Chicago @ Pittsburgh picks

Oneil Cruz found his game prior to All-Star week, clearing his H+R+R line in four of his final five appearances before the break. Cruz finds himself at home against a right-handed starter, which has been a formula for success all season long. Cruz has averaged 2.1 H+R+R and gone over his line in 59% of his games under such circumstances.

Oneil Cruz projects as the 6th-best home run batter in the league, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in today's game.. Oneil Cruz will have the handedness advantage against Jonathan Cannon today.. Oneil Cruz has a ton of pop (99th percentile) if he makes contact, but that's always far from assured (30.6% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Jonathan Cannon is a pitch-to-contact type (8th percentile K%) — great news for Cruz.. Oneil Cruz has made substantial improvements with his Barrel%, bettering his 15.7% rate last season to 22.4% this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew Benintendi in the 82nd percentile when it comes to his batting average talent.. Andrew Benintendi is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup.. This game is forecasted to have the highest humidity of all games on the slate (82%); there is a small but significant connection with increased offense (and decreased Ks) when the weather is humid.. The Pittsburgh Pirates outfield defense grades out as the 2nd-weakest out of all the teams playing today.. In the last 7 days, Andrew Benintendi's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 94-mph over the course of the season to 99-mph recently.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bryan Reynolds in the 94th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill.. Bryan Reynolds is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in today's game.. As a switch-hitter who is best from the 0 side of the dish, Bryan Reynolds will hold the platoon advantage while batting from from his better side against Jonathan Cannon in today's game.. In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Bryan Reynolds has been unlucky this year. His .286 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .325.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew McCutchen in the 81st percentile when estimating his overall offensive talent.. Andrew McCutchen is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card in today's game.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest elevation among all major league parks, which tends to lead to better offense.. Andrew McCutchen has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 95.5-mph average to last season's 93-mph mark.. Andrew McCutchen has experienced some negative variance in regards to his home runs this year; his 13.9 HR per 600 plate appearances mark is deflated compared to his 17.8 Expected HR/600, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Tommy Pham has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (73% of the time), but he is penciled in 1st in the lineup in this matchup.. This game is forecasted to have the highest humidity of all games on the slate (82%); there is a small but significant connection with increased offense (and decreased Ks) when the weather is humid.. Extreme groundball batters like Tommy Pham are generally more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Jonathan Cannon.. Tommy Pham will hold the home field advantage today, which figures to boost all of his stats.. Tommy Pham has made significant strides with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 5.3% seasonal rate to 15% in the past two weeks.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Miguel Vargas in the 86th percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability.. Miguel Vargas is penciled in 4th on the lineup card in today's game.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest elevation among all major league parks, which tends to lead to better offense.. This game is forecasted to have the highest humidity of all games on the slate (82%); there is a small but significant connection with increased offense (and decreased Ks) when the weather is humid.. Miguel Vargas will have the handedness advantage against Bailey Falter today.

Oneil Cruz projects as the 6th-best home run batter in the league, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in today's game.. Oneil Cruz will have the handedness advantage against Jonathan Cannon today.. Oneil Cruz has a ton of pop (99th percentile) if he makes contact, but that's always far from assured (30.6% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Jonathan Cannon is a pitch-to-contact type (8th percentile K%) — great news for Cruz.. Oneil Cruz has made substantial improvements with his Barrel%, bettering his 15.7% rate last season to 22.4% this year.

Oneil Cruz projects as the 6th-best home run batter in the league, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in today's game.. Oneil Cruz will have the handedness advantage against Jonathan Cannon today.. Oneil Cruz has a ton of pop (99th percentile) if he makes contact, but that's always far from assured (30.6% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Jonathan Cannon is a pitch-to-contact type (8th percentile K%) — great news for Cruz.. Oneil Cruz has made substantial improvements with his Barrel%, bettering his 15.7% rate last season to 22.4% this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew Benintendi in the 82nd percentile when it comes to his batting average talent.. Andrew Benintendi is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup.. PNC Park profiles as the #10 venue in MLB for run-scoring, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).. This game is forecasted to have the highest humidity of all games on the slate (82%); there is a small but significant connection with increased offense (and decreased Ks) when the weather is humid.. The Pittsburgh Pirates outfield defense grades out as the 2nd-weakest out of all the teams playing today.

Tommy Pham has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (73% of the time), but he is penciled in 1st in the lineup in this matchup.. Extreme groundball batters like Tommy Pham are generally more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Jonathan Cannon.. Tommy Pham has made significant strides with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 5.3% seasonal rate to 15% in the past two weeks.. Tommy Pham has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 95.9-mph average in the last two weeks' worth of games to his seasonal 90.7-mph figure.