Detroit @ Tampa Bay picks

Don't look now, but the Rays have caught fire as winners of seven of their last 10 games. With Zack Littell holding the Tigers to a .580 OPS through 62 at-bats, take Tampa Bay to keep the momentum rolling at home.

When estimating his home run talent, Brandon Lowe ranks in the 90th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Brandon Lowe is projected to bat 2nd on the lineup card in today's game.. George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. Brandon Lowe will have the handedness advantage against Casey Mize today.. Brandon Lowe pulls many of his flyballs (35.8% — 91st percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game's 5th-shallowest RF fences today.

George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. Dillon Dingler's launch angle recently (24.1° in the last two weeks) is considerably better than his 17.4° seasonal angle.. Dillon Dingler's 17.4° launch angle (an advanced stat to evaluate a hitter's ability to lift the ball for power) is one of the highest in Major League Baseball: 82nd percentile.. Placing in the 88th percentile, Dillon Dingler sits with a .344 BABIP this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Spencer Torkelson in the 92nd percentile when it comes to his home run ability.. Spencer Torkelson is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in today's game.. George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. The Barrel% of Spencer Torkelson has significantly improved, with an increase from 6.8% last year to 14% this year.. This season, Spencer Torkelson has experienced a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 95.3 mph compared to last year's 90.5 mph mark.

George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. The switch-hitting Wenceel Perez will get to bat from his strong side (0) today against Zack Littell.. Wenceel Perez pulls a lot of his flyballs (36.5% — 93rd percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's game.. Wenceel Perez has made significant improvements with his Barrel%, upping his 4.4% rate last year to 18% this season.. Wenceel Perez has made sizeable gains with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 18% seasonal rate to 30.8% in the past 7 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Christopher Morel in the 97th percentile when assessing his home run skill.. George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. The Detroit Tigers infield defense projects as the 2nd-worst among every team on the slate today.. Christopher Morel will hold the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats.. In comparison to his 89.1-mph average last year, Christopher Morel's exit velocity has noticeably risen this season, now sitting at 91.1 mph.

When assessing his batting average talent, Yandy Diaz is projected as the 7th-best batter in the majors by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Yandy Diaz is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in this game.. George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. Yandy Diaz has a 99th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (41.9%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them out towards the game's 5th-shallowest RF fences today.. The Detroit Tigers infield defense projects as the 2nd-worst among every team on the slate today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Junior Caminero in the 92nd percentile when it comes to his batting average talent.. Junior Caminero is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in today's game.. George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. The Detroit Tigers infield defense projects as the 2nd-worst among every team on the slate today.. Junior Caminero will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Riley Greene as the 6th-best batter in the league as it relates to his BABIP skill.. Riley Greene is penciled in 4th in the batting order today.. George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. Riley Greene will hold the platoon advantage over Zack Littell in today's game.. Riley Greene has strong power (91st percentile) if he makes contact, but that's usually a big "IF" (27.3% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Zack Littell struggles to strike batters out (22nd percentile K%) — great news for Greene.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Gleyber Torres in the 89th percentile as it relates to his batting average talent.. Gleyber Torres is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in this game.. George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. Gleyber Torres has an 89th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.7%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's game.. Gleyber Torres's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased from last year to this one, going from 16.6% to 20.6%.

Matt Thaiss, the Rays's expected catcher today, grades out as a weak pitch framer according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).. George M. Steinbrenner Field has the lowest average fence height among all parks.. Zack Littell's fastball velocity has dropped 1 mph this season (91.4 mph) below where it was last season (92.4 mph).. Given the 1.57 difference between Zack Littell's 3.88 ERA and his 5.46 FIP, it's safe to say he's been one of the luckiest pitchers in the league this year and figures to negatively regress in future games.. With a 5.46 FIP this year (Fielding Independent Pitching, an ERA estimator that focuses on the variables most within a pitcher's control), Zack Littell places in the 7th percentile.