Chicago @ Cincinnati Picks & Props

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Matt McLain in the 94th percentile when it comes to his BABIP skill. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. Matt McLain has an 82nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.6%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the league's 8th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Matt McLain will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should bolster all of his stats. In the last 7 days, Matt McLain's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 11.8% up to 25%.

When estimating his overall offensive talent, Ian Happ ranks in the 90th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Ian Happ is projected to hit 1st in the batting order in this game. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. Ian Happ has a 78th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.8%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 8th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Ian Happ's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better from last season to this one, going from 44% to 50%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Seiya Suzuki in the 97th percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability. Seiya Suzuki is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup today. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. The 7th-shallowest left field fences in the league are found in Great American Ball Park. Batting from the opposite that Andrew Abbott throws from, Seiya Suzuki will have the upper hand in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Pete Crow-Armstrong in the 81st percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill. Pete Crow-Armstrong is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 78% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this year. Great American Ball Park projects as the #5 park in the majors for LHB batting average, per the leading projection system (THE BAT). Great American Ball Park has the 6th-shallowest right field dimensions among all major league parks. Pete Crow-Armstrong has made notable improvements with his Barrel%, upping his 8% rate last year to 13.9% this season.

Austin Hays is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in today's game. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. Austin Hays pulls a lot of his flyballs (34.2% — 83rd percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 7th-shallowest LF fences today. Austin Hays will hold the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to improve all of his stats. This season, Austin Hays has experienced a significant improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 97.1 mph compared to last year's 91.6 mph mark.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Matt Shaw in the 75th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. Hitting from the opposite that Andrew Abbott throws from, Matt Shaw will have an advantage in today's game. Matt Shaw has an 88th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.5%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them out towards baseball's 8th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Matt Shaw is remarkably fast, placing in the 91st percentile in Sprint Speed at 28.94 ft/sec this year.

Carson Kelly is penciled in 5th in the batting order in today's game. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. The 7th-shallowest left field fences in the league are found in Great American Ball Park. Batting from the opposite that Andrew Abbott throws from, Carson Kelly will have an advantage in today's matchup. Carson Kelly has made notable gains with his Barrel%, upping his 6.6% rate last season to 15% this year.

Kyle Tucker projects as the 10th-best hitter in the league, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Kyle Tucker is projected to bat 2nd on the lineup card today. Great American Ball Park projects as the #5 park in the majors for LHB batting average, per the leading projection system (THE BAT). Kyle Tucker pulls many of his flyballs (35.5% — 90th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 8th-shallowest RF fences today. Using Statcast metrics, Kyle Tucker is in the 98th percentile for offensive ability according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year at .382.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Dansby Swanson ranks in the 90th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Dansby Swanson is penciled in 4th on the lineup card in this matchup. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. The 7th-shallowest left field fences in the league are found in Great American Ball Park. Dansby Swanson will hold the platoon advantage against Andrew Abbott in today's matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. Spencer Steer pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (36.4% — 92nd percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the league's 7th-shallowest LF fences today. Spencer Steer will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which ought to boost all of his stats. Spencer Steer's average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls in recent games (20.1° in the last two weeks) is a significant increase over his 16.1° seasonal mark. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Spencer Steer's true offensive skill to be a .314, implying that he has had bad variance on his side this year given the .041 discrepancy between that figure and his actual .273 wOBA.

TJ Friedl is penciled in 1st in the lineup in this matchup. Great American Ball Park projects as the #5 park in the majors for LHB batting average, per the leading projection system (THE BAT). Hitting from the opposite that Colin Rea throws from, TJ Friedl will have an edge in today's game. TJ Friedl pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (38.5% — 97th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 8th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and TJ Friedl will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

As it relates to his BABIP ability, Elly De La Cruz is projected as the 2nd-best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Elly De La Cruz is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in this game. Great American Ball Park projects as the #5 park in the majors for LHB batting average, per the leading projection system (THE BAT). The switch-hitting Elly De La Cruz will have the advantage of batting from from his better side (0) today against Colin Rea. Elly De La Cruz has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.5%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them out towards baseball's 7th-shallowest LF fences in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nico Hoerner in the 97th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. Nico Hoerner will have the handedness advantage over Andrew Abbott in today's matchup. Nico Hoerner has an 87th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.4%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them out towards the game's 8th-shallowest RF fences today. Nico Hoerner has made big gains with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 1.3% seasonal rate to 8.3% over the last 14 days.

Gavin Lux's BABIP talent is projected in the 90th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Gavin Lux is penciled in 5th on the lineup card in this matchup. Great American Ball Park projects as the #5 park in the majors for LHB batting average, per the leading projection system (THE BAT). Great American Ball Park has the 6th-shallowest right field dimensions among all major league parks. Gavin Lux will have the handedness advantage against Colin Rea today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. The 7th-shallowest left field fences in the league are found in Great American Ball Park. Batting from the opposite that Andrew Abbott throws from, Miguel Amaya will have the upper hand in today's game.

Great American Ball Park projects as the #5 park in the majors for LHB batting average, per the leading projection system (THE BAT). Will Benson will have the handedness advantage against Colin Rea in today's matchup. Will Benson pulls a lot of his flyballs (35.4% — 89th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 8th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Will Benson will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should boost all of his stats. In the last 7 days, Will Benson's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 23.5% up to 40%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Santiago Espinal in the 78th percentile when assessing his batting average ability. Santiago Espinal is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in this matchup. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. Santiago Espinal has a 79th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them out towards the game's 8th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Santiago Espinal will benefit from the home field advantage today, which figures to improve all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Tyler Stephenson in the 88th percentile when assessing his BABIP skill. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. Tyler Stephenson has an 86th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.1%) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 8th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Tyler Stephenson will hold the home field advantage today, which should boost all of his stats. Tyler Stephenson has made notable improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 13.6% seasonal rate to 50% in the past week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Great American Ball Park as the 5th-best park in the majors for righty batting average. The 7th-shallowest left field fences in the league are found in Great American Ball Park. Justin Turner will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Andrew Abbott today. Compared to last year, Justin Turner has improved his ability to hit the ball at a launch angle ideal for home runs, increasing his percentage of balls hit between 23° and 34° from 19.1% to 34% this season. When it comes to his wOBA and overall offense, Justin Turner has suffered from bad luck this year. His .255 figure falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .311.