Texas @ Pittsburgh picks

The only way to bet this game is on the Over 8.5 as both starting pitchers have ERAs north of 4.00. Kumar Rocker has given up five runs in two of his last three starts, while Mitch Keller has given up 14 runs over his last four starts. Not good. Back the hitter to win out on Saturday afternoon. 

When estimating his overall offensive talent, Josh Smith ranks in the 77th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Josh Smith is projected to bat 1st on the lineup card in this matchup.. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Josh Smith will have the handedness advantage against Mitch Keller in today's matchup.. Compared to his seasonal average of 14.1°, Josh Smith has significantly improved his launch angle in recent games, posting a 22.4° figure in the last two weeks' worth of games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Oneil Cruz as the majors's 6th-best home run batter.. Oneil Cruz is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in this game.. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Hitting from the opposite that Kumar Rocker throws from, Oneil Cruz will have the upper hand today.. Oneil Cruz will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Ezequiel Duran's launch angle this season (11.8°) is considerably better than his 8.6° angle last season.

Joey Bart's BABIP talent is projected in the 77th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Joey Bart is penciled in 5th in the batting order in this game.. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation often leads to more offense.. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Joey Bart will hold that advantage today.

PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation often leads to more offense.. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Henry Davis will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to boost all of his stats.. Henry Davis has made notable strides with his Barrel% in recent games, upping his 11.4% seasonal rate to 40% in the past week's worth of games.. Henry Davis has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 98.8-mph average over the past week to his seasonal average of 91.7-mph.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Josh Jung in the 89th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill.. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Compared to his seasonal average of 13.6°, Josh Jung has significantly improved his launch angle recently, posting a 41.7° angle over the past 7 days.. Josh Jung's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last season to this one, increasing from 16.8% to 20.4%.. Josh Jung has been unlucky in regards to his wOBA this year; his .302 rate is significantly deflated relative to his .321 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

When estimating his overall offensive talent, Evan Carter ranks in the 86th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Evan Carter will hold the platoon advantage against Mitch Keller in today's game.. Compared to his seasonal average of 17.7°, Evan Carter has significantly improved his launch angle of late, posting a 47.7° figure over the past week.. Evan Carter's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last season to this one, increasing from 16.7% to 21.4%.

When it comes to his home run skill, Adolis Garcia ranks in the 94th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Adolis Garcia is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in today's game.. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Adolis Garcia's launch angle this season (20.4°) is significantly better than his 14.8° angle last year.. In the last week, Adolis Garcia's 66.7% rate of hitting balls at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 37.3%.

Bryan Reynolds's BABIP skill is projected in the 94th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Bryan Reynolds is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this game.. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation often leads to more offense.. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. The switch-hitting Bryan Reynolds will have the advantage of batting from from his strong side (0) today against Kumar Rocker.

When it comes to his overall offensive skill, Andrew McCutchen ranks in the 86th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Andrew McCutchen is projected to hit 2nd in the batting order today.. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude in the league. High elevation often leads to more offense.. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer whiffs), and the weather report forecasts the 4th-hottest weather on the slate at 91°.. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter metrics in all categories, and Andrew McCutchen will hold that advantage in today's matchup.