MLB Picks

Kyle Schwarber has gone deep in each of the last four games he has played against the Rangers, and  has a home run off Gore in his career.

Jesus Luzardo went 4-1 with a 5.11 ERA against the American League in 2025.

Gunnar Henderson has a home run against Twins starter Bailey Ober in his career, and Ober struggled in the spring, with a WHIP of 1.769 and less than a strikeout every two innings. Look for Henderson to break through in game three. 

Byron Buxton projects as the 10th-best home run hitter in the league, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Byron Buxton is penciled in 2nd in the lineup today.. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 4th-strongest of the day for bats.. The Baltimore Orioles infield defense profiles as the 11th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.. Byron Buxton has put up a .360 Expected wOBA (xwOBA) since the start of last season, grading out in the 90th percentile for hitting ability according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

The Royals will start 36-year-old innings-eater Seth Lugo, who gave up three home runs in nine spring innings. The Atlanta Braves lineup took him deep twice when they faced him last year, and Austin Riley has a career .910 OPS against Lugo with two home runs. 

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Grant Holmes in the 85th percentile when assessing his strikeout ability.. Tallying 94.3 adjusted pitches per game per started since the start of last season on average, Grant Holmes places in the 91st percentile.. Gabe Morales projects as a Pitchers Umpire and is expected to be calling pitches in this game.. The #10 ballpark in the league for boosting strikeouts, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Truist Park.. According to the weather report, the temperature and humidity for this matchup will be the 8th-best for pitching of all games on the slate.

Morales is a fastball pitcher who was hit hard last season and throughout spring. He allowed eight homers in 10 appearances last season, and gave up three homers in his final three starts of spring. 

Springer handles a fastball extremely well, sporting a 1.076 OPS against the pitch last season with a team-high 14 home runs. He hit them hard, too, with a .746 xSLG and a hard-hit rate of 55%. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ranked in the 89th percentile in walk rate last season among all qualified hitters in baseball. He’s picked up right where he left off last season with walks in back-to-back games to start the season, totaling three walks in those games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ezequiel Tovar in the 79th percentile when estimating his BABIP ability.. Ezequiel Tovar is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in today's game.. The 6th-shallowest CF fences among all parks are found in LoanDepot Park.. The LoanDepot Park roof projects to be closed today, making the temperature in this contest 15° hotter than the average outdoor game on the slate — favorable for offense.. Extreme flyball hitters like Ezequiel Tovar tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Max Meyer.

Jakob Marsee is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in this game.. The LoanDepot Park roof projects to be closed today, making the temperature in this contest 15° hotter than the average outdoor game on the slate — favorable for offense.. Jakob Marsee is assured to hold the platoon advantage against every reliever the entire game since none of the available options for the Colorado Rockies share his handedness.. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Jakob Marsee will hold that advantage in today's matchup.. In notching a .354 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, Jakob Marsee is positioned in the 92nd percentile for hitting ability.

After an injury interrupted his debut season last year, Roman Anthony is ready to take a star turn. He had an OPS+ of 140 in 71 games last year and is ready to make up for lost time. Anthony had two WBC homers for Team USA and hit .300 in spring training for Boston when not with the national team. In two games that count, he's gotten four hits. 

Connolly Early has a live arm but had a tough spring. Rhett Lowder missed a full season and was hit hard this spring. We’ll likely see the bullpens early, and Boston has the better one. 

Juan Soto projects as the 3rd-best batter in the majors, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Juan Soto is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in this game.. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 16.1-mph in this match-up, the best of the day for bats.. Batting from the opposite that Carmen Mlodzinski throws from, Juan Soto will have an advantage in today's game.. Juan Soto hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.5% — 89th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing the game's shallowest CF fences today.

Tatsuya Imai makes his much-awaited MLB debut, and the Angels have come out of the gate swinging. Jack Kochanowicz has command issues, but Houston's offense and the rookie pitcher are too difficult to trust.

When it comes to his home run skill, Jorge Soler ranks in the 96th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Jorge Soler is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in today's game.. The #6 field in the league for boosting home runs to right-handed hitters, via the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Minute Maid Park.. The Minute Maid Park roof projects to be closed today, making conditions in this game 15° hotter than the average outdoor game of all games today — favorable for offense.. In terms of his home runs, Jorge Soler has had bad variance on his side since the start of last season. His 22.2 HR per 600 plate appearances rate has been a good deal lower than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected HR/600 at 26.3.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) expects Anthony Kay to be on a pitch count in this game, projecting a maximum of 80 pitches.. The Milwaukee Brewers (20.7 K% (via the leading projection system, THE BAT X) are forecasted to have the 4th-least strikeout-prone team of batters on the slate today.. It is scheduled that we will see a Huge Hitters Umpire (Carlos Torres) calling pitches in today's game.. Edgar Quero, the White Sox's expected catcher today, grades out as a horrible pitch framer according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).. American Family Field sits at the 8th-highest elevation among all stadiums. High elevation often leads to higher offensive output.

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Miguel Vargas ranks in the 89th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Miguel Vargas is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles American Family Field as the 8th-best ballpark in Major League Baseball for right-handed home runs.. American Family Field has the 6th-shortest fence height (on average) in MLB.. American Family Field sits at the 8th-highest elevation among all stadiums. High elevation often leads to higher offensive output.

Cedric Mullins has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this season (50% of the time), but he is penciled in 3rd in the lineup today.. Among all major league stadiums, Busch Stadium has the 9th-lowest average fence height.. The weather report calls for the 5th-most favorable hitting weather on the slate today, as it relates to temperature and humidity.. Cedric Mullins will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Dustin May in today's game... and even better, May has a huge platoon split.. The St. Louis Cardinals have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Cedric Mullins can likely count on never losing the platoon advantage against the 'pen all game.

Irvin coughed up nearly two home runs per nine frames in 2025, and left-handed bats slugged .500 with a .384 wOBA across 100 ⅔ innings.

As previously mentioned, Busch has already tasted success against Irvin, and he’s lit up the Nats pitchers during this series, with a good chance to go yard today. 

 

Imanaga throws strikes, limits walks (1.53 per nine), and works efficiently enough to pitch into the middle innings. He doesn’t need a dominant outing to get there, just his typical steady execution. 

With Washington already prone to strikeouts, the opportunities should be there throughout his outing. This sets up as a solid spot for Imanaga to reach five strikeouts.

 

Text.

Two starters, Slade Cecconi and Emerson Hancock, who struggle to limit baserunners, will be in for a rude awakening. This number is far too low based on the arms taking the bump.