Houston @ Chicago Picks & Props

Miguel Vargas is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in this game. Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Extreme groundball bats like Miguel Vargas tend to be more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Hunter Brown. Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Miguel Vargas will hold that advantage in today's matchup. In terms of his batting average, Miguel Vargas has had some very poor luck since the start of last season. His .175 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .188.

Edgar Quero's batting average ability is projected to be in the 87th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Edgar Quero is penciled in 4th in the lineup in this game. Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Edgar Quero will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to boost all of his stats. Putting up a 94.6-mph average exit velocity in the last week's worth of games, Edgar Quero has been in great form lately.

Andrew Benintendi's batting average skill is projected to be in the 84th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Andrew Benintendi is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Andrew Benintendi will have the handedness advantage over Hunter Brown in today's game. Home field advantage generally improves hitter stats across the board, and Andrew Benintendi will hold that advantage in today's game.

Chase Meidroth's batting average ability is projected to be in the 76th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Chase Meidroth is projected to hit 1st in the lineup today. Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Chase Meidroth will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

Brendan Rodgers's BABIP talent is projected in the 78th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Brendan Rodgers has an 86th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them out towards baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences today. Among every team in action today, the 2nd-strongest infield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. Brendan Rodgers has made significant strides with his Barrel%, improving his 5.7% rate last season to 11.4% this season. Brendan Rodgers has put up a .320 BABIP since the start of last season, grading out in the 85th percentile.

In terms of temperature and humidity, the weather forecast calls for the 3rd-most favorable pitching conditions on the schedule today. Hitting from the same side that Davis Martin throws from, Jeremy Pena will be at a disadvantage today. Typically, bats like Jeremy Pena who hit a lot of groundballs tend to be less successful when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of groundballs such as Davis Martin. Playing on the road generally weakens batter metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Jeremy Pena in today's game. Compared to his seasonal mark of 9°, Jeremy Pena's average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls has dropped significantly in recent games (5.1° in the past 14 days).

In terms of temperature and humidity, the weather forecast calls for the 3rd-most favorable pitching conditions on the schedule today. Hitting from the same side that Davis Martin throws from, Jose Altuve will not have the upper hand today. Playing on the road typically lowers batter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Jose Altuve today. From last year to this one, Jose Altuve's ability to hit the ball at a launch angle that optimizes home runs (23° to 34°) has decreased substantially, plummeting from 15.7% to 9.9%. In the last week, Jose Altuve's 35.7% rate of hitting balls at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 46.2%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Zachary Dezenzo in the 94th percentile when assessing his BABIP talent. Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Among every team in action today, the 2nd-strongest infield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. Zachary Dezenzo has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 102-mph average in the last week's worth of games to his seasonal average of 84.7-mph. Zachary Dezenzo has been zeroed in on the ideal launch angle for base hits recently, lifting balls between -4° and 26° 61.1% of the time over the last two weeks.

In terms of temperature and humidity, the weather forecast calls for the 3rd-most favorable pitching conditions on the schedule today. Hitting from the same side that Davis Martin throws from, Yainer Diaz will be in a tough position today. Playing on the road generally lessens batter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Yainer Diaz in today's game. Yainer Diaz has shown poor plate discipline since the start of last season, ranking in the 8th percentile with a 4.83 K/BB rate.

Yordan Alvarez projects as the 2nd-best hitter in Major League Baseball, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Yordan Alvarez is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in this game. Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Batting from the opposite that Davis Martin throws from, Yordan Alvarez will have the upper hand today. Extreme flyball batters like Yordan Alvarez tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Davis Martin.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Luis Robert Jr. in the 89th percentile when estimating his BABIP skill. Luis Robert Jr. is penciled in 4th in the batting order in this matchup. Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Home field advantage typically improves hitter stats in all categories, and Luis Robert Jr. will hold that advantage today. Luis Robert Jr. has made big improvements with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 11.7% seasonal rate to 16.7% over the last 14 days.

Christian Walker is penciled in 4th on the lineup card today. Christian Walker pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.4% — 76th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball's 5th-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Among every team in action today, the 2nd-strongest infield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. In the past 7 days, Christian Walker's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 12.7% up to 20%. Christian Walker has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 90.9-mph to 93.6-mph over the past week.

Isaac Paredes is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order today. Isaac Paredes pulls a lot of his flyballs (46% — 100th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 5th-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Extreme flyball batters like Isaac Paredes generally hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Davis Martin. Among every team in action today, the 2nd-strongest infield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. Isaac Paredes has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 87.1-mph average to last season's 85-mph average.

Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Among every team in action today, the 2nd-strongest infield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. As it relates to his batting average, Jake Meyers has had some very poor luck since the start of last season. His .224 rate falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .259.

Lenyn Sosa has a 91st percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.7%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of the league's 9th-shallowest RF fences today. Lenyn Sosa will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats. Lenyn Sosa has seen a big gain in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 93.4-mph average in the past week's worth of games to his seasonal 91.2-mph average. Lenyn Sosa's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better in recent games, rising from 54.5% on the season to 65.3% in the last two weeks. Lenyn Sosa has had bad variance on his side thus far when it comes to his batting average since the start of last season; his .257 mark is a fair amount lower than his .297 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Andrew Vaughn ranks in the 86th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Andrew Vaughn has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.4%) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Home field advantage typically bolsters batter stats in all categories, and Andrew Vaughn will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Andrew Vaughn has made sizeable gains with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 14.3% seasonal rate to 21.7% in the past 14 days. Andrew Vaughn has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 95.1-mph average in the last two weeks to his seasonal 91.1-mph EV.

Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter stats across the board, and Brooks Baldwin will hold that advantage in today's game. Brooks Baldwin has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 93-mph average to last season's 90.6-mph average. Brooks Baldwin's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved lately, rising from 48% on the season to 58.3% over the last 7 days.

Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Matt Thaiss will hold the platoon advantage against Hunter Brown in today's matchup. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics across the board, and Matt Thaiss will hold that advantage today. Matt Thaiss's launch angle lately (22.5° over the past 14 days) is a considerable increase over his 19.5° seasonal angle. As it relates to plate discipline, Matt Thaiss's talent is quite impressive, putting up a 1.67 K/BB rate since the start of last season while placing in in the 88th percentile.

Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Among every team in action today, the 2nd-strongest infield defense belongs to the Chicago White Sox. Victor Caratini has made notable strides with his Barrel%, upping his 5.6% rate last year to 10.7% this year. Victor Caratini's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last year to this one, increasing from 15.4% to 21.4%. Victor Caratini has posted a .273 batting average since the start of last season, ranking in the 85th percentile.

Joshua Palacios is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card in today's game. Homers are generally more common at parks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in the league. Hitting from the opposite that Hunter Brown throws from, Joshua Palacios will have an advantage today. Joshua Palacios will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats. In the past week, Joshua Palacios has displayed impressive power, recording a a 16.7% Barrel% (a reliable standard to study power).

Bobby Dalbec has gone over 0.5 in 4 of his last 7 games.