New York @ Houston Picks & Props

When assessing his overall offensive talent, Jose Altuve ranks in the 94th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Jose Altuve is projected to bat 1st in the lineup today. Jose Altuve will have the handedness advantage over Carlos Rodon in today's matchup. Jose Altuve pulls a lot of his flyballs (39% — 98th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Jose Altuve will possess the home field advantage today, which figures to improve all of his stats.

Chas McCormick's BABIP talent is projected in the 84th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Chas McCormick will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Carlos Rodon in today's matchup. Chas McCormick will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats. Chas McCormick has seen a substantial increase in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 97.5-mph average in the last week's worth of games to his seasonal EV of 95.3-mph. In the past week, Chas McCormick's 73.7% rate of hitting balls at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 46.8%.

Jake Meyers's BABIP ability is projected in the 82nd percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Minute Maid Park has the shallowest left field dimensions in the majors. Jake Meyers will have the handedness advantage over Carlos Rodon in today's game. Jake Meyers will benefit from the home field advantage today, which figures to boost all of his stats. Jake Meyers grades out in the 97th percentile when it comes to hitting balls between 23° and 34°, the launch angle range that tends to optimize home runs (20.8% rate this year).

Martin Maldonado will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Carlos Rodon in today's game. Martin Maldonado pulls a lot of his flyballs (34.9% — 89th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Martin Maldonado will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which should bolster all of his stats. Martin Maldonado's launch angle this season (17.2°) is considerably higher than his 14.1° mark last year. Martin Maldonado's launch angle in recent games (27° in the last week) is a significant increase over his 17.2° seasonal figure.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Giancarlo Stanton in the 94th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill. Giancarlo Stanton is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in this game. Minute Maid Park has the shallowest left field dimensions in the majors. Over the last week, Giancarlo Stanton's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 95.5-mph over the course of the season to 111.1-mph lately. Giancarlo Stanton has been unlucky this year, putting up a .308 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .358 — a .050 discrepancy.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Everson Pereira in the 87th percentile when estimating his BABIP ability. Minute Maid Park has the shallowest left field dimensions in the majors. In the past 14 days, Everson Pereira's maximum exit velocity (a strong proxy for recent form and raw power) has been 111.8-mph, which qualifies as one of the hardest-hit balls in the game.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Aaron Judge ranks as the best hitter in Major League Baseball. Aaron Judge is penciled in 2nd in the lineup today. Aaron Judge pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.5% — 81st 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. Aaron Judge has seen a big gain in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 101.3-mph average to last season's 99.3-mph figure. There has been a significant improvement in Aaron Judge's launch angle from last year's 14.6° to 21.7° this season.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the 84th percentile when assessing his batting average talent. Last year, Isiah Kiner-Falefa had an average launch angle of 3.5° on his highest exit velocity balls, while this season it has significantly increased to 6.8°. As it relates to his batting average, Isiah Kiner-Falefa has had bad variance on his side this year. His .247 rate falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .274.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Gleyber Torres in the 91st percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. Gleyber Torres is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card in this matchup. Gleyber Torres has made significant strides with his Barrel% lately, improving his 8.6% seasonal rate to 15.8% over the last 7 days. Gleyber Torres has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 92.8-mph average in the past two weeks to his seasonal 89.6-mph average. Gleyber Torres's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased lately, rising from 18.8% on the season to 36.8% in the last 7 days.

Over the last 7 days, Oswald Peraza's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 3.6% up to 9.1%. Oswald Peraza has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 87.7-mph to 93.7-mph in the last week's worth of games. Over the last 7 days, Oswald Peraza's 36.4% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 14.5%. When it comes to his wOBA and overall offense, Oswald Peraza has been unlucky this year. His .209 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .264. When it comes to plate discipline, Oswald Peraza's skill is quite strong, sporting a 2.2 K/BB rate since the start of last season while placing in in the 78th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects DJ LeMahieu in the 85th percentile as it relates to his batting average talent. DJ LeMahieu is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in this matchup. In the past week's worth of games, DJ LeMahieu's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 6.7% up to 26.3%. DJ LeMahieu has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 93.6-mph average over the last 7 days to his seasonal 90-mph EV. DJ LeMahieu's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased of late, going from 12.7% on the season to 36.8% over the last 7 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Abreu in the 87th percentile as it relates to his batting average ability. Jose Abreu is penciled in 5th on the lineup card in this game. Jose Abreu will hold the platoon advantage against Carlos Rodon today. Jose Abreu will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should improve all of his stats. Jose Abreu has made sizeable strides with his Barrel% of late, improving his 7.4% seasonal rate to 21.4% over the last week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 94th percentile when assessing his BABIP skill. Minute Maid Park has the shallowest left field dimensions in the majors. Jeremy Pena will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Carlos Rodon in today's matchup. Extreme flyball hitters like Jeremy Pena tend to be more successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Carlos Rodon. Jeremy Pena will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats.