Kansas City @ Chicago picks

Considering both his underlying tendencies and the matchup, Ryan Bergert is projected to throw 82 pitches today by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) system, which is the 14th-least of all pitchers on the slate today.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Guaranteed Rate Field as the worst venue in MLB for strikeouts.. Playing on the road generally lessens pitcher stats in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Ryan Bergert in today's matchup.. In his last outing, Ryan Bergert wasn't on when it came to striking hitters out and only managed to tally 2 Ks.. Ryan Bergert has had some very good luck with his strikeouts this year, compiling an 8.69 K/9 despite the leading projection system (THE BAT) estimating his true talent level to be 8.22 — a 0.47 K/9 difference.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Miguel Vargas in the 85th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill.. Miguel Vargas is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order today.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 8th-best venue in the game for boosting offensive stats to right-handed hitters.. Miguel Vargas pulls a lot of his flyballs (32.9% — 75th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 5th-shallowest LF fences today.. Home field advantage typically improves hitter stats in all categories, and Miguel Vargas will hold that advantage in today's game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Kyle Teel in the 94th percentile when it comes to his BABIP talent.. Kyle Teel is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card in this matchup.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 8th-best ballpark in the game for boosting offensive stats to left-handed batters.. HRs are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in MLB.. Hitting from the opposite that Ryan Bergert throws from, Kyle Teel will have an edge in today's matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bobby Witt Jr. as the 5th-best batter in the game when estimating his batting average ability.. Bobby Witt Jr. is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in this matchup.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 8th-best venue in the game for boosting offensive stats to right-handed hitters.. Bobby Witt Jr. has an 83rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.7%) and will have a big advantage hitting them out towards baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game.. In terms of his home runs, Bobby Witt Jr. has been unlucky this year. His 20.1 HR per 600 plate appearances mark has been significantly deflated relative to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Statcast-based Expected HR/600 at 26.5.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Lenyn Sosa in the 75th percentile when assessing his batting average skill.. Lenyn Sosa has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (60% of the time), but he is penciled in 4th in the batting order in today's game.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 8th-best venue in the game for boosting offensive stats to right-handed hitters.. Lenyn Sosa has an 80th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.3%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of MLB's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game.. Lenyn Sosa will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 8th-best ballpark in the game for boosting offensive stats to left-handed batters.. Michael Massey will hold the platoon advantage over Aaron Civale in today's game.. Michael Massey pulls many of his flyballs (36.5% — 93rd percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game.. Michael Massey's launch angle this season (22.6°) is considerably higher than his 16.7° mark last season.. Michael Massey has been unlucky this year, posting a .208 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .294 — a .086 deviation.

Mike Yastrzemski is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in this matchup.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 8th-best ballpark in the game for boosting offensive stats to left-handed batters.. Mike Yastrzemski will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Aaron Civale in today's matchup.. Mike Yastrzemski pulls many of his flyballs (34.9% — 88th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game.. In the past 14 days, Mike Yastrzemski's 20.7% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 16.8%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 8th-best ballpark in the game for boosting offensive stats to left-handed batters.. HRs are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in MLB.. Batting from the opposite that Aaron Civale throws from, Kyle Isbel will have the upper hand in today's game.

Vinnie Pasquantino is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup today.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 8th-best ballpark in the game for boosting offensive stats to left-handed batters.. Batting from the opposite that Aaron Civale throws from, Vinnie Pasquantino will have an edge today.. Vinnie Pasquantino pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (36.5% — 93rd percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup.. Over the last week, Vinnie Pasquantino's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 10.3% up to 33.3%.

Ryan Bergert will have the handedness advantage over Miguel Vargas in today's matchup.. Miguel Vargas has struggled with his Barrel% lately; his 8.3% seasonal rate has dropped to 0% in the last week.. Miguel Vargas's average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls this year (16.7°) is quite a bit lower than his 20.1° mark last season.. In the last week's worth of games, Miguel Vargas's 0% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 16.4%.. Using Statcast metrics, Miguel Vargas grades out in the 23rd percentile via the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average this year at .236.