past 7 days.

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Giancarlo Stanton ranks in the 95th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Giancarlo Stanton is penciled in 4th in the lineup in today's game. The 6th-shallowest LF fences in the majors are found in Tropicana Field. Giancarlo Stanton has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 96.9-mph average over the past 7 days to his seasonal 92.9-mph EV. Despite posting a .313 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Giancarlo Stanton has suffered from bad luck given the .053 difference between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .366.

The 6th-shallowest LF fences in the majors are found in Tropicana Field. Anthony Volpe has made sizeable strides with his Barrel% in recent games, upping his 9.4% seasonal rate to 17.9% in the last two weeks. In the past 14 days, Anthony Volpe has significantly improved the launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls: 23.6° compared to his seasonal mark of 14.8°. As it relates to his batting average, Anthony Volpe has experienced some negative variance this year. His .214 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .255.

Rene Pinto has gone over 0.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.