Kansas City @ Chicago Picks & Props

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.

Edgar Quero's batting average talent is projected to be in the 84th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Edgar Quero has a 95th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.7%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of the league's 5th-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Edgar Quero will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which should bolster all of his stats. Edgar Quero has made significant strides with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 3.9% seasonal rate to 11.5% in the past 14 days. In the last 14 days, Edgar Quero's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 90.7-mph over the course of the season to 97.4-mph in recent games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jonathan India in the 87th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill. HRs are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in MLB. Jonathan India has made substantial improvements with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 6.1% seasonal rate to 12.5% over the past 14 days. Jonathan India's launch angle this year (16.8°) is quite a bit better than his 13.3° angle last season. Jonathan India has been unlucky this year, putting up a .302 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .334 — a .032 disparity.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Chase Meidroth in the 79th percentile as it relates to his batting average talent. Chase Meidroth has a 95th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.9%) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics in all categories, and Chase Meidroth will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Chase Meidroth has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 96.3-mph average in the last week to his seasonal mark of 90.4-mph. As it relates to plate discipline, Chase Meidroth's talent is quite good, sporting a 1.44 K/BB rate this year while grading out in in the 91st percentile.

Vinnie Pasquantino is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup today. 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%. Vinnie Pasquantino has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 90.6-mph to 94.1-mph in the past 14 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew Benintendi in the 78th percentile as it relates to his batting average talent. Andrew Benintendi is projected to hit 5th in the batting order in today's game. 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, Andrew Benintendi will have the upper hand in today's matchup. Andrew Benintendi will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats.

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.

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. 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. Miguel Vargas has shown strong plate discipline this year, grading out in the 77th percentile with a 1.82 K/BB rate.

Mike Tauchman is penciled in 1st on the lineup card in this matchup. Mike Tauchman will hold the platoon advantage against Ryan Bergert in today's matchup. Mike Tauchman has an 87th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.4%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 5th-shallowest LF fences today. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter stats across the board, and Mike Tauchman will hold that advantage today. Mike Tauchman has notched a .349 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, ranking in the 80th percentile.

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. 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. There has been a significant improvement in Lenyn Sosa's launch angle from last season's 12.4° to 18.8° this year.

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. 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. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Kyle Teel will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

HRs are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-shallowest in MLB. Adam Frazier will hold the platoon advantage over Aaron Civale in today's matchup. Compared to his seasonal average of 14.1°, Adam Frazier has significantly improved his launch angle of late, posting a 30.8° angle over the last 7 days. Adam Frazier's average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls this year (15.8°) is quite a bit better than his 11.9° mark last year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Maikel Garcia in the 95th percentile when it comes to his batting average ability. Maikel Garcia is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in today's game. Maikel Garcia has an 89th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.8%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Maikel Garcia's launch angle this year (9.7°) is quite a bit higher than his 6.2° mark last year. Maikel Garcia has been hot of late, compiling a 92.6-mph average exit velocity in the last two weeks' worth of games.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Salvador Perez ranks in the 86th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Salvador Perez is penciled in 5th in the lineup in today's game. Salvador Perez pulls a lot of his flyballs (36.9% — 94th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game's 5th-shallowest LF fences in today's game. In the past two weeks' worth of games, Salvador Perez's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 93.6-mph over the course of the season to 98.5-mph recently. Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (.337) suggests that Salvador Perez has experienced some negative variance this year with his .315 actual wOBA.

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. 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. Bobby Witt Jr. has been unlucky in regards to his wOBA this year; his .362 mark is a fair amount lower than his .380 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data. Based on Statcast metrics, Bobby Witt Jr. ranks in the 99th percentile per the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected Batting Average this year at .306.

Colson Montgomery is projected to bat 5th in the batting order in today's game. Batting from the opposite that Ryan Bergert throws from, Colson Montgomery will have the upper hand in today's matchup. Colson Montgomery pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35.3% — 89th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball's 9th-shallowest RF fences today. Colson Montgomery will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should bolster all of his stats. Colson Montgomery has made substantial gains with his Barrel% of late, improving his 14.4% seasonal rate to 21.4% in the last week.

Mike Yastrzemski is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in this matchup. 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%. In terms of the ability to lift the ball for power, Mike Yastrzemski ranks in the 91st percentile with a 19.4° launch angle, which is among the highest angles in baseball.