Cleveland @ Chicago Picks & Props

The Chicago White Sox infield defense grades out as the 5th-strongest among all the teams playing today. Steven Kwan will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team in today's game. Steven Kwan's exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off lately; his 88.4-mph seasonal figure has lowered to 85.9-mph in the last 14 days. Steven Kwan has been lucky this year, notching a .321 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .306 — a .015 gap. Placing in the 0th percentile, the hardest ball Steven Kwan has made contact with this year reached a maximum exit velocity of 104.1 mph -- a reliable indication of underlying power ability.

The Chicago White Sox infield defense grades out as the 5th-strongest among all the teams playing today. Playing on the road typically lessens hitter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Jose Ramirez today. Jose Ramirez has been cold lately, with his seasonal exit velocity of 88.9-mph dropping to 86.7-mph in the past two weeks' worth of games. Jose Ramirez has experienced some positive variance in regards to his batting average this year; his .293 rate is significantly inflated relative to his .266 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Kyle Teel's BABIP skill is projected in the 91st percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Homers are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 3rd-shallowest among all major league stadiums. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Batting from the opposite that Slade Cecconi throws from, Kyle Teel will have an edge in today's matchup. Kyle Teel will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats.

Mike Tauchman is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in today's game. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Mike Tauchman will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Slade Cecconi in today's game. Mike Tauchman has an 87th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.3%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of the game's 5th-shallowest LF fences today. Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Mike Tauchman will hold that advantage today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Gabriel Arias in the 82nd percentile when assessing his BABIP skill. Gabriel Arias is penciled in 5th on the lineup card in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 78% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Gabriel Arias has an 87th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.3%) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the game's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Gabriel Arias has made significant improvements with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 11.3% seasonal rate to 16.7% in the past 14 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew Benintendi in the 80th percentile when assessing his batting average talent. Andrew Benintendi is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order in this game. Homers are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 3rd-shallowest among all major league stadiums. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Andrew Benintendi will have the handedness advantage against Slade Cecconi today.

High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Austin Hedges pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.2% — 84th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball's 5th-shallowest LF fences in today's game. This season, Austin Hedges has experienced a significant improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 93.3 mph compared to last year's 88.4 mph mark. In terms of the ability to lift the ball for power, Austin Hedges ranks in the 97th percentile with a 23.1° launch angle, which is among the most flyball-inducing angles in baseball.

Bo Naylor is penciled in 5th in the lineup in today's game, which would be an upgrade from his 94% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Hitting from the opposite that Davis Martin throws from, Bo Naylor will have an advantage today. Bo Naylor pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.8% — 87th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards the league's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. In the past 14 days, Bo Naylor's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 94.2-mph over the course of the season to 99-mph lately.

High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Batting from the opposite that Slade Cecconi throws from, Josh Rojas will have an advantage in today's matchup. Josh Rojas has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.5%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards the league's 5th-shallowest LF fences today. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Josh Rojas will hold that advantage in today's matchup. When it comes to his batting average, Josh Rojas has had some very poor luck this year. His .173 rate falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .204.

Carlos Santana is projected to hit 5th in the lineup in today's game. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Carlos Santana pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (40.2% — 99th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the game's 9th-shallowest RF fences today. Carlos Santana's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved in recent games, increasing from 15.1% on the season to 28.1% over the last two weeks. In terms of plate discipline, Carlos Santana's skill is quite strong, posting a 1.57 K/BB rate this year while ranking in in the 85th percentile.

High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Curtis Mead has a 93rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them out towards the league's 9th-shallowest RF fences today. Curtis Mead will hold the home field advantage today, which should boost all of his stats.

Lenyn Sosa has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (68% of the time), but he is projected to hit 2nd in the batting order in this matchup. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Lenyn Sosa has an 89th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.7%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of the league's 9th-shallowest RF fences today. Lenyn Sosa will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should improve all of his stats. In the last week's worth of games, Lenyn Sosa's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 8.9% up to 21.4%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Luis Robert Jr. in the 88th percentile when estimating his BABIP skill. Luis Robert Jr. is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in today's game. Homers are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 3rd-shallowest among all major league stadiums. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Home field advantage typically improves hitter metrics in all categories, and Luis Robert Jr. will hold that advantage in today's game.

High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Angel Martinez pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (39.2% — 98th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. In the past 7 days, Angel Martinez's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 4% up to 10%. Angel Martinez's launch angle this season (18.6°) is quite a bit better than his 14.8° angle last season. Over the last 14 days, Angel Martinez has significantly improved the launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls: 17.8° compared to his seasonal mark of 12.5°.

Kyle Manzardo is penciled in 4th in the lineup in this game. Homers are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 3rd-shallowest among all major league stadiums. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Kyle Manzardo will hold the platoon advantage over Davis Martin in today's game.

Daniel Schneemann is projected to bat 2nd on the lineup card in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 67% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season. Homers are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 3rd-shallowest among all major league stadiums. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Daniel Schneemann will hold the platoon advantage over Davis Martin in today's matchup. Daniel Schneemann has made sizeable gains with his Barrel% lately, improving his 12.9% seasonal rate to 21.1% in the past 14 days.

Colson Montgomery has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (75% of the time), but he is penciled in 5th in the batting order in this matchup. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Batting from the opposite that Slade Cecconi throws from, Colson Montgomery will have an edge today. Colson Montgomery pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.6% — 86th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Colson Montgomery will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

Homers are generally more common at ballparks with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 3rd-shallowest among all major league stadiums. High temperatures are strongly correlated with more offense (and fewer Ks), and the weather forecast projects the highest temperatures on the slate at 92°. Brayan Rocchio's average exit velocity has risen significantly from last season to this one, averaging 87.2-mph now compared to just 84.5-mph then. Brayan Rocchio has had some very poor luck with his batting average this year; his .227 rate is significantly deflated relative to his .261 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

CJ Kayfus has gone over 0.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.