Houston @ Athletics Picks & Props

Sutter Health Park has the 6th-deepest left field dimensions among all major league parks. Batting from the same side that Ryan Gusto throws from, Jacob Wilson will have a tough matchup in today's matchup. The Houston Astros outfield defense grades out as the 4th-strongest out of every team today. Jacob Wilson has been cold in recent games, notching a 0% Barrel% (a reliable standard to assess power) in the past week's worth of games. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Jacob Wilson's true offensive ability to be a .313, implying that he has had some very good luck this year given the .082 discrepancy between that mark and his actual .395 wOBA.

Sutter Health Park has the 6th-deepest left field dimensions among all major league parks. Hitting from the opposite that Mitch Spence throws from, Jeremy Pena will have the upper hand in today's game. Extreme groundball hitters like Jeremy Pena tend to be more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Mitch Spence. Playing on the road generally lessens hitter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Jeremy Pena today. Jeremy Pena's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has declined from last season to this one, going from 12.3% to 8.9%.

Jose Altuve will hold the platoon advantage over Mitch Spence in today's game. Jose Altuve pulls a lot of his flyballs (41% — 99th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards the game's 6th-deepest LF fences today. Jose Altuve will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today's matchup. Jose Altuve has been cold in recent games, with his seasonal exit velocity of 84.9-mph dropping to 82.6-mph over the past two weeks. In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Jose Altuve has been lucky this year. His .321 rate has been considerably higher than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .283.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Lawrence Butler in the 83rd percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability. Lawrence Butler is penciled in 1st on the lineup card today. A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Lawrence Butler will hold the platoon advantage against Ryan Gusto today.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Out of all the teams in action today, the 14th-best infield defense is that of the the Athletics.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Max Muncy will benefit from the home field advantage today, which should boost all of his stats. Max Muncy has made significant strides with his Barrel% recently, improving his 9.3% seasonal rate to 17.2% in the past two weeks' worth of games. Over the past two weeks, Max Muncy's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 93.2-mph over the course of the season to 97.6-mph in recent games.

Batting from the opposite that Mitch Spence throws from, Yainer Diaz will have the upper hand today. Yainer Diaz hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (39.1% — 88th percentile) but may find it hard to clear the game's 11th-deepest CF fences today. Yainer Diaz will be at a disadvantage playing on the road in today's matchup. Yainer Diaz has shown bad plate discipline this year, checking in at the 11th percentile with a 5.01 K/BB rate. Yainer Diaz has compiled a .266 BABIP this year, checking in at the 20th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Tyler Soderstrom in the 86th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent. Tyler Soderstrom is penciled in 3rd in the batting order in this game. A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Tyler Soderstrom will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Ryan Gusto in today's matchup.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Luis Urias will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats. In the last 14 days, Luis Urias's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 91.6-mph over the course of the season to 94.7-mph recently. Sporting a 1.29 K/BB rate this year, Luis Urias has displayed good plate discipline, ranking in the 92nd percentile.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Willie MacIver will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats. Over the past two weeks, Willie MacIver has posted a 20.7° launch angle, lifting the ball well and indicating strong home run potential.

When it comes to his BABIP ability, Denzel Clarke is projected as the 8th-best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Typically, bats like Denzel Clarke who hit a lot of groundballs tend to be less successful when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of groundballs such as Ryan Gusto. Denzel Clarke will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to bolster all of his stats.

Christian Walker is penciled in 4th in the batting order in today's game. A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Out of all the teams in action today, the 14th-best infield defense is that of the the Athletics. Christian Walker has made sizeable strides with his Barrel% in recent games, bettering his 13.7% seasonal rate to 21.4% over the past two weeks.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Meyers in the 84th percentile when it comes to his batting average talent. Jake Meyers has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (89% of the time), but he is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in this game. A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Out of all the teams in action today, the 14th-best infield defense is that of the the Athletics.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Out of all the teams in action today, the 14th-best infield defense is that of the the Athletics. In the past two weeks, Victor Caratini's 25% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 14.6%.

Isaac Paredes is penciled in 2nd in the lineup in this matchup. A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Extreme flyball hitters like Isaac Paredes usually hit worse against extreme flyball pitchers like Mitch Spence. Out of all the teams in action today, the 14th-best infield defense is that of the the Athletics.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Home field advantage typically boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Max Schuemann will hold that advantage today. Max Schuemann has been very good at hitting the ball to all fields (a crucial ability for batting average), checking in at the 82nd percentile in THE BAT X's Spray Score since the start of last season.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Batting from the same side that Mitch Spence throws from, Luis Guillorme will be at a disadvantage in today's game. Out of all the teams in action today, the 14th-best infield defense is that of the the Athletics. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average (.227) suggests that Luis Guillorme has had bad variance on his side since the start of last season with his .201 actual batting average.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 82nd percentile when estimating his batting average talent. A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Out of all the teams in action today, the 14th-best infield defense is that of the the Athletics. Mauricio Dubon has compiled a .262 batting average since the start of last season, ranking in the 77th percentile.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Hitting from the opposite that Ryan Gusto throws from, JJ Bleday will have the upper hand in today's game. Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics across the board, and JJ Bleday will hold that advantage today. JJ Bleday's launch angle this season (23.8°) is considerably higher than his 18.6° mark last year.

Nicholas Kurtz has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this year (97% of the time), but he is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in today's game. A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Nicholas Kurtz will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Ryan Gusto in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter stats across the board, and Nicholas Kurtz will hold that advantage in today's game.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Brent Rooker ranks as the 15th-best batter in baseball. Brent Rooker is penciled in 4th in the batting order today. A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Brent Rooker will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should boost all of his stats.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer Ks), and this game is expected to have the 2nd-highest temperatures of all games today at 82°. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for batters. Austin Wynns will benefit from the home field advantage today, which ought to boost all of his stats. Austin Wynns has made notable strides with his Barrel% recently, upping his 17.6% seasonal rate to 33.3% over the last week. In the past 7 days, Austin Wynns's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 95.5-mph over the course of the season to 106.1-mph in recent games.