Minnesota @ Texas Picks & Props

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Max Kepler in the 88th percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill. Max Kepler is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this game. Max Kepler will have the handedness advantage against Jon Gray in today's matchup. Max Kepler has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 92.1-mph to 96.4-mph in the last 14 days. Max Kepler has posted a .358 Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year, checking in at the 84th percentile for hitting ability according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Among all the teams playing today, the weakest infield defense is that of the the Minnesota Twins. Home field advantage typically boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Jonah Heim will hold that advantage today. Jonah Heim's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved from last year to this one, rising from 13.4% to 18.8%.

Matt Wallner will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Jon Gray in today's matchup. Matt Wallner's launch angle recently (31.7° in the last week's worth of games) is significantly higher than his 22.5° seasonal figure. Matt Wallner has posted a .357 Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year, placing in the 89th percentile for hitting ability according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data. Matt Wallner has recorded a .362 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, placing in the 88th percentile.

When assessing his BABIP talent, Edouard Julien is projected as the 7th-best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Edouard Julien is projected to hit 1st in the batting order in today's game. Edouard Julien will have the handedness advantage against Jon Gray in today's game. Based on Statcast data, Edouard Julien is in the 89th percentile for offensive skills per the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year at .364. In notching a .360 wOBA (a leading indicator of offensive ability) this year, Edouard Julien finds himself in the 86th percentile.

Among all the teams playing today, the weakest infield defense is that of the the Minnesota Twins. Robbie Grossman will benefit from the home field advantage today, which should boost all of his stats. In the past two weeks' worth of games, Robbie Grossman has significantly improved the launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls: 27.2° compared to his seasonal mark of 15.5°.

Joey Gallo will have the handedness advantage against Jon Gray in today's matchup. This season, Joey Gallo has experienced a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 99.9 mph compared to last year's 97.9 mph mark. Joey Gallo's average launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls this year (35.7°) is a considerable increase over his 32.4° angle last year. This year, Joey Gallo's 19.5% Barrel%, a reliable metric for measuring power, places him in the 97th percentile among his peers.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Carlos Correa in the 91st percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability. Carlos Correa is projected to hit 5th in the lineup in this matchup. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Carlos Correa's true offensive ability to be a .353, implying that he has had bad variance on his side this year given the .049 gap between that mark and his actual .304 wOBA.

Leody Taveras's BABIP skill is projected in the 80th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Among all the teams playing today, the weakest infield defense is that of the the Minnesota Twins. Home field advantage generally improves batter metrics in all categories, and Leody Taveras will hold that advantage today. Leody Taveras has made substantial strides with his Barrel% lately, upping his 7.3% seasonal rate to 15.4% in the past week. In terms of his batting average, Leody Taveras has been unlucky this year. His .260 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .296.

Last season, Christian Vazquez had an average launch angle of 10.4° on his hardest-contacted balls, while this season it has significantly increased to 14.5°. In terms of his batting average, Christian Vazquez has had bad variance on his side this year. His .221 figure falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .255.

Royce Lewis is projected to hit 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. Compared to his seasonal average of 16.1°, Royce Lewis has significantly improved his launch angle lately, posting a 32.2° mark in the past two weeks' worth of games. Royce Lewis's maximum exit velocity (a reliable standard to study power) has been 114 mph this year, checking in at the 91st percentile. Royce Lewis has posted a .366 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, placing in the 90th percentile. Checking in at the 93rd percentile, Royce Lewis has put up a .298 batting average this year.

Willi Castro has gone over 0.5 in 7 of his last 10 games.