Houston @ Chicago Picks & Props

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew Benintendi in the 91st percentile as it relates to his batting average talent. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). The Houston Astros have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Andrew Benintendi has a strong chance of never losing the platoon advantage against the 'pen all game. Andrew Benintendi has a 92nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.9%) and has the good fortune of hitting them in the direction of the game's 5th-shallowest LF fences today. Andrew Benintendi will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which ought to improve all of his stats.

Mauricio Dubon is penciled in 6th in the lineup in this matchup. Guaranteed Rate Field ranks as the #22 park in the majors for righty base hits, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Jonathan Cannon will have the handedness advantage against Mauricio Dubon in today's game... and it's an even larger mismatch considering Cannon's large platoon split. Playing on the road generally weakens batter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Mauricio Dubon in today's game. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Mauricio Dubon's true offensive ability to be a .295, suggesting that he has been lucky this year given the .027 discrepancy between that mark and his actual .322 wOBA.

Guaranteed Rate Field ranks as the #22 park in the majors for righty base hits, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Considering Jonathan Cannon's large platoon split, Alex Bregman will be at a big disadvantage hitting from the same side of the dish in this game. Alex Bregman will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team in today's game. Alex Bregman's 5.3% Barrel% (an advanced stat to evaluate power) is in the 23rd percentile since the start of last season. Alex Bregman's maximum exit velocity (a reliable stat to assess power) has been 107.5 mph since the start of last season, checking in at the 7th percentile.

Guaranteed Rate Field ranks as the #22 park in the majors for righty base hits, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Considering Jonathan Cannon's large platoon split, Yainer Diaz will be at a big disadvantage batting from the same side of the dish in today's game. Yainer Diaz will be at a disadvantage playing on the road in today's matchup. Yainer Diaz has exhibited poor plate discipline this year, ranking in the 18th percentile with a 3.88 K/BB rate.

Guaranteed Rate Field ranks as the #22 park in the majors for righty base hits, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Jonathan Cannon will hold the platoon advantage over Jeremy Pena in today's game... and it's an over-sized mismatch considering Cannon's large platoon split. Jeremy Pena will be at a disadvantage playing on the road in today's game. Since the start of last season, Jeremy Pena's 4% Barrel%, a reliable metric for measuring power, places him in the 14th percentile among his peers. Jeremy Pena's 90.5-mph exit velocity on flyballs (a reliable metric to evaluate power) ranks in the 24th percentile since the start of last season.

Guaranteed Rate Field ranks as the #22 park in the majors for righty base hits, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Jonathan Cannon will hold the platoon advantage against Jose Altuve in today's matchup... and it's an even larger mismatch considering Cannon's large platoon split. Playing on the road generally lowers hitter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Jose Altuve today. Jose Altuve's 86-mph average exit velocity is among the worst in the league since the start of last season: 7th percentile. Hitting the ball to all fields is a key talent for batting average that Jose Altuve has struggled with since the start of last season, as evidenced by his grading out in the 9th percentile on THE BAT X's Spray Score.

As far as temperature and humidity go, the 4th-most suitable hitting weather on the schedule is expected for this contest. Martin Maldonado will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Framber Valdez today. Martin Maldonado pulls a lot of his flyballs (36.2% — 92nd percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards MLB's 5th-shallowest LF fences today. Martin Maldonado will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to bolster all of his stats. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Martin Maldonado's true offensive talent to be a .254, suggesting that he has been unlucky this year given the .127 gap between that figure and his actual .127 wOBA.

The #7 ballpark in the league for suppressing BABIP to LHB, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Guaranteed Rate Field. Yordan Alvarez will be at a disadvantage playing away from home in today's game.

Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-smallest outfield in the majors — generally good for home runs. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Hitting from the same side that Ronel Blanco throws from, Korey Lee will have a tough challenge in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics across the board, and Korey Lee will hold that advantage in today's game.

When it comes to his overall offensive skill, Andrew Vaughn ranks in the 87th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Andrew Vaughn is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card today. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Ronel Blanco will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Andrew Vaughn in today's matchup. Andrew Vaughn has an 80th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.3%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them out towards baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game.

Luis Robert's BABIP talent is projected in the 94th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Luis Robert is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in today's game. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Hitting from the same side that Ronel Blanco throws from, Luis Robert has a tough challenge in today's game. Luis Robert pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.3% — 82nd percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards baseball's 5th-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup.

Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-smallest outfield in the majors — generally good for home runs. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Corey Julks will hold the platoon advantage against Framber Valdez in today's game. Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics across the board, and Corey Julks will hold that advantage today. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average (.261) suggests that Corey Julks has had some very poor luck since the start of last season with his .244 actual batting average.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Tommy Pham in the 81st percentile when it comes to his overall offensive talent. Tommy Pham is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in this matchup. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Ronel Blanco will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Tommy Pham today. Tommy Pham has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.7%) and has the good fortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Meyers in the 76th percentile when assessing his BABIP talent. Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-smallest outfield in the majors — generally good for home runs. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Among every team on the slate today, the 2nd-weakest outfield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. Jake Meyers is in the 99th percentile when it comes to hitting balls between 23° and 34°, the launch angle range that tends to optimize home runs (21.4% rate since the start of last season).

Paul DeJong has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (73% of the time), but he is projected to bat 4th in the batting order today. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Hitting from the same side that Ronel Blanco throws from, Paul DeJong will have a tough matchup today. Paul DeJong pulls a lot of his flyballs (35.5% — 89th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 5th-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Extreme groundball bats like Paul DeJong generally hit better against extreme flyball pitchers like Framber Valdez.

Lenyn Sosa is projected to bat 5th in the lineup in this game. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Hitting from the same side that Ronel Blanco throws from, Lenyn Sosa will have a disadvantage today. Lenyn Sosa has an 88th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.1%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter metrics in all categories, and Lenyn Sosa will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

Jon Singleton is projected to bat 5th in the lineup in this matchup. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Jon Singleton will hold the platoon advantage against Jonathan Cannon in today's matchup... and the cherry on top, Cannon has a large platoon split. Jon Singleton pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35.5% — 89th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the league's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Among every team on the slate today, the 2nd-weakest outfield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox.

The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Hitting from the opposite that Framber Valdez throws from, Danny Mendick will have the upper hand in today's matchup. Danny Mendick has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.7%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of MLB's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Danny Mendick will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which should boost all of his stats. Danny Mendick has gotten much quicker this season, improving from last season's 25.55 ft/sec to 26.47 ft/sec now (according to Statcast's Sprint Speed metric).

Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-smallest outfield in the majors — generally good for home runs. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Among every team on the slate today, the 2nd-weakest outfield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. Since the start of last season, Victor Caratini has an average exit velocity of 91.3 mph, which is among the best in the majors at the 87th percentile.

Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-smallest outfield in the majors — generally good for home runs. The weather forecast expects temperatures in this contest to reach the highest level of all games today at 88°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts). Trey Cabbage will hold the platoon advantage over Jonathan Cannon in today's matchup... and the cherry on top, Cannon has a large platoon split. Among every team on the slate today, the 2nd-weakest outfield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. Since the start of last season, the hardest ball Trey Cabbage has hit reached a maximum exit velocity of 112.8 mph (an advanced standard to measure power), checking in at the 84th percentile.

Chas McCormick has gone over 0.5 in 6 of his last 10 games.