Milwaukee @ Chicago picks

Can the Cubs find a way to take four of five vs. the Brewers? With Shota Imanaga, they have a good chance, but I'm backing Quinn Presiter in this spot. The youngster has been solid, posting an 11-2 record with a 3.48 ERA. He's only had one bad start across his last seven starts, and I trust his form more than I do Imanaga's. 

Through 23 appearances on the mound this season, Quinn Priester is 11-2 with a 3.48 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Entering this matchup, the right-hander ranks in the top half of the league in xERA, walk rate and barrel rate. This success is likely to continue against the Chicago Cubs, a team he fared well against in their previous meeting. Priester allowed just two runs in nearly six innings of work. A pitching duel could be in store, given that left-hander Shota Imanaga takes the mound for the Cubs who enters this matchup with a 3.06 ERA and 0.95 WHIP.

The surging Milwaukee Brewers have one of the best catchers in the big leagues behind the dish in William Contreras. He’s doing his part offensively, batting .258 with 13 home runs and 61 RBI. August has been especially kind to Contreras, with the star backstop hitting .282 with five long balls. The Brew Crew face the rival Chicago Cubs today, and they will hand Shota Imanaga the ball. Contreras has enjoyed himself against the Japanese starter, going 3-for-7 with two home runs. 

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects William Contreras in the 95th percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill.. William Contreras is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order today.. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest elevation in the league. High elevation often leads to better offense.. Batting from the opposite that Shota Imanaga throws from, William Contreras will have an advantage in today's game.. Extreme flyball bats like William Contreras tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Shota Imanaga.

Seiya Suzuki projects as the 15th-best hitter in baseball, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Seiya Suzuki is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in this game.. The shallowest left field fences in MLB are found in Wrigley Field.. Extreme groundball bats like Seiya Suzuki are generally more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Quinn Priester.. Home field advantage generally improves hitter stats in all categories, and Seiya Suzuki will hold that advantage in today's game.

Kyle Tucker projects as the 11th-best batter in the majors, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Kyle Tucker is penciled in 2nd in the lineup in this matchup.. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest elevation in the league. High elevation often leads to better offense.. Kyle Tucker will hold the platoon advantage against Quinn Priester in today's matchup.. Extreme flyball hitters like Kyle Tucker are generally more successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Quinn Priester.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Andrew Vaughn ranks in the 90th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Andrew Vaughn is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup.. The shallowest left field fences in MLB are found in Wrigley Field.. Hitting from the opposite that Shota Imanaga throws from, Andrew Vaughn will have the upper hand in today's game.. Andrew Vaughn has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 95.2-mph average to last year's 92.1-mph figure.

Derek Thomas profiles as a Hitters Umpire and is expected to be behind the plate in this game.. With 6 bats who bat from the opposite side in the opposing team's projected offense, Shota Imanaga has a tough challenge while lacking the platoon advantage in most plate appearances in today's matchup.. Given that flyball pitchers struggle the most against groundball hitters, Shota Imanaga (44.4% FB% per the leading projection system, THE BAT) will be a bit disadvantaged in this game with 5 GB hitters in Milwaukee's projected batting order.. Shota Imanaga's 90.1-mph velocity on his fastball this year is a notable 1.5-mph fall off from last season's 91.6-mph figure.. Shota Imanaga has experienced some positive variance in regards to his ERA this year; his 3.06 figure is deflated compared to his 4.40 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, an estimator of ERA that focuses on the things a pitcher has the most control over).

Kyle Tucker projects as the 11th-best batter in the majors, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Kyle Tucker is penciled in 2nd in the lineup in this matchup.. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest elevation in the league. High elevation often leads to better offense.. Kyle Tucker will hold the platoon advantage against Quinn Priester in today's matchup.. Extreme flyball hitters like Kyle Tucker are generally more successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Quinn Priester.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects William Contreras in the 95th percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill.. William Contreras is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order today.. Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest elevation in the league. High elevation often leads to better offense.. Batting from the opposite that Shota Imanaga throws from, William Contreras will have an advantage in today's game.. Extreme flyball bats like William Contreras tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Shota Imanaga.

Seiya Suzuki projects as the 15th-best hitter in baseball, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Seiya Suzuki is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in this game.. The shallowest left field fences in MLB are found in Wrigley Field.. Extreme groundball bats like Seiya Suzuki are generally more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Quinn Priester.. Home field advantage generally improves hitter stats in all categories, and Seiya Suzuki will hold that advantage in today's game.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Andrew Vaughn ranks in the 90th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Andrew Vaughn is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup.. The shallowest left field fences in MLB are found in Wrigley Field.. Hitting from the opposite that Shota Imanaga throws from, Andrew Vaughn will have the upper hand in today's game.. Andrew Vaughn has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 95.2-mph average to last year's 92.1-mph figure.

Wrigley Field sits at the 10th-highest elevation in the league. High elevation often leads to better offense.. Brandon Lockridge will hold the platoon advantage against Shota Imanaga in today's game.. Extreme groundball bats like Brandon Lockridge generally hit better against extreme flyball pitchers like Shota Imanaga.. In the last week's worth of games, Brandon Lockridge's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 2.1% up to 11.1%.. In the last week's worth of games, Brandon Lockridge's 44.4% rate of hitting balls at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 36.5%.