Houston @ Texas Picks & Props

Globe Life Field grades out as the #29 venue in baseball for righty base hits, per the leading projection system (THE BAT). Globe Life Field has the 6th-deepest centerfield dimensions among all major league stadiums. The Globe Life Field roof is expected to be closed today, making conditions in this match-up -7° colder than the average outdoor game of all games on the slate today — favorable for pitching. Because of Jose Urena's large platoon split, Yainer Diaz will be at a big disadvantage hitting from the same side of the plate today. Typically, bats like Yainer Diaz who hit a lot of groundballs tend to perform worse when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of groundballs such as Jose Urena.

Josh Smith is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in this game. Josh Smith will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats. Over the past 14 days, Josh Smith's 27.3% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 14.8%. Josh Smith has put up a .353 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, grading out in the 86th percentile. By putting up a .335 BABIP this year, Josh Smith is positioned in the 85th percentile.

Yordan Alvarez projects as the 2nd-best hitter in baseball, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Yordan Alvarez is penciled in 3rd in the batting order in today's game. Given Jose Urena's large platoon split, Yordan Alvarez will have a tremendous advantage batting from the opposite side of the dish today. Extreme groundball batters like Yordan Alvarez tend to be more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Jose Urena. Yordan Alvarez's average launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls in recent games (21.5° in the past week's worth of games) is significantly higher than his 12° seasonal angle.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Corey Seager ranks as the 8th-best hitter in MLB. Corey Seager is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in today's game. Corey Seager will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should bolster all of his stats. Corey Seager has made notable gains with his Barrel% lately, upping his 15.5% seasonal rate to 26.3% over the last 7 days. Corey Seager has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 96.9-mph average in the past 14 days to his seasonal 92.3-mph mark.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nathaniel Lowe in the 88th percentile as it relates to his BABIP talent. Nathaniel Lowe will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats. In terms of plate discipline, Nathaniel Lowe's talent is quite impressive, putting up a 1.69 K/BB rate this year while ranking in in the 88th percentile. Placing in the 75th percentile, Nathaniel Lowe sits with a .320 BABIP this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Adolis Garcia in the 81st percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill. Hitting from the opposite that Yusei Kikuchi throws from, Adolis Garcia will have an edge today. Adolis Garcia will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which ought to boost all of his stats. Adolis Garcia has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 91.6-mph to 95.3-mph over the past 14 days. Adolis Garcia has been unlucky this year, putting up a .283 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .322 — a .039 disparity.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Wyatt Langford in the 84th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability. Wyatt Langford is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card today. Batting from the opposite that Yusei Kikuchi throws from, Wyatt Langford will have the upper hand in today's matchup. Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter stats across the board, and Wyatt Langford will hold that advantage in today's game. Over the past 7 days, Wyatt Langford's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 7.2% up to 12.5%.

This season, Victor Caratini has experienced a significant increase in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 92.2 mph compared to last year's 88.3 mph mark. Victor Caratini's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved from last year to this one, increasing from 8.8% to 19%. Placing in the 75th percentile, Victor Caratini has put up a .261 batting average since the start of last season.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Josh Jung in the 97th percentile when assessing his BABIP skill. Josh Jung is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this game. Batting from the opposite that Yusei Kikuchi throws from, Josh Jung will have an edge in today's matchup. Josh Jung will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats. Utilizing Statcast metrics, Josh Jung is in the 80th percentile via the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average since the start of last season at .266.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Alex Bregman in the 93rd percentile when estimating his overall offensive talent. Alex Bregman is projected to bat 2nd on the lineup card in today's game. Alex Bregman has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.7-mph to 91.6-mph over the last 14 days. Compared to his seasonal average of 18.2°, Alex Bregman has significantly improved his launch angle of late, posting a 25° angle in the past two weeks. Despite posting a .311 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Alex Bregman has suffered from bad luck given the .029 difference between that mark and his estimated true talent wOBA of .340.

As a switch-hitter who is best from the 0 side of the dish, Jonah Heim will have the advantage of batting from from his strong side against Yusei Kikuchi in this game. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Jonah Heim will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 93rd percentile when it comes to his batting average skill. Jose Altuve is projected to bat 1st in the batting order today. Jose Altuve has recorded a .352 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, grading out in the 86th percentile. Jose Altuve has notched a .362 BABIP this year, placing in the 98th percentile.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Marcus Semien ranks in the 91st percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Marcus Semien is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in today's game. Marcus Semien will have the handedness advantage against Yusei Kikuchi today. Marcus Semien will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats. Marcus Semien has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 93.2-mph average in the past two weeks to his seasonal 87.6-mph EV.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 83rd percentile when it comes to his batting average skill. Mauricio Dubon has made significant strides with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 3.4% seasonal rate to 18.2% in the past 7 days. Mauricio Dubon's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased recently, rising from 40% on the season to 54.5% in the last week.

Because of Jose Urena's large platoon split, Jon Singleton will have a tremendous advantage batting from the opposite side of the plate today. Jon Singleton has made significant strides with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 7.4% seasonal rate to 12.5% in the last two weeks. Jon Singleton has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 89.4-mph to 93.5-mph in the past 14 days.

The switch-hitting Robbie Grossman will hold the platoon advantage while batting from from his strong side (0) today against Yusei Kikuchi. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Robbie Grossman will hold that advantage in today's game. By putting up a 1.52 K/BB rate this year, Robbie Grossman has demonstrated good plate discipline, placing in the 94th percentile.

Jake Meyers's BABIP skill is projected in the 75th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased from last year to this one, going from 40% to 47%. Jake Meyers has had bad variance on his side thus far when it comes to his wOBA this year; his .300 mark is considerably lower than his .347 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Jeremy Pena's batting average talent is projected to be in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Jeremy Pena is projected to hit 5th in the batting order in this game. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.326) provides evidence that Jeremy Pena has experienced some negative variance this year with his .308 actual wOBA. Utilizing Statcast data, Jeremy Pena grades out in the 90th percentile per the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average this year at .284. In notching a .280 batting average this year, Jeremy Pena is positioned in the 86th percentile.

Leody Taveras has gone over 0.5 in 5 of his last 10 games.