Cleveland @ Houston props

Built just 20 feet above sea level, Minute Maid Park has one of the lowest altitudes among all parks, which tends to lead to less offense. As far as temperature and humidity go, the 8th-most suitable pitching weather on the schedule is expected for this game. Typically, batters like Jose Ramirez who hit a lot of groundballs are generally less successful when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of groundballs such as Colton Gordon. Jose Ramirez will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today's matchup. Jose Ramirez has taken a step back with his Barrel% recently; his 7.5% seasonal rate has fallen to 0% in the past week's worth of games.

In Major League Baseball, Minute Maid Park's left field fences are the 2nd-shallowest. Brayan Rocchio has seen a substantial increase in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 86.5-mph average to last year's 84.5-mph EV. Brayan Rocchio has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 86.5-mph to 91.2-mph in the last week's worth of games. As it relates to his wOBA and overall offense, Brayan Rocchio has experienced some negative variance this year. His .208 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .288.

Home runs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the shallowest in MLB. Taylor Trammell will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Tanner Bibee today. Taylor Trammell will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

Will Wilson will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Colton Gordon in today's matchup.

Carlos Santana is projected to bat 4th in the lineup in this matchup. As a switch-hitter who performs better from the 0 side of the plate, Carlos Santana will hold the platoon advantage while batting from from his good side against Colton Gordon in today's matchup. Carlos Santana pulls many of his flyballs (40.1% — 98th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Carlos Santana's launch angle of late (24.8° over the last 14 days) is quite a bit better than his 16.8° seasonal mark. Sporting a 1.59 K/BB rate this year, Carlos Santana has shown strong plate discipline, checking in at the 83rd percentile.

As a switch-hitter who performs better from the 0 side of the plate, Angel Martinez will hold the platoon advantage while batting from from his strong side against Colton Gordon in today's matchup. Angel Martinez pulls a lot of his flyballs (36.3% — 93rd percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Angel Martinez has made notable strides with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 3.1% seasonal rate to 8.3% over the past 7 days. Angel Martinez's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased recently, going from 17.3% on the season to 42.9% in the past 14 days. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Angel Martinez's true offensive talent to be a .291, providing some evidence that he has had bad variance on his side this year given the .023 deviation between that mark and his actual .268 wOBA.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Johnathan Rodriguez in the 92nd percentile when assessing his BABIP talent. In Major League Baseball, Minute Maid Park's left field fences are the 2nd-shallowest. Johnathan Rodriguez will hold the platoon advantage against Colton Gordon today. Extreme flyball batters like Johnathan Rodriguez usually hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Colton Gordon.

David Fry is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in this game. David Fry will hold the platoon advantage over Colton Gordon in today's matchup. David Fry pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35.9% — 92nd percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Over the last week, David Fry's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 9.4% up to 33.3%. David Fry's launch angle this year (28.2°) is quite a bit higher than his 19.4° angle last year.

Nolan Jones's BABIP ability is projected in the 88th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Nolan Jones is projected to bat 5th in the lineup in today's game. Nolan Jones has a 90th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36%) and will have a big advantage hitting them in the direction of baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Nolan Jones has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity this season; just compare his 91.9-mph average to last year's 88.3-mph EV. Over the last 14 days, Nolan Jones's 55% rate of hitting balls at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 44.3%.

Yainer Diaz's batting average skill is projected to be in the 97th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Yainer Diaz is penciled in 4th in the batting order in today's game. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter stats across the board, and Yainer Diaz will hold that advantage in today's game. Yainer Diaz has made substantial improvements with his Barrel% lately, upping his 8.4% seasonal rate to 26.7% over the past week. Yainer Diaz has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 90.8-mph to 94.8-mph over the last week.

Home field advantage generally improves hitter stats across the board, and Cooper Hummel will hold that advantage today. Over the past 7 days, Cooper Hummel's maximum exit velocity (a favorable measure of recent form and raw power) has been 111.9-mph, which qualifies as one of the hardest-hit balls in baseball. Over the last two weeks, Cooper Hummel's swing has been well optimized for base hits, notching a 54.5% of balls hit with a launch angle in the optimal range of -4° to 26°.

In Major League Baseball, Minute Maid Park's left field fences are the 2nd-shallowest. In the last two weeks, Christian Walker's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 93-mph over the course of the season to 95.4-mph recently. Christian Walker has been unlucky this year, compiling a .295 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .327 — a .032 discrepancy.

Bo Naylor has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.7-mph to 92.8-mph in the last week's worth of games. Bo Naylor's launch angle this season (23.2°) is significantly better than his 19.5° mark last season. Bo Naylor's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better in recent games, increasing from 35.5% on the season to 50% over the last 7 days. Bo Naylor has experienced some negative variance in regards to his batting average this year; his .173 figure is a fair amount lower than his .207 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 82nd percentile when estimating his batting average skill. Home field advantage typically boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Mauricio Dubon will hold that advantage today. Mauricio Dubon'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 12.1% to 21.2%. In the last two weeks' worth of games, Mauricio Dubon's 29% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 21.2%. Mauricio Dubon has experienced some negative variance in regards to his batting average this year; his .251 figure is significantly deflated relative to his .284 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Steven Kwan's batting average skill is projected to be in the 95th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Steven Kwan is projected to hit 1st in the batting order in this game. Steven Kwan has a 92nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.6%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Over the last 7 days, Steven Kwan's 35% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 17.5%. Steven Kwan's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased from last year to this one, going from 45.1% to 50.2%.

Austin Hedges will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Colton Gordon today. Austin Hedges pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.3% — 77th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Austin Hedges has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 92.8-mph average to last season's 88.4-mph figure. Austin Hedges's 24.9° launch angle (an advanced stat to study a hitter's ability to lift the ball for power) is one of the steepest in the game: 97th percentile.

Victor Caratini is projected to bat 5th in the lineup today. Victor Caratini will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats. Victor Caratini has made big improvements with his Barrel% recently, upping his 9.5% seasonal rate to 20.8% over the last 14 days. Victor Caratini has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 89.5-mph to 92.4-mph over the past week. Victor Caratini's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better recently, rising from 17.9% on the season to 41.7% in the past 14 days.

Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter stats in all categories, and Zack Short will hold that advantage today.

Jose Altuve's batting average talent is projected to be in the 90th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Jose Altuve is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. Jose Altuve pulls a lot of his flyballs (41% — 99th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter stats in all categories, and Jose Altuve will hold that advantage in today's game. Jose Altuve has made substantial improvements with his Barrel% of late, improving his 6.6% seasonal rate to 18.8% in the past 7 days.

Isaac Paredes is projected to hit 1st in the batting order in this game. Isaac Paredes pulls many of his flyballs (46.9% — 100th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Isaac Paredes will hold that advantage in today's game. Isaac Paredes has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 87.2-mph average to last season's 85-mph EV. Compared to his seasonal average of 22°, Isaac Paredes has significantly improved his launch angle recently, posting a 25.7° mark in the past two weeks.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Meyers in the 84th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. Jake Meyers has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this season (76% of the time), but he is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in this matchup. Jake Meyers will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to improve all of his stats. In the last 7 days, Jake Meyers's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 92.2-mph over the course of the season to 102.6-mph recently. Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased from last year to this one, going from 44.4% to 51.2%.

In Major League Baseball, Minute Maid Park's left field fences are the 2nd-shallowest. Kenedy Corona will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats.