San Diego @ Washington picks

Nick Pivetta is 9-2 with a 2.88 ERA in his first season with the Padres, while Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore ranks third in the NL in strikeouts. Given that both pitchers are firing on all cylinders, look for a low-scoring affair in D.C.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects James Wood as the best hitter in the majors when estimating his BABIP skill.. James Wood is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in this matchup.. The weather report expects temperatures in this game to reach the 4th-highest level of all games today at 89°, which is highly linked to an increase in offense (and a reduction in strikeouts).. James Wood will have the handedness advantage over Nick Pivetta in today's matchup.. James Wood has a 97th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (39%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of MLB's 10th-shallowest LF fences in today's game.

When it comes to his overall offensive skill, Jake Cronenworth ranks in the 85th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. This game is expected to have the 6th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. Jake Cronenworth has a 78th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34%) and has the good fortune of hitting them in the direction of the game's 10th-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup.. Jake Cronenworth has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.7-mph to 92-mph in the past 14 days.. In the past two weeks, Jake Cronenworth's 26.3% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 16.3%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Xander Bogaerts in the 95th percentile as it relates to his batting average talent.. Xander Bogaerts is penciled in 4th in the lineup today.. In the league, Nationals Park's LF fences are the 8th-shallowest.. This game is expected to have the 11th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. Batting from the opposite that MacKenzie Gore throws from, Xander Bogaerts will have the upper hand in today's game.

Fernando Tatis Jr. projects as the 8th-best hitter in MLB, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Fernando Tatis Jr. is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in this matchup.. In the league, Nationals Park's LF fences are the 8th-shallowest.. This game is expected to have the 6th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. Fernando Tatis Jr. will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against MacKenzie Gore in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Manny Machado in the 95th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill.. Manny Machado is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in today's game.. In the league, Nationals Park's LF fences are the 8th-shallowest.. This game is expected to have the 6th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. Batting from the opposite that MacKenzie Gore throws from, Manny Machado will have an advantage today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects CJ Abrams in the 82nd percentile as it relates to his batting average ability.. CJ Abrams is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in today's game.. This game is expected to have the 6th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. CJ Abrams will hold the platoon advantage against Nick Pivetta in today's matchup.. CJ Abrams pulls many of his flyballs (33.3% — 77th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 10th-shallowest RF fences today.

Josh Bell is projected to hit 4th in the batting order in today's game.. This game is expected to have the 13th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. As a switch-hitter who bats better from the 0 side of the plate, Josh Bell will have the advantage of batting from from his good side against Nick Pivetta in this game.. Josh Bell has a 79th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.1%) and will have a big advantage hitting them in the direction of baseball's 10th-shallowest LF fences today.. Extreme flyball bats like Josh Bell tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Nick Pivetta.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nathaniel Lowe in the 80th percentile when assessing his BABIP ability.. Nathaniel Lowe is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card today.. This game is expected to have the 13th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. Nathaniel Lowe will have the handedness advantage over Nick Pivetta today.. Nathaniel Lowe has a 99th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (41.3%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the league's 10th-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup.

Gavin Sheets is penciled in 5th in the batting order in today's game.. This game is expected to have the 6th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. Gavin Sheets pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.9% — 88th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards baseball's 10th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup.. Gavin Sheets has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 94.9-mph average to last year's 90.8-mph average.. Gavin Sheets has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his wOBA this year; his .328 mark is significantly deflated relative to his .347 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jackson Merrill in the 96th percentile as it relates to his batting average skill.. Jackson Merrill is projected to hit 5th in the batting order in today's game.. This game is expected to have the 11th-most favorable weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.. Jackson Merrill has a 90th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.9%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of the league's 10th-shallowest LF fences in today's game.. In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Jackson Merrill has experienced some negative variance this year. His .318 figure falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .355.