Kansas City @ St. Louis Picks & Props

Among all the teams today, the 9th-worst infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals. Home field advantage typically improves hitter metrics across the board, and Victor Scott II will hold that advantage in today's game. Victor Scott II's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased recently, increasing from 19% on the season to 60% in the past week. Victor Scott II has put up a .340 BABIP this year, checking in at the 85th percentile.

Jac Caglianone has gone over 0.5 in 5 of his last 10 games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Lars Nootbaar in the 94th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent. Lars Nootbaar is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in today's game. Lars Nootbaar hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (41% — 100th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing baseball's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's matchup. Among all the teams today, the 9th-worst infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals. Lars Nootbaar will hold the home field advantage today, which figures to improve all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jonathan India in the 90th percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability. Jonathan India is penciled in 1st in the batting order in this matchup. Hitting from the opposite that Matthew Liberatore throws from, Jonathan India will have an edge today. There has been a significant improvement in Jonathan India's launch angle from last year's 13.3° to 17° this season. Despite posting a .292 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Jonathan India has been unlucky given the .044 discrepancy between that mark and his estimated true talent wOBA of .336.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Salvador Perez in the 78th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability. Salvador Perez is penciled in 5th in the lineup today. Salvador Perez will hold the platoon advantage over Matthew Liberatore in today's matchup. Extreme groundball bats like Salvador Perez tend to be more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Matthew Liberatore. Salvador Perez has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 90.6-mph to 93-mph over the last 14 days.

Vinnie Pasquantino is projected to bat 4th in the lineup today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Brendan Donovan in the 96th percentile as it relates to his batting average talent. Brendan Donovan is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this game. Among all the teams today, the 9th-worst infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals. Brendan Donovan will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to bolster all of his stats. Compared to last year, Brendan Donovan has improved his ability to hit the ball at a launch angle ideal for base hits, increasing his percentage of balls hit between -4° and 26° from 45.8% to 55.5% this season.

Hitting from the opposite that Cole Ragans throws from, Nolan Arenado will have an advantage in today's matchup. Among all the teams today, the 9th-worst infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals. Nolan Arenado will benefit from the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats. Compared to his seasonal average of 19°, Nolan Arenado has significantly improved his launch angle of late, posting a 29.3° mark in the past two weeks. Sporting a 1.34 K/BB rate this year, Nolan Arenado has displayed good plate discipline, ranking in the 91st percentile.

Freddy Fermin will hold the platoon advantage against Matthew Liberatore today. Freddy Fermin hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (38.5% — 80th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing baseball's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Maikel Garcia in the 92nd percentile when estimating his batting average talent. Maikel Garcia is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card today. Maikel Garcia will hold the platoon advantage over Matthew Liberatore in today's matchup. Maikel Garcia hits many of his flyballs to center field (39.1% — 89th percentile) and is fortunate to face MLB's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's game. Ranking in the 87th percentile, Maikel Garcia has posted a .367 wOBA (widely regarded as the top indicator of overall offense) this year.

Nick Loftin will hold the platoon advantage over Matthew Liberatore today. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average (.230) provides evidence that Nick Loftin has experienced some negative variance since the start of last season with his .196 actual batting average. Sporting a 1.4 K/BB rate since the start of last season, Nick Loftin has displayed strong plate discipline, grading out in the 94th percentile.

Ryan Vilade will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Cole Ragans in today's game. Among all the teams today, the 9th-worst infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals. Ryan Vilade will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats. Ranking in the 83rd percentile for Sprint Speed at 28.55 ft/sec since the start of last season, Ryan Vilade is quite fast.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Masyn Winn in the 77th percentile when estimating his batting average talent. Masyn Winn is penciled in 2nd in the lineup today. Batting from the opposite that Cole Ragans throws from, Masyn Winn will have an edge today. Among all the teams today, the 9th-worst infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals. Masyn Winn will hold the home field advantage today, which should boost all of his stats.

Bobby Witt Jr. has an 89th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.6%) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of the league's 2nd-deepest RF fences in today's game. The St. Louis Cardinals outfield defense profiles as the 5th-best out of every team playing today. Playing on the road generally lessens hitter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Bobby Witt Jr. in today's matchup. Compared to his seasonal angle of 13.7°, Bobby Witt Jr. has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (-6.8°) in the last two weeks' worth of games.

Hitting from the opposite that Matthew Liberatore throws from, Mark Canha will have an edge in today's matchup. Mark Canha's launch angle this year (16.8°) is significantly better than his 9.5° figure last season. Sporting a 1.94 K/BB rate since the start of last season, Mark Canha has demonstrated strong plate discipline, ranking in the 80th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Willson Contreras in the 92nd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive talent. Willson Contreras is penciled in 4th on the lineup card today. Willson Contreras will have the handedness advantage over Cole Ragans in today's matchup. Willson Contreras hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.5% — 80th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting out towards the game's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's game. Among all the teams today, the 9th-worst infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Drew Waters in the 92nd percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability. Over the past week, Drew Waters's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 4.8% up to 18.2%. Drew Waters has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 87.4-mph to 93.5-mph in the last 7 days. Drew Waters has recorded a .278 batting average this year, checking in at the 79th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ivan Herrera in the 91st percentile when it comes to his BABIP talent. Ivan Herrera is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card in today's game. Batting from the opposite that Cole Ragans throws from, Ivan Herrera will have the upper hand today. Among all the teams today, the 9th-worst infield defense is that of the Kansas City Royals. Ivan Herrera will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should boost all of his stats.

Nolan Gorman has gone over 0.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.

Michael Massey has gone over 0.5 in 6 of his last 10 games.

Yohel Pozo has gone over 0.5 in 1 of his last 10 games.