Cincinnati @ Cleveland picks

Let's roll with the top-tier pitcher here in Andrew Abbott as he looks to bounce back after a rough outing vs. Milwaukee. Abbott still sports a 2.18 ERA and the Guardians' offense has struggled for production of late. 

Todd Tichenor profiles as a Huge Hitters Umpire and is anticipated to be in charge of the strike zone today.. Progressive Field sits at the 7th-highest altitude among all parks. High elevation tends to lead to more offense.. The Cleveland Guardians have 7 hitters in the projected lineup that will have the handedness advantage against Andrew Abbott today.. Playing on the road generally lowers pitcher metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Andrew Abbott in today's matchup.. Andrew Abbott's fastball velocity has decreased 1.4 mph this year (91.4 mph) below where it was last year (92.8 mph).

Bo Naylor will possess the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats.. Bo Naylor's launch angle this season (24.9°) is significantly higher than his 19.5° mark last year.. In the last two weeks' worth of games, Bo Naylor has significantly improved the launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls: 28.5° compared to his seasonal mark of 23.2°.. Checking in at the 88th percentile for power, Bo Naylor has averaged 30.6 HRs per 600 plate appearances this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Ramirez in the 96th percentile when estimating his batting average skill.. Jose Ramirez is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in this matchup.. Jose Ramirez pulls many of his flyballs (41.4% — 99th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 3rd-shallowest LF fences today.. Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter stats in all categories, and Jose Ramirez will hold that advantage in today's game.. Compared to last year, Jose Ramirez 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 16.5% to 20.1% this season.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Elly De La Cruz as the 3rd-best batter in baseball when estimating his BABIP ability.. Elly De La Cruz is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card today.. The switch-hitting Elly De La Cruz will hold the platoon advantage while batting from from his better side (0) today against Slade Cecconi.. Elly De La Cruz has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.5%) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball's 3rd-shallowest LF fences today.. Bats such as Elly De La Cruz with extreme groundball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Slade Cecconi who skew towards the flyball end of the spectrum.

As it relates to his home run skill, Will Benson ranks in the 88th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. The #3 park in the game for boosting BABIP to lefties, via the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Progressive Field.. Progressive Field sits at the 7th-highest altitude among all parks. High elevation tends to lead to more offense.. Batting from the opposite that Slade Cecconi throws from, Will Benson will have the upper hand in today's matchup.. Will Benson pulls a lot of his flyballs (34.6% — 86th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 6th-shallowest RF fences in today's game.

David Fry is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in this game.. Hitting from the opposite that Andrew Abbott throws from, David Fry will have the upper hand in today's game.. David Fry pulls many of his flyballs (35.1% — 89th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards the league's 3rd-shallowest LF fences today.. Home field advantage typically boosts hitter metrics across the board, and David Fry will hold that advantage today.. In terms of the ability to lift the ball for power, David Fry ranks in the 92nd percentile with a 19.1° launch angle, which is one of the steepest angles in the majors.

Todd Tichenor profiles as a Huge Hitters Umpire and is anticipated to be in charge of the strike zone today.. The Cleveland Guardians have 6 hitters in the projected lineup that will have the handedness advantage against Andrew Abbott today.. The Cincinnati Reds outfield defense projects as the 3rd-worst among every team today.. Playing on the road generally lowers pitcher metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Andrew Abbott in today's matchup.

Nolan Jones's BABIP ability is projected in the 88th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Nolan Jones has a 92nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.3%) and has the good fortune of hitting them in the direction of the league's 3rd-shallowest LF fences today.. Home field advantage generally boosts batter stats across the board, and Nolan Jones will hold that advantage in today's matchup.. Nolan Jones has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 92.4-mph average to last season's 88.3-mph figure.. Nolan Jones has experienced some negative variance in regards to his home runs this year; his 7.1 HR per 600 plate appearances figure is a fair amount lower than his 15.3 Expected HR/600, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Bo Naylor will possess the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats.. Bo Naylor's launch angle this season (24.9°) is significantly higher than his 19.5° mark last year.. In the last two weeks' worth of games, Bo Naylor has significantly improved the launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls: 28.5° compared to his seasonal mark of 23.2°.. Checking in at the 88th percentile for power, Bo Naylor has averaged 30.6 HRs per 600 plate appearances this year.

As it relates to his home run skill, Will Benson ranks in the 88th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Batting from the opposite that Slade Cecconi throws from, Will Benson will have the upper hand in today's matchup.. The Barrel% of Will Benson has significantly improved, with an increase from 11.6% last year to 17.9% this season.. This season, Will Benson has experienced a significant increase in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 99.7 mph compared to last year's 93.4 mph mark.