Toronto @ Pittsburgh picks

The Jays picked up a much-needed win in Game 2 of this three-game set vs. the Pirates, and I like them to win big again on Thursday. They'll have the decided pitching advantage with Bassitt taking on Oviedo, and the offense should thrive in great hitting conditions at PNC Park. 

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jack Suwinski in the 93rd percentile when estimating his home run ability.. Because of Chris Bassitt's large platoon split, Jack Suwinski will have a big advantage batting from the opposite side of the plate in this game.. Jack Suwinski will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats.. Jack Suwinski has made big gains with his Barrel%, upping his 9% rate last season to 14.8% this season.. Jack Suwinski has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 96-mph average in the past week's worth of games to his seasonal 88.4-mph figure.

Spencer Horwitz is projected to bat 2nd on the lineup card today.. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude among all parks. High elevation generally leads to higher offensive output.. Spencer Horwitz will hold the platoon advantage over Chris Bassitt today... and even more favorably, Bassitt has a large platoon split.. Spencer Horwitz will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to bolster all of his stats.. Compared to his seasonal average of 14.9°, Spencer Horwitz has significantly improved his launch angle lately, posting a 30.8° mark over the past 7 days.

When it comes to his home run ability, Davis Schneider ranks in the 92nd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude among all parks. High elevation generally leads to higher offensive output.. Out of every team today, the worst outfield defense belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates.. Davis Schneider has made big gains with his Barrel% lately, bettering his 18.7% seasonal rate to 26.7% over the past 14 days.. Davis Schneider has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 98.1-mph average over the last two weeks to his seasonal 90.2-mph EV.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew McCutchen in the 80th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability.. Andrew McCutchen is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card today.. PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude among all parks. High elevation generally leads to higher offensive output.. Andrew McCutchen will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats.. In the past two weeks, Andrew McCutchen's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 94.7-mph over the course of the season to 99.4-mph in recent games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bryan Reynolds in the 96th percentile when it comes to his BABIP talent.. Bryan Reynolds is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order today.. As a switch-hitter who bats better from the 0 side of the dish, Bryan Reynolds will get to bat from his good side against a pitcher with a large platoon split (Chris Bassitt) today.. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter stats across the board, and Bryan Reynolds will hold that advantage in today's game.. Compared to his seasonal average of 7.4°, Bryan Reynolds has significantly improved his launch angle lately, posting a 34° angle in the last week's worth of games.

Daulton Varsho is penciled in 4th in the lineup in this matchup.. Batting from the opposite that Johan Oviedo throws from, Daulton Varsho will have an advantage in today's matchup.. Daulton Varsho has made significant improvements with his Barrel%, upping his 6.4% rate last season to 18.9% this year.. Daulton Varsho has made significant improvements with his Barrel% lately, bettering his 18.9% seasonal rate to 30% in the last 7 days.. This season, Daulton Varsho has experienced a significant increase in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 98.1 mph compared to last year's 91.1 mph mark.

PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude among all parks. High elevation generally leads to higher offensive output.. Home field advantage typically improves hitter stats across the board, and Henry Davis will hold that advantage in today's matchup.. In the last two weeks' worth of games, Henry Davis has significantly improved the launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls: 30.4° compared to his seasonal mark of 14.2°.. Henry Davis's footspeed has increased this season. His 27.73 ft/sec Statcast Sprint Speed last season sits at 28.25 ft/sec now.. Henry Davis has experienced some negative variance in regards to his batting average this year; his .173 figure is significantly deflated relative to his .233 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

PNC Park sits at the 6th-highest altitude among all parks. High elevation generally leads to higher offensive output.. Liover Peguero will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats.. Liover Peguero is remarkably athletic, ranking in the 92nd percentile in Sprint Speed at 29.13 ft/sec this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jack Suwinski in the 93rd percentile when estimating his home run ability.. Because of Chris Bassitt's large platoon split, Jack Suwinski will have a big advantage batting from the opposite side of the plate in this game.. Jack Suwinski will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats.. Jack Suwinski has made big gains with his Barrel%, upping his 9% rate last season to 14.8% this season.. Jack Suwinski has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 96-mph average in the past week's worth of games to his seasonal 88.4-mph figure.

Andres Gimenez will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Johan Oviedo in today's game.. Out of every team today, the worst outfield defense belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates.. Andres Gimenez has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 86.6-mph to 92.7-mph in the last week.. Andres Gimenez's average launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls this season (13.3°) is considerably higher than his 9.2° figure last year.. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average (.266) provides evidence that Andres Gimenez has experienced some negative variance this year with his .222 actual batting average.