Los Angeles @ Houston Picks & Props

Chas McCormick's BABIP talent is projected in the 85th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Chas McCormick will have the handedness advantage over Justin Wrobleski in today's game. Chas McCormick will benefit from the home field advantage today, which ought to boost all of his stats. Chas McCormick has gotten much quicker this season, improving from last season's 28.09 ft/sec to 28.67 ft/sec now (according to Statcast's Sprint Speed metric). Despite posting a .267 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Chas McCormick has suffered from bad luck given the .047 deviation between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .314.

Nick Ahmed pulls many of his flyballs (35.3% — 88th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the league's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Last season, Nick Ahmed had an average launch angle of 11.7° on his highest exit velocity balls, while this year it has significantly increased to 14.9°.

When assessing his BABIP skill, Teoscar Hernandez is projected as the 10th-best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Teoscar Hernandez is projected to hit 4th in the lineup today. Teoscar Hernandez has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 91.5-mph to 94.6-mph over the past week. In the past 14 days, Teoscar Hernandez has significantly improved the launch angle on his hardest-hit balls: 19.8° compared to his seasonal mark of 15.1°. Utilizing Statcast data, Teoscar Hernandez ranks in the 84th percentile for offensive ability per the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year at .344.

Shohei Ohtani projects as the 4th-best batter in MLB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Shohei Ohtani is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in today's game. It is likely that we will see a Pitchers Umpire (David Rackley) behind the plate in this game. Minute Maid Park ranks as the #24 park in baseball for base hits, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Minute Maid Park has the 3rd-tallest average fence height among all stadiums.

Yainer Diaz's batting average ability is projected to be in the 97th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Yainer Diaz is penciled in 4th in the lineup in today's game. Yainer Diaz will have the handedness advantage over Justin Wrobleski today. Yainer Diaz will possess the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.336) provides evidence that Yainer Diaz has been unlucky this year with his .306 actual wOBA.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 92nd percentile when estimating his batting average talent. Jose Altuve is projected to bat 1st in the batting order in today's game. Batting from the opposite that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Jose Altuve will have the upper hand today. Jose Altuve pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (41.8% — 99th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Jose Altuve will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats.

When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Alex Bregman ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Alex Bregman is projected to hit 2nd in the lineup in this matchup. Alex Bregman will hold the platoon advantage over Justin Wrobleski in today's matchup. Alex Bregman will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to improve all of his stats. Alex Bregman has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.5-mph to 95.1-mph in the past week's worth of games.

Kike Hernandez has seen a substantial increase in his exit velocity this season; just compare his 90.3-mph average to last year's 87.8-mph EV. Despite posting a .260 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Kike Hernandez has been unlucky given the .033 disparity between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .293.

Yordan Alvarez projects as the 2nd-best hitter in baseball, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Yordan Alvarez is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card in this matchup. Yordan Alvarez will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats. Yordan Alvarez has made substantial gains with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 14.7% seasonal rate to 31.3% in the last week. Yordan Alvarez has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 93.2-mph to 100.2-mph in the past two weeks.

Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest LF dimensions in the league. Batting from the opposite that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Jake Meyers will have the upper hand in today's matchup. Home field advantage generally improves batter metrics across the board, and Jake Meyers will hold that advantage today. Compared to his seasonal average of 14.5°, Jake Meyers has significantly improved his launch angle in recent games, posting a 20.6° mark in the last two weeks. Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased from last season to this one, going from 40% to 46.9%.

Andy Pages is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this game. Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest LF dimensions in the league. Andy Pages has made sizeable strides with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 10.6% seasonal rate to 16.7% in the past week's worth of games. Andy Pages's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased in recent games, increasing from 45.8% on the season to 75% over the last 7 days. Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.332) provides evidence that Andy Pages has had some very poor luck this year with his .300 actual wOBA.

Jason Heyward is projected to bat 5th in the batting order today, which would be an upgrade from his 86% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season. Jason Heyward will hold the platoon advantage against Ronel Blanco in today's matchup. Jason Heyward has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 96.1-mph average in the past 7 days to his seasonal EV of 92.1-mph. When it comes to his batting average, Jason Heyward has had bad variance on his side this year. His .202 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .231. In terms of plate discipline, Jason Heyward's skill is quite good, posting a 1.64 K/BB rate this year while checking in at in the 91st percentile.

Gavin Lux has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (96% of the time), but he is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card today. Batting from the opposite that Ronel Blanco throws from, Gavin Lux will have the upper hand in today's game. In the past week, Gavin Lux's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 4.3% up to 16.7%. In the last two weeks, Gavin Lux has significantly improved the launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls: 23° compared to his seasonal mark of 8.1°. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Gavin Lux's true offensive skill to be a .305, suggesting that he has had bad variance on his side this year given the .031 deviation between that mark and his actual .274 wOBA.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 95th percentile when estimating his batting average ability. Jeremy Pena is projected to hit 5th in the batting order in this game. Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest LF dimensions in the league. Jeremy Pena will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Justin Wrobleski in today's game. Jeremy Pena will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should bolster all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 84th percentile when estimating his batting average talent. Hitting from the opposite that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Mauricio Dubon will have the upper hand in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Mauricio Dubon will hold that advantage in today's game. Placing in the 81st percentile, Mauricio Dubon has notched a .273 batting average this year.

Jon Singleton will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to bolster all of his stats.

Cavan Biggio will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Ronel Blanco in today's game. Last year, Cavan Biggio had an average launch angle of 14.4° on his hardest-contacted balls, while this season it has significantly increased to 23.9°. Ranking in the 82nd percentile for Sprint Speed at 28.5 ft/sec this year, Cavan Biggio is notably toolsy.

Hitting from the opposite that Ronel Blanco throws from, James Outman will have an edge in today's game. James Outman has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 95.7-mph average to last year's 92.4-mph figure. Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.297) implies that James Outman has been unlucky this year with his .234 actual wOBA. James Outman has done a favorable job optimizing his launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls. His 16.9° angle is among the highest in the league since the start of last season (88th percentile). Checking in at the 83rd percentile, James Outman sports a .320 BABIP since the start of last season.

Joey Loperfido has gone over 0.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.