St. Louis @ Texas picks

When assessing his overall offensive talent, Lars Nootbaar ranks in the 94th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Lars Nootbaar is penciled in 1st in the batting order in this game.. Globe Life Field has the 7th-lowest average fence height in the league.. Lars Nootbaar will hold the platoon advantage over Jacob deGrom in today's matchup.. Lars Nootbaar's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased from last year to this one, increasing from 43.2% to 49.3%.

As it relates to his overall offensive talent, Willson Contreras ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Willson Contreras is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card today.. Globe Life Field has the 7th-lowest average fence height in the league.. Willson Contreras has seen a substantial increase in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 98.3-mph average to last year's 95.1-mph average.. In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Willson Contreras has experienced some negative variance this year. His .310 rate falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .351.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Brendan Donovan in the 97th percentile when it comes to his batting average talent.. Brendan Donovan is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup in today's game.. Globe Life Field has the 7th-lowest average fence height in the league.. Hitting from the opposite that Jacob deGrom throws from, Brendan Donovan will have an edge in today's game.. Brendan Donovan's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved from last year to this one, increasing from 45.8% to 55.9%.

Globe Life Field has the 7th-lowest average fence height in the league.. Victor Scott II will have the handedness advantage over Jacob deGrom in today's matchup.. Victor Scott II is very quick, grading out in the 100th percentile in Sprint Speed at 30.03 ft/sec this year.

When assessing his overall offensive talent, Lars Nootbaar ranks in the 94th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Lars Nootbaar is penciled in 1st in the batting order in this game.. Globe Life Field has the 7th-lowest average fence height in the league.. Lars Nootbaar will hold the platoon advantage over Jacob deGrom in today's matchup.. Lars Nootbaar's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased from last year to this one, increasing from 43.2% to 49.3%.

Quinn Wolcott projects as a Hitters Umpire and is anticipated to be umping in this game.. Globe Life Field has the 7th-lowest average fence height in the league.. Jacob deGrom has had some very good luck with his ERA this year; his 2.42 mark is significantly deflated relative to his 3.80 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, an estimator of ERA that focuses on the things a pitcher has the most control over).. Jacob deGrom has compiled a .243 BABIP this year, a sign that he has been one of the luckiest mound aces in the majors on balls in play and regression likely forthcoming.

Globe Life Field has the 7th-lowest average fence height in the league.

Josh Smith is penciled in 1st in the batting order in today's game.. Globe Life Field has the 7th-lowest average fence height in the league.. Josh Smith will hold the platoon advantage against Erick Fedde in today's game.. Josh Smith will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to improve all of his stats.. Josh Smith has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 92.2-mph average to last year's 90-mph average.