Houston @ Los Angeles Picks & Props

The weather report predicts the 4th-most favorable pitching conditions of the day, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Kyle Hendricks will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Jake Meyers today. Playing on the road typically weakens hitter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Jake Meyers in today's matchup. Jake Meyers has taken a step back with his Barrel% of late; his 5.9% seasonal rate has lowered to 0% in the last 7 days. Compared to his seasonal figure of 10.3°, Jake Meyers has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (3.6°) in the past two weeks.

The weather report predicts the 4th-most favorable pitching conditions of the day, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Kyle Hendricks will hold the platoon advantage over Yainer Diaz in today's game. Playing on the road generally diminishes hitter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Yainer Diaz in today's matchup. Yainer Diaz has been cold recently, with his seasonal exit velocity of 91-mph dropping to 88.9-mph over the last 7 days. Yainer Diaz's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has dropped off lately, falling from 45.1% on the season to 27.8% over the last week.

The weather report predicts the 4th-most favorable pitching conditions of the day, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Batting from the same side that Kyle Hendricks throws from, Jose Altuve encounters a tough challenge today. Jose Altuve will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today's game. Jose Altuve's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has decreased from last year to this one, decreasing from 45.8% to 39.6%. Jose Altuve has been lucky in regards to his batting average this year; his .269 rate is quite a bit higher than his .226 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

The weather report predicts the 4th-most favorable pitching conditions of the day, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Kyle Hendricks will have the handedness advantage over Jeremy Pena in today's game. Jeremy Pena will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team in today's game. In the last 7 days, Jeremy Pena's Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 6.1% down to 0%. Over the past 7 days, Jeremy Pena's exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off from his seasonal average of 89.2 mph to 81.8 mph.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. LaMonte Wade Jr. will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Ryan Gusto in today's game. Home field advantage generally boosts batter stats across the board, and LaMonte Wade Jr. will hold that advantage in today's game. There has been a significant improvement in LaMonte Wade Jr.'s launch angle from last season's 12.8° to 22.3° this season. LaMonte Wade Jr. has gotten much quicker this year, improving from last year's 25.16 ft/sec to 25.92 ft/sec now (according to Statcast's Sprint Speed metric).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Taylor Ward in the 94th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent. Taylor Ward is penciled in 4th on the lineup card in this matchup. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Taylor Ward will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to improve all of his stats. Taylor Ward's launch angle this year (21.7°) is quite a bit higher than his 17.3° angle last season.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 3rd-weakest out of every team today. Cooper Hummel has been hot recently, notching a a 40% Barrel% (a reliable standard to assess power) in the past week. Notching a 95.5-mph average exit velocity over the past 7 days, Cooper Hummel has been in great form lately. Cooper Hummel has been zeroed in on the ideal launch angle for home runs recently, angling balls between 23° and 34° 40% of the time in the past week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 83rd percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 3rd-weakest out of every team today. Mauricio Dubon has seen a substantial increase in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 99.4-mph average in the past week to his seasonal figure of 87.1-mph. Mauricio Dubon has had bad variance on his side thus far when it comes to his batting average this year; his .250 rate is considerably lower than his .291 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Logan O'Hoppe ranks in the 85th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Logan O'Hoppe is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this game. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Logan O'Hoppe will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats. The Barrel% of Logan O'Hoppe has significantly improved, with an increase from 12% last year to 17.7% this year.

Christian Walker is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card today. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 3rd-weakest out of every team today. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Christian Walker's true offensive ability to be a .329, suggesting that he has suffered from bad luck this year given the .045 difference between that mark and his actual .284 wOBA.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics across the board, and Kevin Newman will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Extreme flyball batters like Victor Caratini tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Kyle Hendricks. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 3rd-weakest out of every team today. Victor Caratini has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 93.9-mph average to last season's 89.9-mph EV. In the last two weeks, Victor Caratini's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 93.9-mph over the course of the season to 97.4-mph of late.

Isaac Paredes is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in this game. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 3rd-weakest out of every team today. Los Angeles's 3rd-worst outfield defense of all teams on the slate creates a favorable matchup for Isaac Paredes, who tends to hit a lot of flyballs. Isaac Paredes has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 87.2-mph average to last season's 85-mph average.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Zach Neto in the 85th percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill. Zach Neto is penciled in 1st on the lineup card in this game. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics across the board, and Zach Neto will hold that advantage in today's game. The Barrel% of Zach Neto has significantly improved, with an increase from 8.5% last year to 15.5% this season.

As it relates to his overall offensive skill, Jo Adell ranks in the 78th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Jo Adell will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which figures to improve all of his stats. Jo Adell has made sizeable gains with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 14.9% seasonal rate to 25.7% in the past two weeks. Jo Adell has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 99.3-mph average to last year's 94.1-mph figure.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nolan Schanuel in the 92nd percentile as it relates to his batting average ability. Nolan Schanuel is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in this matchup. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Nolan Schanuel will hold the platoon advantage against Ryan Gusto in today's game. Nolan Schanuel will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should boost all of his stats.

The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Batting from the opposite that Kyle Hendricks throws from, Luis Guillorme will have an advantage today. Batters such as Luis Guillorme with extreme flyball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Kyle Hendricks who skew towards the groundball end of the spectrum. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense profiles as the 3rd-weakest out of every team today. As it relates to his batting average, Luis Guillorme has had bad variance on his side since the start of last season. His .200 rate falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .227.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Mike Trout ranks as the 10th-best batter in the league. Mike Trout is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Mike Trout will benefit from the home field advantage today, which figures to bolster all of his stats. Mike Trout has made big strides with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 18.2% seasonal rate to 31.3% over the past week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Christian Moore in the 81st percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Christian Moore will hold the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Luis Rengifo in the 76th percentile when estimating his batting average skill. Luis Rengifo has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this year (75% of the time), but he is projected to hit 1st in the batting order in this matchup. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.1-mph in this game, the 9th-strongest of the day for batters. Batters such as Luis Rengifo with extreme groundball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Ryan Gusto who skew towards the flyball end of the spectrum. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Luis Rengifo will hold that advantage in today's game.