Pittsburgh @ Houston Picks & Props

Michael A. Taylor has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% lately, bettering his 11.8% seasonal rate to 50% in the past 7 days. Michael A. Taylor has been unlucky this year, posting a .252 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .284 — a .032 gap.

Josh Palacios is projected to bat 1st on the lineup card in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 59% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season. Home runs are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest in the majors. Josh Palacios will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Hunter Brown in today's matchup. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.319) implies that Josh Palacios has had some very poor luck since the start of last season with his .299 actual wOBA.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Oneil Cruz in the 93rd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive talent. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in today's game. Home runs are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest in the majors. Batting from the opposite that Hunter Brown throws from, Oneil Cruz will have an advantage in today's matchup. Oneil Cruz has made notable improvements with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 19% seasonal rate to 28% over the past 14 days.

Chas McCormick's BABIP skill is projected in the 83rd percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Batting from the opposite that Bailey Falter throws from, Chas McCormick will have the upper hand today. Chas McCormick will possess the home field advantage today, which ought to boost all of his stats. Chas McCormick has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 103.8-mph average in the past 7 days to his seasonal figure of 90.9-mph. Chas McCormick's launch angle recently (33.7° in the last 7 days) is considerably better than his 14.9° seasonal figure.

Minute Maid Park ranks as the #22 venue in baseball for RHB base hits, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Minute Maid Park's elevation is near sea-level, one of the lowest among all major league stadiums, which usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to worse offense. The Minute Maid Park roof figures to be closed today, making conditions in this contest -8° colder than the average outdoor game of all games on the slate today — favorable for pitching. Yainer Diaz has an 84th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.1%) and will be challenged by the league's 9th-deepest RF fences in today's game. Yainer Diaz's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has fallen off from last season to this one, decreasing from 21.6% to 11.5%.

Minute Maid Park ranks as the #22 venue in baseball for RHB base hits, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Minute Maid Park's elevation is near sea-level, one of the lowest among all major league stadiums, which usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to worse offense. The Minute Maid Park roof figures to be closed today, making conditions in this contest -8° colder than the average outdoor game of all games on the slate today — favorable for pitching. Jose Altuve's average exit velocity has fallen off of late; his 86.7-mph seasonal EV has decreased to 84.7-mph over the past 14 days. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average (.277) provides evidence that Jose Altuve has experienced some positive variance this year with his .311 actual batting average.

Joey Bart is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card today, which would be an upgrade from his 91% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this season. Joey Bart pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.4% — 82nd percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Over the past week, Joey Bart's Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 8.5% down to 0%. Joey Bart has seen a big gain in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 94.4-mph average in the past 14 days to his seasonal 89.2-mph mark.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Yordan Alvarez ranks as the 2nd-best hitter in the game. Yordan Alvarez is projected to hit 3rd in the lineup today. Yordan Alvarez will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which should boost all of his stats. Over the last 14 days, Yordan Alvarez has improved his Barrel% substantially, increasing it from his seasonal rate of 14.3% to 20%. Yordan Alvarez has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 92.9-mph to 95.9-mph in the last two weeks' worth of games.

Jon Singleton will possess the home field advantage today, which should boost all of his stats. In the last week, Jon Singleton's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 7.3% up to 15.4%. Jon Singleton has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 89.2-mph to 94.1-mph in the past week's worth of games. Over the last week, Jon Singleton's 23.1% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 16.2%.

Jared Triolo's BABIP talent is projected in the 92nd percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Jared Triolo has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 87.9-mph to 94.6-mph over the past 7 days. As it relates to his wOBA and overall offense, Jared Triolo has had some very poor luck this year. His .249 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .290.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bryan Reynolds in the 95th percentile when assessing his batting average ability. Bryan Reynolds is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in this matchup. Home runs are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest in the majors. As a switch-hitter who performs better from the 0 side of the dish, Bryan Reynolds will get to bat from his better side against Hunter Brown in today's matchup. In notching a .352 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) using Statcast data) this year, Bryan Reynolds is ranked in the 89th percentile for offensive ability.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ke'Bryan Hayes in the 80th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Ke'Bryan Hayes's true offensive skill to be a .300, suggesting that he has experienced some negative variance this year given the .035 deviation between that mark and his actual .265 wOBA.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Meyers in the 76th percentile when it comes to his BABIP talent. The 2nd-shallowest LF dimensions among all parks are found in Minute Maid Park. Jake Meyers will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Bailey Falter today. Jake Meyers will possess the home field advantage today, which should boost all of his stats. Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved lately, going from 18.5% on the season to 28.6% in the last week.

When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Andrew McCutchen ranks in the 84th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Andrew McCutchen is projected to bat 1st on the lineup card in this game. Andrew McCutchen has made significant gains with his Barrel%, bettering his 6.8% rate last year to 12.2% this season.

Connor Joe has gone over 0.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 84th percentile as it relates to his batting average skill. Mauricio Dubon will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Bailey Falter in today's matchup. Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Mauricio Dubon will hold that advantage in today's game. In notching a .274 batting average this year, Mauricio Dubon grades out in the 80th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 95th percentile when assessing his batting average talent. Jeremy Pena is projected to hit 5th in the lineup in this game. The 2nd-shallowest LF dimensions among all parks are found in Minute Maid Park. Jeremy Pena will hold the platoon advantage against Bailey Falter today. Home field advantage generally boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Jeremy Pena will hold that advantage today.

Rowdy Tellez is projected to bat 4th in the batting order in this matchup. Rowdy Tellez will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Hunter Brown in today's game. Over the past week, Rowdy Tellez's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 7.5% up to 33.3%.

As it relates to his overall offensive skill, Alex Bregman ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Alex Bregman is projected to hit 2nd in the batting order today. Batting from the opposite that Bailey Falter throws from, Alex Bregman will have the upper hand in today's game. Alex Bregman will hold the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats. In the past 7 days, Alex Bregman's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 4.7% up to 11.1%.