San Francisco @ Pittsburgh picks

The San Francisco Giants need to make up some ground in the wild card race, and fast. They look to take two of three here vs. the Pirates and have a great chance of doing so with Robbie Ray on the bump. The Pirates are 30th in runs per game, and Ray has been solid, pitching to a 2.85 ERA. I'll lay the small juice here with the better team. 

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Oneil Cruz as baseball's 6th-best home run hitter.. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this game.. The San Francisco Giants outfield defense grades out as the 4th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Oneil Cruz will hold that advantage today.. In the last week's worth of games, Oneil Cruz's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 97.8-mph over the course of the season to 103.5-mph in recent games.

Tommy Pham has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (65% of the time), but he is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in this game.. Hitting from the opposite that Robbie Ray throws from, Tommy Pham will have the upper hand today.. The San Francisco Giants outfield defense grades out as the 4th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.. Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter metrics in all categories, and Tommy Pham will hold that advantage today.. Tommy Pham has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 95.1-mph average in the last two weeks to his seasonal 91.5-mph mark.

When assessing his overall offensive skill, Andrew McCutchen ranks in the 80th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Andrew McCutchen is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card in today's game.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude among all parks, which tends to lead to more offense.. Andrew McCutchen will have the handedness advantage over Robbie Ray in today's game.. The San Francisco Giants outfield defense grades out as the 4th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.

When estimating his home run skill, Willy Adames ranks in the 94th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Willy Adames is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in today's game.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude among all parks, which tends to lead to more offense.. Willy Adames will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Andrew Heaney in today's matchup.. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Willy Adames's true offensive talent to be a .337, providing some evidence that he has had bad variance on his side this year given the .019 discrepancy between that figure and his actual .318 wOBA.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Rafael Devers in the 97th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability.. Rafael Devers is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in today's game.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude among all parks, which tends to lead to more offense.. The Pittsburgh Pirates have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Rafael Devers can likely count on holding the advantage against every reliever all game.. Rafael Devers has made significant improvements with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 15.2% seasonal rate to 27.3% over the past 7 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Heliot Ramos in the 91st percentile when it comes to his overall offensive talent.. Heliot Ramos is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in today's game.. Batting from the opposite that Andrew Heaney throws from, Heliot Ramos will have an edge in today's game.. Heliot Ramos has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 91.6-mph to 94.7-mph over the last two weeks.. With a .333 BABIP this year, Heliot Ramos is ranked in the 90th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Oneil Cruz as baseball's 6th-best home run hitter.. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this game.. The San Francisco Giants outfield defense grades out as the 4th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.. Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Oneil Cruz will hold that advantage today.. In the last week's worth of games, Oneil Cruz's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 97.8-mph over the course of the season to 103.5-mph in recent games.

It may be wise to expect stronger performance for the Pittsburgh Pirates offense in future games, given that the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes they are the unluckiest offense in Major League Baseball this year.. It is anticipated that we will see a Huge Hitters Umpire (Lance Barksdale) behind the plate today.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude among all parks, which tends to lead to more offense.. With 9 batters who bat from the other side in the opposing team's projected lineup, Robbie Ray will be in a tough position while lacking the platoon advantage in most plate appearances in today's game.. The San Francisco Giants outfield defense grades out as the 4th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.

Hitting from the opposite that Robbie Ray throws from, Alexander Canario will have an advantage in today's game.. The San Francisco Giants outfield defense grades out as the 4th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.. Home field advantage typically boosts batter stats across the board, and Alexander Canario will hold that advantage in today's game.. Alexander Canario has had bad variance on his side thus far when it comes to his home runs this year; his 10.3 HR per 600 plate appearances rate is a fair amount lower than his 24.8 Expected HR/600, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.. Alexander Canario's 13.7% Barrel% (an advanced metric to evaluate power) is in the 87th percentile this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bryan Reynolds in the 95th percentile when assessing his BABIP ability.. Bryan Reynolds is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in today's game.. The San Francisco Giants outfield defense grades out as the 4th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.. Bryan Reynolds will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats.. Bryan Reynolds has experienced some negative variance in regards to his wOBA this year; his .294 figure is deflated compared to his .329 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.