Chicago @ Washington Picks & Props

CJ Abrams is projected to bat 1st on the lineup card in this matchup, which would be an upgrade from his 56% rate of hitting in the top-half of the lineup this season. In the majors, Nationals Park's RF dimensions are the 6th-shallowest. Out of every team on the slate today, the 5th-worst outfield defense is that of the the Chicago White Sox. CJ Abrams will benefit from the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats. CJ Abrams has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 96.5-mph average in the last 14 days to his seasonal mark of 92.2-mph.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Nationals Park as the 3rd-worst stadium in the majors for righty BABIP. Josiah Gray will have the handedness advantage over Tim Anderson today... and it's a particular mismatch considering Gray's large platoon split. Tim Anderson will be at a disadvantage playing away from home in today's matchup. Tim Anderson has been cold in recent games, with his seasonal exit velocity of 88-mph dropping to 85.4-mph over the last 14 days. Tim Anderson's launch angle recently (-4° in the last two weeks) is considerably lower than his 1.4° seasonal mark.

Andrew Vaughn's batting average ability is projected to be in the 87th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Andrew Vaughn has an 82nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.8%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them out towards baseball's 10th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. There has been a significant improvement in Andrew Vaughn's launch angle from last year's 7° to 11.4° this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Alu in the 84th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability. In the majors, Nationals Park's RF dimensions are the 6th-shallowest. Out of every team on the slate today, the 5th-worst outfield defense is that of the the Chicago White Sox. Jake Alu will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats. Despite posting a .232 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Jake Alu has experienced some negative variance given the .111 deviation between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .343.

Jacob Young's BABIP skill is projected in the 79th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Out of every team on the slate today, the 5th-worst outfield defense is that of the the Chicago White Sox. Jacob Young will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Jacob Young's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved in recent games, going from 18.8% on the season to 25% over the last 7 days. Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.295) suggests that Jacob Young has experienced some negative variance this year with his .274 actual wOBA.

Out of every team on the slate today, the 5th-worst outfield defense is that of the the Chicago White Sox. Carter Kieboom will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

Dominic Smith is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this matchup. In the majors, Nationals Park's RF dimensions are the 6th-shallowest. Out of every team on the slate today, the 5th-worst outfield defense is that of the the Chicago White Sox. Dominic Smith will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats. Dominic Smith has made big strides with his Barrel% recently, improving his 6.2% seasonal rate to 22.2% in the past two weeks' worth of games.

Keibert Ruiz is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in this matchup. Keibert Ruiz pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (37% — 95th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game's 10th-shallowest RF fences today. Out of every team on the slate today, the 5th-worst outfield defense is that of the the Chicago White Sox. Keibert Ruiz will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats. In the past week's worth of games, Keibert Ruiz's 25% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 15.3%.

Joey Meneses projects as the 10th-best hitter in baseball, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Joey Meneses is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order today. Joey Meneses has a 90th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.8%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards baseball's 10th-shallowest RF fences today. Out of every team on the slate today, the 5th-worst outfield defense is that of the the Chicago White Sox. Joey Meneses will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should improve all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Eloy Jimenez in the 91st percentile when it comes to his batting average skill. Eloy Jimenez is projected to hit 4th in the lineup today. Eloy Jimenez has an 80th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.6%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards baseball's 10th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. In the past week, Eloy Jimenez's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 92.5-mph over the course of the season to 100.1-mph in recent games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Gavin Sheets in the 88th percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability. Gavin Sheets will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Josiah Gray today... and the cherry on top, Gray has a large platoon split. Gavin Sheets pulls many of his flyballs (34.7% — 86th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the league's 10th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Gavin Sheets has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 91.9-mph average to last year's 89.6-mph figure. In the last two weeks' worth of games, Gavin Sheets's 40% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 16.9%.

In the majors, Nationals Park's RF dimensions are the 6th-shallowest. Yasmani Grandal's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved from last season to this one, going from 8.8% to 12.3%. Yasmani Grandal's speed has improved this year. His 22.04 ft/sec Statcast Sprint Speed last season sits at 22.8 ft/sec now.

Korey Lee has gone over 0.5 in 2 of his last 10 games.