Pittsburgh @ Chicago picks

Horton spots his four-seamer well enough to disguise a brutal sweeper that’s accumulated a 37.5% whiff rate. The Pirates boast a 22% strikeout rate against right-handed pitching.

Oneil Cruz projects as the 6th-best home run hitter in the league, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in today's game.. Oneil Cruz will have the handedness advantage against Cade Horton today.. Oneil Cruz has made sizeable strides with his Barrel%, bettering his 15.7% rate last year to 24.6% this year.. Oneil Cruz has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 97.3-mph average to last year's 95.3-mph mark.

Kyle Tucker projects as the 7th-best hitter in baseball, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Kyle Tucker is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in today's game.. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation tends to lead to more offense.. Hitting from the opposite that Paul Skenes throws from, Kyle Tucker will have the upper hand in today's matchup.. Extreme groundball bats like Kyle Tucker are generally more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Paul Skenes.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Seiya Suzuki ranks as the 18th-best batter in the game.. Seiya Suzuki is penciled in 3rd in the lineup today.. Among all stadiums, Wrigley Field's LF dimensions are the 6th-shallowest.. Bats such as Seiya Suzuki with extreme groundball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Paul Skenes who skew towards the flyball end of the spectrum.. Home field advantage typically improves batter stats in all categories, and Seiya Suzuki will hold that advantage today.

When assessing his home run skill, Pete Crow-Armstrong ranks in the 88th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Pete Crow-Armstrong has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (59% of the time), but he is projected to hit 4th in the batting order today.. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation tends to lead to more offense.. Batting from the opposite that Paul Skenes throws from, Pete Crow-Armstrong will have an advantage in today's matchup.. Pete Crow-Armstrong will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which should boost all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bryan Reynolds in the 94th percentile when assessing his BABIP ability.. Bryan Reynolds is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this game.. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation tends to lead to more offense.. The switch-hitting Bryan Reynolds will get to bat from his good side (0) today against Cade Horton.. Bryan Reynolds has a 76th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.6%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards MLB's 6th-shallowest LF fences in today's game.

Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation tends to lead to more offense.. Henry Davis pulls many of his flyballs (35.5% — 90th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards baseball's 6th-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup.. Henry Davis has made big strides with his Barrel% of late, upping his 9.2% seasonal rate to 14.3% over the past two weeks.. Henry Davis has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 91.2-mph average in the last two weeks to his seasonal 85.5-mph average.. Henry Davis's launch angle lately (32.3° in the last two weeks' worth of games) is quite a bit better than his 27.3° seasonal mark.

Kyle Tucker projects as the 7th-best hitter in baseball, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Kyle Tucker is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in today's game.. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation tends to lead to more offense.. Hitting from the opposite that Paul Skenes throws from, Kyle Tucker will have the upper hand in today's matchup.. Extreme groundball bats like Kyle Tucker are generally more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Paul Skenes.

Oneil Cruz projects as the 6th-best home run hitter in the league, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in today's game.. Oneil Cruz will have the handedness advantage against Cade Horton today.. Oneil Cruz has made sizeable strides with his Barrel%, bettering his 15.7% rate last year to 24.6% this year.. Oneil Cruz has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 97.3-mph average to last year's 95.3-mph mark.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Seiya Suzuki ranks as the 18th-best batter in the game.. Seiya Suzuki is penciled in 3rd in the lineup today.. Among all stadiums, Wrigley Field's LF dimensions are the 6th-shallowest.. Bats such as Seiya Suzuki with extreme groundball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Paul Skenes who skew towards the flyball end of the spectrum.. Home field advantage typically improves batter stats in all categories, and Seiya Suzuki will hold that advantage today.

Ke'Bryan Hayes's batting average ability is projected to be in the 76th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation tends to lead to more offense.. Extreme flyball hitters like Ke'Bryan Hayes are generally more successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Cade Horton.. Ke'Bryan Hayes's exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off of late; his 90.9-mph seasonal average has decreased to 80.5-mph in the last week.. Ke'Bryan Hayes's launch angle this year (9°) is a considerable increase over his 4.7° angle last season.