St. Louis @ Pittsburgh picks

As it relates to his overall offensive ability, Lars Nootbaar ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Lars Nootbaar is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card today.. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in this game to reach the 3rd-highest level of the day at 84°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).. Lars Nootbaar will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Mitch Keller today.. Lars Nootbaar has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 92.3-mph to 97.4-mph in the past two weeks' worth of games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Oneil Cruz as the game's 7th-best home run hitter.. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this game.. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in this game to reach the 3rd-highest level of the day at 84°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).. Oneil Cruz will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Sonny Gray today.. Batters such as Oneil Cruz with extreme flyball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Sonny Gray who skew towards the groundball end of the spectrum.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bryan Reynolds in the 95th percentile when assessing his BABIP ability.. Bryan Reynolds is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup in today's game.. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in this game to reach the 5th-highest level of the day at 83°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).. The switch-hitting Bryan Reynolds will get to bat from his better side (0) today against Sonny Gray.. Bryan Reynolds will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should improve all of his stats.

Nolan Gorman projects as the 20th-best home run batter in MLB, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Nolan Gorman has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this season (79% of the time), but he is penciled in 4th in the batting order in today's game.. Batting from the opposite that Mitch Keller throws from, Nolan Gorman will have an edge today.. Nolan Gorman is an extreme flyball hitter and squares off against the weak outfield defense of Pittsburgh (#3-worst of all teams on the slate today).. Nolan Gorman has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.7-mph to 93.8-mph in the past 7 days.

Alec Burleson's batting average skill is projected to be in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Alec Burleson is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order in this game.. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in this game to reach the 5th-highest level of the day at 83°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).. Batting from the opposite that Mitch Keller throws from, Alec Burleson will have an edge in today's game.. Alec Burleson has made substantial strides with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 8.9% seasonal rate to 25% over the past week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew McCutchen in the 83rd percentile when it comes to his overall offensive talent.. Andrew McCutchen is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in this game.. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude in Major League Baseball. High elevation tends to lead to better offense.. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in this game to reach the 5th-highest level of the day at 83°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).. Home field advantage typically bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Andrew McCutchen will hold that advantage in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Masyn Winn in the 76th percentile when estimating his batting average skill.. Masyn Winn is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup today.. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in this game to reach the 3rd-highest level of the day at 84°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).. Masyn Winn's launch angle this year (16.8°) is a considerable increase over his 13° mark last year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Brendan Donovan in the 96th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability.. Brendan Donovan is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in today's game.. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude in Major League Baseball. High elevation tends to lead to better offense.. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in this game to reach the 5th-highest level of the day at 83°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).. Brendan Donovan will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Mitch Keller in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Thomas Saggese in the 89th percentile when it comes to his BABIP ability.. The weather forecast calls for temperatures in this game to reach the 5th-highest level of the day at 83°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been the 4th-unluckiest offense in the majors this year, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), and are likely to perform better in future games. Stu Scheurwater grades out as a Hitters Umpire and is scheduled to be calling pitches in this game.. PNC Park grades out as the #3 ballpark in the game for base hits, per the leading projection system (THE BAT).. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude in Major League Baseball. High elevation tends to lead to better offense.. Because groundball batters hold a substantial edge over flyball pitchers, Sonny Gray and his 31.2% underlying GB% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT) will be in a troublesome position today being matched up with 4 opposing GB bats.