Atlanta @ Boston picks

Atlanta's Chris Sale won the NL Cy Young award last year but the lefty hasn't been quite as productive this season, pitching to a 3.97 ERA with an OBA of .281 through nine starts. Meanwhile, Red Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet has a 1.93 ERA with an OBA of .192 through nine starts. Boston also hits significantly better against lefties. The Braves are batting just .204 with an OPS of .615 against southpaws while the BoSox are batting .273 with an OPS of .772.

This should be a pitcher's due with Chris Sale returning to Boston to face his former team and ace Garrett Crochet. Sale won the NL Cy Young Award last year after posting a 2.38 ERA in his debut season with Atlanta. Sale has a 3.97 ERA this year but his xERA of 3.22 is significantly better and he has looked sharp in recent outings. Crochet made his first All-Star game last year and he's been even better this season, pitching to a 1.93 ERA. He'll shut down a Braves lineup that bats just .204 with an OPS of .615 against lefties.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Matt Olson as baseball's 16th-best home run hitter.. Matt Olson is projected to hit 4th in the batting order in today's game.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. In the majors, Fenway Park's right field fences are the 3rd-shallowest.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.

When assessing his home run ability, Sean Murphy ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Sean Murphy is penciled in 5th in the batting order in today's game.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.. Hitting from the opposite that Garrett Crochet throws from, Sean Murphy will have an advantage in today's game.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Rafael Devers ranks as the 20th-best batter in baseball.. Rafael Devers is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in today's game.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.. Rafael Devers has a 79th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.9%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards the game's shallowest LF fences in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.. The switch-hitting Ozzie Albies will get to bat from his better side (0) today against Garrett Crochet.. Ozzie Albies pulls a lot of his flyballs (38.7% — 97th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's shallowest LF fences today.. Extreme groundball bats like Ozzie Albies tend to perform better against extreme flyball pitchers like Garrett Crochet.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Marcell Ozuna in the 96th percentile when estimating his home run talent.. Marcell Ozuna is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup in today's game.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.. Batting from the opposite that Garrett Crochet throws from, Marcell Ozuna will have an advantage in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Kristian Campbell as the 14th-best batter in the game when estimating his BABIP skill.. Kristian Campbell is projected to hit 5th in the batting order in this game.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. Fenway Park has the shallowest left field dimensions in the league.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.

It is likely that we will see a Hitters Umpire (Quinn Wolcott) calling pitches in today's game.. Fenway Park grades out as the #2 stadium in the league for batting average, per the leading projection system (THE BAT).. Fenway Park has the shallowest left field dimensions in the league.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.. The Boston Red Sox have 7 batters in the projected offense that will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Chris Sale today, which is especially problematic given his huge platoon split.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Matt Olson as baseball's 16th-best home run hitter.. Matt Olson is projected to hit 4th in the batting order in today's game.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. In the majors, Fenway Park's right field fences are the 3rd-shallowest.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.. The switch-hitting Ozzie Albies will get to bat from his better side (0) today against Garrett Crochet.. Ozzie Albies pulls a lot of his flyballs (38.7% — 97th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's shallowest LF fences today.. Extreme groundball bats like Ozzie Albies tend to perform better against extreme flyball pitchers like Garrett Crochet.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Rafael Devers ranks as the 20th-best batter in baseball.. Rafael Devers is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in today's game.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 3rd-best ballpark in the league for run-scoring.. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.. Rafael Devers has a 79th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.9%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards the game's shallowest LF fences in today's game.