Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh picks

Nick Martinez has cashed the Under in earned runs allowed in five consecutive starts, allowing two earned runs in every outing. When it comes to facing the Pittsburgh Pirates, Martinez held them to one earned run across six frames earlier this season. Overall, the Bucs are hitting .288 against him across 66 at-bats. Last year, the 35-year-old also posted a 1.86 ERA versus the Pirates across three appearances. He’ll put together another quality start here.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Elly De La Cruz as the 2nd-best hitter in the game when it comes to his BABIP skill.. Elly De La Cruz is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order in today's game.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude in the majors, which usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 4th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. As a switch-hitter who is stronger from the 0 side of the dish, Elly De La Cruz will hold the platoon advantage while batting from from his strong side against Braxton Ashcraft in this game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Oneil Cruz as the game's 6th-best home run hitter.. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 4th in the batting order in this matchup.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 5th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. Oneil Cruz will hold the platoon advantage over Nick Martinez in today's game.. Home field advantage generally improves batter metrics in all categories, and Oneil Cruz will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bryan Reynolds in the 95th percentile when it comes to his BABIP ability.. Bryan Reynolds is penciled in 3rd in the lineup today.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude in the majors, which usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 5th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. The switch-hitting Bryan Reynolds will hold the platoon advantage while batting from from his strong side (0) today against Nick Martinez.

Tommy Pham is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in today's game, which would be an upgrade from his 64% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this year.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 4th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. Tommy Pham will benefit from the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats.. Tommy Pham has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 91.5-mph to 94.6-mph over the last two weeks.. Over the past week, Tommy Pham's 77.8% rate of hitting balls at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 46.7%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Tyler Stephenson in the 91st percentile when estimating his BABIP ability.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 4th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. Out of every team playing today, the 2nd-weakest outfield defense belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates.. Tyler Stephenson has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 95.4-mph average in the past two weeks to his seasonal 91.5-mph EV.. Compared to last year, Tyler Stephenson has improved his ability to hit the ball at a launch angle ideal for home runs, increasing his percentage of balls hit between 23° and 34° from 14% to 21.7% this season.

Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude in the majors, which usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 4th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-weakest outfield defense belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates.. Spencer Steer is an extreme flyball batter and faces the weak outfield defense of Pittsburgh (#3-worst on the slate).. Spencer Steer has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% lately, upping his 5.7% seasonal rate to 11.1% over the last two weeks.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Matt McLain in the 90th percentile as it relates to his BABIP talent.. Matt McLain is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card in today's game.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 4th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-weakest outfield defense belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates.. Matt McLain has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, upping his 6.5% seasonal rate to 20% in the past 7 days.

Austin Hays is projected to bat 4th in the batting order in this game.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude in the majors, which usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 4th-hottest weather on the slate today at 87°.. This season, Austin Hays has experienced a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 94.8 mph compared to last year's 91.6 mph mark.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Andrew McCutchen ranks in the 80th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Andrew McCutchen is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this game.. Built 724 feet above sea level, PNC Park has the 6th-highest altitude in the majors, which usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to better offense.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 4th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. Home field advantage typically boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Andrew McCutchen will hold that advantage today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Oneil Cruz as the game's 6th-best home run hitter.. Oneil Cruz is projected to bat 4th in the batting order in this matchup.. Hot weather is strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather report calls for the 4th-hottest weather on the slate today at 86°.. Oneil Cruz will hold the platoon advantage over Nick Martinez in today's game.. Home field advantage generally improves batter metrics in all categories, and Oneil Cruz will hold that advantage in today's matchup.