Chicago @ New York picks

Seiya Suzuki is putting up monster numbers as one of the driving forces on a Chicago Cubs offense that ranks tied for first in runs per game. He has been at his best against left-handed pitchers, taking his numbers up a notch while pacing the team in pretty much every major offensive category. He leads all Cubs in homers, slugging, OPS, wOBA, and barrel rate, while getting on base better than 37% of the time. Carlos Rodón is a very good pitcher but he has been touched up more of late, allowing at least three earned runs in five of his past seven starts. Don’t be surprised if Suzuki gets to him Friday night.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Pete Crow-Armstrong in the 87th percentile when it comes to his home run ability.. Pete Crow-Armstrong is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup.. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. Pete Crow-Armstrong will probably have an advantage against every reliever throughout the game, since the bullpen of the New York Yankees has just 1 same-handed RP.. Pete Crow-Armstrong pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35.8% — 91st percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 7th-shallowest RF fences today.

Aaron Judge projects as the best hitter in the game, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Aaron Judge is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card in today's game.. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter stats across the board, and Aaron Judge will hold that advantage in today's game.. Aaron Judge's 27.1% Barrel% (a reliable stat to assess power) is in the 100th percentile this year.

When assessing his overall offensive talent, Dansby Swanson ranks in the 87th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. Dansby Swanson will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Carlos Rodon today.. The New York Yankees outfield defense grades out as the worst among every team today.. Dansby Swanson's launch angle this season (14.2°) is quite a bit higher than his 10.2° figure last season.

Carson Kelly is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card today, which would be an upgrade from his 57% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season.. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. Carson Kelly will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Carlos Rodon today.. The New York Yankees outfield defense grades out as the worst among every team today.. Carson Kelly has made significant strides with his Barrel%, improving his 6.6% rate last season to 12% this season.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Kyle Tucker ranks as the 7th-best batter in the league.. Kyle Tucker is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in this game.. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. The New York Yankees have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Kyle Tucker has a strong chance of holding the platoon advantage against every reliever all game.. Kyle Tucker pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35% — 89th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 7th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the 96th percentile when it comes to his home run talent.. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup.. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. Jazz Chisholm Jr. will have the handedness advantage against Chris Flexen in today's matchup.. Jazz Chisholm Jr. pulls a lot of his flyballs (34.8% — 87th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 7th-shallowest RF fences today.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Seiya Suzuki ranks as the 19th-best hitter in the league.. Seiya Suzuki is penciled in 3rd in the batting order in this game.. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. Hitting from the opposite that Carlos Rodon throws from, Seiya Suzuki will have the upper hand today.. The New York Yankees outfield defense grades out as the worst among every team today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ian Happ in the 89th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill.. Ian Happ is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in this game.. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. The New York Yankees outfield defense grades out as the worst among every team today.. In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Ian Happ has had some very poor luck this year. His .313 figure falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .339.

When assessing his overall offensive skill, Michael Busch ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. The New York Yankees have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Michael Busch can likely count on holding the advantage against every reliever all game.. The New York Yankees outfield defense grades out as the worst among every team today.. Michael Busch's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved from last year to this one, increasing from 18.1% to 22.9%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Giancarlo Stanton as Major League Baseball's 5th-best home run batter.. Giancarlo Stanton is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in this game.. Yankee Stadium has the 7th-lowest fences among all stadiums.. Giancarlo Stanton has big-time HR ability (99th percentile) if he makes contact, but that's usually a big "IF" (28.8% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Chris Flexen has a pitch-to-contact profile (14th percentile K%) — great news for Stanton.. Giancarlo Stanton will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats.