Angel Stadium
As far as temperature and humidity are concerned, the 5th-most favorable pitching weather on the schedule is expected for this game. Corey Seager will be at a disadvantage playing away from home in today's matchup.
LaMonte Wade Jr. will hold the platoon advantage over Jacob deGrom today. LaMonte Wade Jr. will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats. LaMonte Wade Jr. has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 89.6-mph to 95.6-mph over the last week. LaMonte Wade Jr.'s launch angle this season (21.6°) is a considerable increase over his 12.8° mark last year. LaMonte Wade Jr.'s ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased lately, going from 15.4% on the season to 33.3% in the past week.
The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Luis Rengifo in the 79th percentile as it relates to his batting average talent. Luis Rengifo will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to improve all of his stats. Luis Rengifo has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 90.3-mph average to last year's 87.5-mph EV. Luis Rengifo's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved from last year to this one, going from 41.4% to 50.2%. Luis Rengifo has experienced some negative variance in regards to his batting average this year; his .240 BA is considerably lower than his .286 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 Taylor Ward in the 93rd percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability. Taylor Ward is penciled in 4th in the lineup in today's game. Home field advantage generally boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Taylor Ward will hold that advantage in today's game. Over the last 14 days, Taylor Ward has improved his Barrel% substantially, increasing it from his seasonal rate of 14.7% to 23.8%. Taylor Ward's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better of late, going from 44.3% on the season to 61.9% in the last two weeks' worth of games.
The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jo Adell in the 85th percentile when estimating his overall offensive talent. Jo Adell is projected to hit 5th in the lineup in this game. Jo Adell will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats. Jo Adell has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 98-mph average to last year's 94.1-mph average. Jo Adell has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 104.6-mph average in the last week's worth of games to his seasonal mark of 98-mph.
When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Logan O'Hoppe ranks in the 82nd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Logan O'Hoppe will hold the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Logan O'Hoppe has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 97.6-mph average to last year's 94.6-mph EV. Logan O'Hoppe's average launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls this season (20.6°) is significantly better than his 16° figure last season. Over the last 14 days, Logan O'Hoppe's 28.6% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 17.3%.
The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Wyatt Langford in the 95th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive talent. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Wyatt Langford's true offensive ability to be a .349, implying that he has had bad variance on his side this year given the .033 discrepancy between that figure and his actual .316 wOBA.
Batting from the opposite that Jack Kochanowicz throws from, Evan Carter will have the upper hand today.
When it comes to his overall offensive skill, Marcus Semien ranks in the 82nd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Marcus Semien is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order in today's game. Extreme flyball bats like Marcus Semien usually hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Jack Kochanowicz. Marcus Semien's launch angle this season (20.1°) is considerably higher than his 16.7° figure last year. Marcus Semien has experienced some negative variance in regards to his wOBA this year; his .292 mark is quite a bit lower than his .323 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.
Jonah Heim has made significant gains with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 7.3% seasonal rate to 27.3% in the past 7 days.
When it comes to his overall offensive talent, Zach Neto ranks in the 87th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Zach Neto is projected to hit 1st in the lineup today. Zach Neto will possess the home field advantage today, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Compared to last year, Zach Neto has improved his ability to hit the ball at a launch angle ideal for base hits, increasing his percentage of balls hit between -4° and 26° from 40.6% to 50.7% this season. With a .345 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) utilizing Statcast data) this year, Zach Neto has performed in the 81st percentile for offensive ability.
When assessing his overall offensive talent, Adolis Garcia ranks in the 82nd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Adolis Garcia is penciled in 4th in the batting order in this matchup. Adolis Garcia's launch angle this season (18.2°) is considerably higher than his 14.8° mark last year. Adolis Garcia has been unlucky this year, putting up a .291 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .326 — a .035 discrepancy.
The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Josh Jung in the 88th percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability. Josh Jung has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 87.9-mph to 96.4-mph over the past 7 days. Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.317) provides evidence that Josh Jung has had some very poor luck this year with his .298 actual wOBA. Josh Jung has recorded a .318 BABIP this year, checking in at the 75th percentile.
The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Joc Pederson in the 93rd percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability. Joc Pederson is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in this game. Batting from the opposite that Jack Kochanowicz throws from, Joc Pederson will have an advantage today. In terms of his batting average, Joc Pederson has had some very poor luck this year. His .127 BA falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .204. Joc Pederson has exhibited impressive plate discipline this year, placing in the 89th percentile with a 1.55 K/BB rate.
When it comes to his overall offensive talent, Yoan Moncada ranks in the 84th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). The switch-hitting Yoan Moncada will have the advantage of batting from from his good side (0) today against Jacob deGrom. Yoan Moncada will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which ought to boost all of his stats. Over the last 7 days, Yoan Moncada's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 94-mph over the course of the season to 98.9-mph recently. In the past week, Yoan Moncada's 44.4% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 25.2%.
Josh Smith is penciled in 1st in the batting order today. Hitting from the opposite that Jack Kochanowicz throws from, Josh Smith will have an advantage today. When it comes to plate discipline, Josh Smith's talent is quite good, putting up a 1.72 K/BB rate this year while grading out in in the 79th percentile. Checking in at the 85th percentile, Josh Smith has notched a .280 batting average this year.
Mike Trout projects as the 12th-best hitter in the game, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Mike Trout is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card today. Home field advantage generally boosts batter metrics across the board, and Mike Trout will hold that advantage in today's game. Mike Trout's launch angle lately (25.7° over the past two weeks) is a significant increase over his 17.5° seasonal mark. In terms of his batting average, Mike Trout has had some very poor luck this year. His .237 BA falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .260.
Nolan Schanuel's batting average talent is projected to be in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Nolan Schanuel is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. Nolan Schanuel will hold the platoon advantage over Jacob deGrom in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter stats in all categories, and Nolan Schanuel will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Last year, Nolan Schanuel had an average launch angle of 13° on his hardest-contacted balls, while this year it has significantly increased to 17.6°.
Kevin Newman will hold the home field advantage today, which ought to bolster all of his stats.
Kyle Higashioka has gone over 0.5 in 5 of his last 10 games.
Scott Kingery has gone over 0.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.
Gustavo Campero has gone over 0.5 in 5 of his last 10 games.
