Chicago @ Detroit picks

Pitching will again rule the day as the Cubs' Jameson Taillon and Tigers tandem of Tyler Holton/Keider Montero limit the damage enough to stay Under the 8.5 total.

Kyle Tucker projects as the 7th-best batter in the majors, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Kyle Tucker is penciled in 2nd in the batting order today.. Hitting from the opposite that Keider Montero throws from, Kyle Tucker will have an edge today.. Typically, bats like Kyle Tucker who hit a lot of flyballs are generally less successful when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of flyballs such as Keider Montero.. Kyle Tucker has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 14.6% seasonal rate to 22.2% over the last 7 days.

Seiya Suzuki projects as the 17th-best hitter in the league, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Seiya Suzuki is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order today.. Typically, hitters like Seiya Suzuki who hit a lot of flyballs tend to perform worse when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of flyballs such as Keider Montero.. Seiya Suzuki has made substantial gains with his Barrel%, upping his 11.5% rate last year to 17.2% this season.. Using Statcast data, Seiya Suzuki grades out in the 91st percentile for offensive skills per the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year at .363.

When assessing his home run talent, Pete Crow-Armstrong ranks in the 87th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Pete Crow-Armstrong is penciled in 5th in the batting order in this game.. Hitting from the opposite that Keider Montero throws from, Pete Crow-Armstrong will have the upper hand in today's matchup.. Pete Crow-Armstrong has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 100-mph average in the last two weeks' worth of games to his seasonal figure of 95.1-mph.. Pete Crow-Armstrong's average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls this season (23.7°) is quite a bit better than his 20.6° figure last year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ian Happ in the 88th percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill.. Ian Happ is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in this game.. The switch-hitting Ian Happ will have the advantage of batting from from his good side (0) today against Keider Montero.. Over the last week, Ian Happ's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 7.8% up to 18.8%.. Ian Happ's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better from last season to this one, going from 44% to 50.3%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Riley Greene as the 4th-best batter in the majors when estimating his BABIP skill.. Riley Greene is projected to bat 4th in the batting order in this matchup.. Riley Greene will have the handedness advantage over Jameson Taillon today.. Riley Greene will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats.. Riley Greene has made significant improvements with his Barrel% recently, improving his 18.2% seasonal rate to 25% over the last 14 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Dansby Swanson in the 88th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability.. Dansby Swanson is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this matchup.. Dansby Swanson has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 98.9-mph average in the last week's worth of games to his seasonal mark of 94.6-mph.. Dansby Swanson's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased from last year to this one, increasing from 15.3% to 18.3%.. Despite posting a .306 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Dansby Swanson has had some very poor luck given the .027 gap between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .333.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Gleyber Torres in the 89th percentile as it relates to his batting average skill.. Gleyber Torres is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in today's game.. Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Gleyber Torres will hold that advantage in today's matchup.. Gleyber Torres's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last season to this one, going from 16.6% to 21.5%.. In the past two weeks' worth of games, Gleyber Torres's 55.6% rate of hitting balls at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 48.7%.

Kyle Tucker projects as the 7th-best batter in the majors, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Kyle Tucker is penciled in 2nd in the batting order today.. Hitting from the opposite that Keider Montero throws from, Kyle Tucker will have an edge today.. Typically, bats like Kyle Tucker who hit a lot of flyballs are generally less successful when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of flyballs such as Keider Montero.. Kyle Tucker has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 14.6% seasonal rate to 22.2% over the last 7 days.

When assessing his home run talent, Pete Crow-Armstrong ranks in the 87th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Pete Crow-Armstrong is penciled in 5th in the batting order in this game.. Hitting from the opposite that Keider Montero throws from, Pete Crow-Armstrong will have the upper hand in today's matchup.. Pete Crow-Armstrong has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 100-mph average in the last two weeks' worth of games to his seasonal figure of 95.1-mph.. Pete Crow-Armstrong's average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls this season (23.7°) is quite a bit better than his 20.6° figure last year.

The Detroit Tigers have 6 batters in the projected lineup that will hold the platoon advantage over Jameson Taillon in this matchup.. Playing on the road generally weakens pitcher stats in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Jameson Taillon today.. Detroit has performed as the #1 club in Major League Baseball when it comes to hitting balls between 23° and 34°, the launch angle range that tends to optimize home runs (17.9% rate this year).