Houston @ St. Louis Picks & Props

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Lars Nootbaar ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Lars Nootbaar is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in today's game. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Lars Nootbaar hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (39.1% — 89th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing baseball's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's game. Home field advantage typically bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Lars Nootbaar will hold that advantage today.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Home field advantage typically boosts batter stats across the board, and Victor Scott will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Victor Scott has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 99-mph average over the last 7 days to his seasonal EV of 91.1-mph. Victor Scott has been honed in on the ideal launch angle for home runs recently, lifting balls between 23° and 34° 22.2% of the time in the last 14 days. In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Victor Scott has experienced some negative variance since the start of last season. His .249 figure falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .283.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Extreme flyball hitters like Nolan Gorman generally hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Framber Valdez. Nolan Gorman will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to boost all of his stats. Nolan Gorman's 17.5% Barrel% (a reliable stat to evaluate power) ranks in the 99th percentile since the start of last season. Since the start of last season, Nolan Gorman's flyball exit velocity (a reliable stat to measure power) ranks in the 84th percentile at 94.5 mph.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Brendan Donovan in the 95th percentile when assessing his batting average skill. Brendan Donovan is projected to hit 5th in the lineup in today's game. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Brendan Donovan will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should improve all of his stats. Brendan Donovan has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity this season; just compare his 91.6-mph average to last season's 88.7-mph figure.

Chas McCormick's BABIP talent is projected in the 75th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Chas McCormick has had bad variance on his side thus far when it comes to his batting average since the start of last season; his .210 rate is quite a bit lower than his .225 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data. Chas McCormick ranks in the 85th percentile when it comes to hitting balls between 23° and 34°, the launch angle range that tends to optimize home runs (19.5% rate since the start of last season). Ranking in the 86th percentile for Sprint Speed at 28.67 ft/sec since the start of last season, Chas McCormick is very athletic.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Yordan Alvarez ranks as the 3rd-best batter in MLB. Yordan Alvarez is projected to hit 3rd in the lineup in this game. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Hitting from the opposite that Sonny Gray throws from, Yordan Alvarez will have an edge in today's game. Yordan Alvarez hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.4% — 76th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing MLB's 7th-shallowest CF fences today.

Christian Walker is penciled in 4th in the batting order in this matchup. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Christian Walker has hit one of the hardest balls in the game over the past two weeks — 112.8-mph — which is a strong indicator of recent form and raw power. With a .342 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, Christian Walker is positioned in the 82nd percentile for offensive ability.

Nolan Arenado is penciled in 4th in the batting order in this matchup. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Framber Valdez throws from, Nolan Arenado will have an advantage in today's matchup. Nolan Arenado will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats. Posting a 1.83 K/BB rate since the start of last season, Nolan Arenado has shown good plate discipline, checking in at the 83rd percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 91st percentile when it comes to his batting average talent. Jose Altuve is projected to hit 1st in the batting order today. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Grading out in the 86th percentile, Jose Altuve sports a .348 wOBA (widely regarded as the top indicator of overall offense) since the start of last season. Placing in the 96th percentile, Jose Altuve has posted a .301 batting average since the start of last season.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Jake Meyers hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (38.6% — 81st percentile) and is fortunate to face the league's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's matchup. When it comes to his wOBA and overall offense, Jake Meyers has had some very poor luck since the start of last season. His .285 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .322.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jordan Walker in the 78th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Hitting from the opposite that Framber Valdez throws from, Jordan Walker will have an edge today. Jordan Walker hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.9% — 87th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing the league's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's game. Home field advantage typically improves batter stats across the board, and Jordan Walker will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

Isaac Paredes is projected to hit 2nd in the lineup today. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Isaac Paredes has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 91.7-mph average to last year's 89-mph EV. Isaac Paredes's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved from last year to this one, rising from 39.7% to 51.2%. In the past 7 days, Isaac Paredes has posted a 25.3° launch angle, lifting the ball well and indicating strong home run potential.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Yainer Diaz in the 97th percentile as it relates to his batting average skill. Yainer Diaz is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this game. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.336) suggests that Yainer Diaz has had some very poor luck since the start of last season with his .319 actual wOBA. Yainer Diaz has compiled a .291 batting average since the start of last season, grading out in the 95th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Willson Contreras in the 91st percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill. Willson Contreras is projected to hit 3rd in the lineup today. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Framber Valdez throws from, Willson Contreras will have an advantage today. Willson Contreras hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (38.5% — 78th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting out towards MLB's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's game.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Hitting from the opposite that Framber Valdez throws from, Pedro Pages will have an edge today. Pedro Pages will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats. Pedro Pages's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last year to this one, increasing from 14.4% to 22.2%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 93rd percentile when it comes to his batting average talent. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Jeremy Pena has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel%, upping his 5.5% rate last season to 12.8% this year. Jeremy Pena has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 91.9-mph average to last year's 88.1-mph mark. Jeremy Pena's launch angle this season (10.9°) is a considerable increase over his 7.1° figure last season.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Thomas Saggese in the 85th percentile when estimating his BABIP talent. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Framber Valdez throws from, Thomas Saggese will have an advantage in today's matchup. Thomas Saggese will hold the home field advantage today, which figures to improve all of his stats. Over the past week, Thomas Saggese has been performing exceptionally well at the plate with a wOBA of .457.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Placing in the 77th percentile, Mauricio Dubon sits with a .265 batting average since the start of last season.

Luken Baker is penciled in 2nd in the lineup in today's game. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 2nd-strongest of the day for batters. Luken Baker will have the handedness advantage over Framber Valdez today. Extreme flyball bats like Luken Baker are generally more successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Framber Valdez. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics across the board, and Luken Baker will hold that advantage today.