Houston @ Los Angeles picks

Framber Valdez has been one of the few pitchers to excel against the Dodgers lineup, holding LA hitters to a .141/.239/.271 slash line over 92 at-bats. With Shohei Ohtani’s time on the mound likely limited, back the Astros to capitalize on the Dodgers’ bullpen and nab a road win.

The Dodgers will throw Shohei Ohtani on Saturday evening as he makes his way back from Tommy John surgery, and while it’s his birthday, he’s still unlikely to pitch beyond two innings, according to Dave Roberts. While their top three high-leverage arms didn’t work on Friday, they were still forced to use several relievers for a considerable number of pitches after Ben Casparius failed to put L.A. in a winning position. Now, the Dodgers don’t exactly struggle against ground-ball pitchers, but they’ve been decidedly worse against these types with a league-leading .810 OPS in the reverse split. That would seem to put Valdez in a favorable position, and with his offense entering with a sustainable profile that’s been centered around a ton of contact, much of it going for extra bases. I will once again be fading L.A..

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), the team with the 4th-least strikeout-heavy lineup today is the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 19.9% underlying K%.. It is scheduled that we will see a Huge Hitters Umpire (Adrian Johnson) calling pitches in today's game.. Projected catcher Yainer Diaz grades out as a weak pitch framer, per the leading projection system (THE BAT).. Dodger Stadium profiles as the #23 venue in the league for strikeouts, per the leading projection system (THE BAT).. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 9.2-mph in this match-up, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.

Dodger Stadium profiles as the #1 park in MLB for RHB home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).. Among all major league parks, Dodger Stadium's CF dimensions are the 9th-shallowest.. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 9.2-mph in this match-up, the 3rd-most-favorable of the day for batters.. Notching a 92.8-mph average exit velocity in the last week, Cooper Hummel has been in great form lately.

Victor Caratini is projected to bat 5th in the lineup in this matchup.. Dodger Stadium profiles as the #1 park in MLB for RHB home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 9.2-mph in this match-up, the 3rd-most-favorable of the day for batters.. Victor Caratini hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (39.4% — 92nd percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting towards baseball's 9th-shallowest CF fences in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Meyers in the 85th percentile when estimating his batting average ability.. Jake Meyers has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this year (77% of the time), but he is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order today.. Dodger Stadium profiles as the #1 park in MLB for RHB home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 8.9-mph in this match-up, the 4th-most-favorable of the day for batters.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Yainer Diaz in the 97th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability.. Dodger Stadium profiles as the #1 park in MLB for RHB home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 9.2-mph in this match-up, the 3rd-most-favorable of the day for batters.. Hitting from the same side that Shohei Ohtani throws from, Yainer Diaz will have a disadvantage today.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Shohei Ohtani ranks as the 2nd-best batter in the league.. Shohei Ohtani is projected to bat 1st in the batting order in today's game.. The #1 venue in baseball for boosting home runs to left-handed hitters, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Dodger Stadium.. Among all major league parks, Dodger Stadium's CF dimensions are the 9th-shallowest.. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Teoscar Hernandez in the 97th percentile when assessing his BABIP skill.. Teoscar Hernandez is projected to hit 5th in the batting order today.. Dodger Stadium profiles as the #1 park in MLB for RHB home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 9.2-mph in this match-up, the 3rd-most-favorable of the day for batters.

When it comes to his home run ability, Christian Walker ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Christian Walker is penciled in 4th in the batting order today.. Dodger Stadium profiles as the #1 park in MLB for RHB home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).. Among all major league parks, Dodger Stadium's CF dimensions are the 9th-shallowest.. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.

When assessing his overall offensive talent, Mookie Betts ranks in the 96th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Mookie Betts is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in this matchup.. Dodger Stadium profiles as the #1 park in MLB for RHB home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 9.2-mph in this match-up, the 3rd-most-favorable of the day for batters.

Isaac Paredes is projected to bat 1st on the lineup card in today's game.. Dodger Stadium profiles as the #1 park in MLB for RHB home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).. Among all major league parks, Dodger Stadium's CF dimensions are the 9th-shallowest.. In Major League Baseball, Dodger Stadium has the lowest average fence height.. The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 9.2-mph in this match-up, the 3rd-most-favorable of the day for batters.