Houston @ Athletics Picks & Props

Low humidity has a small but significant link with less offense (and more Ks), and the weather forecast predicts the driest conditions of all games today at 38%. Today, Brent Rooker is at a disadvantage facing the league's 11th-deepest CF center field fences given that he hits his flyballs towards center field at a 39.2% rate (90th percentile). Extreme flyball hitters like Brent Rooker usually hit worse against extreme flyball pitchers like Colton Gordon.

The 6th-deepest LF fences in Major League Baseball are found in Sutter Health Park. Low humidity has a small but significant link with less offense (and more Ks), and the weather forecast predicts the driest conditions of all games today at 38%. Jacob Wilson's average exit velocity has dropped off recently; his 86.1-mph seasonal EV has dropped to 82.3-mph over the past week. In the last 7 days, Jacob Wilson has failed to produce much power, posting a mere a 0% Barrel% (an advanced metric to measure power). Despite posting a .390 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Jacob Wilson has had positive variance on his side given the .078 disparity between that mark and his estimated true talent wOBA of .312.

Low humidity has a small but significant link with less offense (and more Ks), and the weather forecast predicts the driest conditions of all games today at 38%. Yainer Diaz hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (38.9% — 86th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards MLB's 11th-deepest CF fences today. The Athletics infield defense projects as the 4th-strongest among all the teams in action today. Playing on the road generally reduces batter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Yainer Diaz in today's game. Compared to his seasonal figure of 12.5°, Yainer Diaz has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (5.4°) over the past 14 days.

When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Lawrence Butler ranks in the 80th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Lawrence Butler is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in this game. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter metrics in all categories, and Lawrence Butler will hold that advantage in today's game. In the last 7 days, Lawrence Butler's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 94.1-mph over the course of the season to 98-mph in recent games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Meyers in the 84th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Jacob Lopez throws from, Jake Meyers will have an advantage in today's game. Jake Meyers has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 92.2-mph average in the last week to his seasonal 88.7-mph EV. Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better from last season to this one, increasing from 44.4% to 51.1%.

The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Extreme flyball hitters like Victor Caratini tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Jacob Lopez. Posting a .263 batting average this year, Victor Caratini is ranked in the 76th percentile.

The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Nicholas Kurtz will hold that advantage today. Nicholas Kurtz has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 92.8-mph to 95.6-mph in the past two weeks' worth of games. Compared to his seasonal average of 14.6°, Nicholas Kurtz has significantly improved his launch angle in recent games, posting a 35.3° mark over the past week. Nicholas Kurtz's 96.3-mph exit velocity on flyballs (a reliable stat to evaluate power) is in the 91st percentile this year.

The 6th-deepest LF fences in Major League Baseball are found in Sutter Health Park. Low humidity has a small but significant link with less offense (and more Ks), and the weather forecast predicts the driest conditions of all games today at 38%. The Athletics infield defense projects as the 4th-strongest among all the teams in action today. Jeremy Pena will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today's matchup. From last season to this one, Jeremy Pena's ability to hit the ball at a launch angle that optimizes home runs (23° to 34°) has decreased substantially, plummeting from 12.3% to 8.7%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 90th percentile when estimating his batting average ability. Jose Altuve is projected to hit 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Jose Altuve will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Jacob Lopez in today's game. Over the past week, Jose Altuve's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 6.1% up to 13%.

The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Jacob Lopez throws from, Christian Walker will have an edge today. Compared to his seasonal average of 16.8°, Christian Walker has significantly improved his launch angle lately, posting a 23.9° mark in the past 14 days. In the past two weeks' worth of games, Christian Walker's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 13.4% up to 17.2%. Christian Walker has been unlucky this year, notching a .287 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .330 — a .043 difference.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 86th percentile when assessing his batting average talent. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Mauricio Dubon will have the handedness advantage against Jacob Lopez today. Mauricio Dubon's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved recently, going from 38.2% on the season to 57.1% in the past week. Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average (.278) provides evidence that Mauricio Dubon has been unlucky this year with his .252 actual batting average.

As it relates to his overall offensive ability, Tyler Soderstrom ranks in the 85th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Tyler Soderstrom is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this game. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Tyler Soderstrom will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which should bolster all of his stats. Tyler Soderstrom has compiled a .345 Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year, ranking in the 82nd percentile for hitting ability according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Isaac Paredes is penciled in 2nd in the lineup today. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Isaac Paredes will hold the platoon advantage over Jacob Lopez in today's game. In comparison to his 85-mph average last year, Isaac Paredes's exit velocity has noticeably risen this season, now sitting at 87.2 mph. Over the past 7 days, Isaac Paredes's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 91.5-mph over the course of the season to 103.8-mph in recent games.

When assessing his BABIP skill, Denzel Clarke is projected as the 11th-best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Colton Gordon throws from, Denzel Clarke will have an advantage in today's matchup. Extreme groundball batters like Denzel Clarke generally hit better against extreme flyball pitchers like Colton Gordon. Home field advantage typically improves batter stats in all categories, and Denzel Clarke will hold that advantage in today's game.

The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Colton Gordon throws from, Luis Urias will have an advantage in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically boosts batter stats in all categories, and Luis Urias will hold that advantage in today's matchup. In the past two weeks, Luis Urias's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 91.6-mph over the course of the season to 95.5-mph of late. Luis Urias's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased in recent games, increasing from 9.9% on the season to 26.7% over the past week.

The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Hitting from the opposite that Colton Gordon throws from, Willie MacIver will have an advantage in today's game. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Willie MacIver will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Willie MacIver has been optimizing his launch angle on his hardest hit balls quite well recently, posting an 18° angle on such balls in the past two weeks.

Max Muncy is projected to bat 5th in the lineup in this game. The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 15-mph in this contest, the 4th-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Colton Gordon throws from, Max Muncy will have the upper hand in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically improves batter stats across the board, and Max Muncy will hold that advantage in today's game. Max Muncy has made substantial improvements with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 9.2% seasonal rate to 16.7% over the past 14 days.

Austin Wynns has gone over 0.5 in 7 of his last 10 games.