Athletics @ St. Louis Picks & Props

Hitting from the opposite that Sonny Gray throws from, JJ Bleday will have an edge in today's game. The St. Louis Cardinals have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so JJ Bleday can likely count on holding the platoon advantage against every reliever all game. JJ Bleday hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (39.1% — 90th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting towards the league's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's matchup. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals. JJ Bleday has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.4-mph to 94.4-mph in the past 7 days.

Nathan Church will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Luis Morales in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically improves hitter metrics across the board, and Nathan Church will hold that advantage today. Nathan Church's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved lately, rising from 13.6% on the season to 28.6% in the last week's worth of games. Nathan Church has shown some good exit velocity benchmarks of late, averaging 95.5-mph on his flyballs in the last two weeks.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Thomas Saggese in the 92nd percentile when estimating his BABIP skill. Thomas Saggese will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats. Compared to his seasonal average of 14°, Thomas Saggese has significantly improved his launch angle in recent games, posting a 20.4° figure over the last week. Thomas Saggese is in the 93rd percentile when it comes to hitting balls between 23° and 34°, the launch angle range that tends to result the most in home runs (21.9% rate this year). By putting up a .349 BABIP this year, Thomas Saggese has performed in the 92nd percentile.

As it relates to his overall offensive talent, Lawrence Butler ranks in the 76th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Lawrence Butler is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in this game. Hitting from the opposite that Sonny Gray throws from, Lawrence Butler will have the upper hand in today's game. Lawrence Butler has a good chance to have the upper hand against every reliever for the game's entirety, since the bullpen of the St. Louis Cardinals has just 1 same-handed RP. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals.

Nolan Gorman is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 69% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season. Nolan Gorman will hold the platoon advantage over Luis Morales in today's matchup. Nolan Gorman is an extreme flyball batter and faces the weak outfield defense of Sacramento (#2-worst of all teams on the slate). Nolan Gorman will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to bolster all of his stats. Nolan Gorman has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 95.9-mph average in the last week to his seasonal 89.2-mph mark.

Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals. Colby Thomas has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 100.9-mph average over the past 7 days to his seasonal 91.4-mph mark. A consistent launch angle is an indicator of good hitting, and Colby Thomas has been very consistent with his in recent games, putting up a 34.8° launch angle standard deviation in the last 7 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Darell Hernaiz in the 83rd percentile as it relates to his batting average skill. Darell Hernaiz has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (86% of the time), but he is projected to hit 5th in the batting order in this game. Darell Hernaiz hits many of his flyballs to center field (40.8% — 99th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing MLB's 7th-shallowest CF fences today. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals. Over the past 14 days, Darell Hernaiz's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 91.7-mph over the course of the season to 93.8-mph lately.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Zack Gelof in the 82nd percentile when estimating his BABIP skill. Zack Gelof hits many of his flyballs to center field (39% — 88th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting towards the game's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's matchup. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals. Zack Gelof has made big gains with his Barrel% of late, improving his 10.5% seasonal rate to 16.7% over the last week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jordan Walker in the 79th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. Jordan Walker hits many of his flyballs to center field (40.9% — 99th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing baseball's 7th-shallowest CF fences today. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics across the board, and Jordan Walker will hold that advantage today. Jordan Walker has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 92.7-mph to 96.4-mph in the last two weeks. Jordan Walker has been unlucky this year, compiling a .268 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .312 — a .044 deviation.

Brent Rooker projects as the 14th-best hitter in the majors, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Brent Rooker is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup in today's game. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals. Brent Rooker's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better from last season to this one, going from 42.1% to 48.4%. In the last two weeks' worth of games, Brent Rooker's 55.2% rate of hitting balls at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 48.4%.

As it relates to his overall offensive skill, Shea Langeliers ranks in the 92nd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Shea Langeliers is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card today. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals. Shea Langeliers has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 98-mph average in the last 14 days to his seasonal EV of 92.3-mph. Utilizing Statcast data, Shea Langeliers ranks in the 80th percentile for hitting ability via the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s version of Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year at .346.

As it relates to his overall offensive skill, Lars Nootbaar ranks in the 91st percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Lars Nootbaar is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in this game. Batting from the opposite that Luis Morales throws from, Lars Nootbaar will have an edge in today's game. Lars Nootbaar hits many of his flyballs to center field (41.8% — 100th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting out towards the game's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's game. Lars Nootbaar will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should bolster all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Tyler Soderstrom in the 86th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability. Tyler Soderstrom is penciled in 4th in the batting order in this matchup. Hitting from the opposite that Sonny Gray throws from, Tyler Soderstrom will have an edge in today's matchup. Tyler Soderstrom is apt to have an advantage against every reliever throughout the game, since the bullpen of the St. Louis Cardinals only has 1 same-handed RP. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ivan Herrera in the 88th percentile when estimating his batting average skill. Ivan Herrera is penciled in 2nd in the lineup in today's game. Home field advantage generally boosts hitter stats across the board, and Ivan Herrera will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Ivan Herrera has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 91-mph to 95.2-mph over the last week. Ivan Herrera has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 97.3-mph average to last season's 91.5-mph mark.

As it relates to his batting average ability, Jacob Wilson is projected as the 16th-best batter in Major League Baseball by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Jacob Wilson is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in today's game. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals. Over the last 14 days, Jacob Wilson has improved his Barrel% substantially, increasing it from his seasonal rate of 2.5% to 8.7%. Compared to his seasonal average of 9.1°, Jacob Wilson has significantly improved his launch angle recently, posting a 22.9° mark in the last 14 days.

Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Pedro Pages will hold that advantage in today's matchup. Pedro Pages's launch angle in recent games (29.7° in the last week) is a considerable increase over his 13.6° seasonal angle.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Willson Contreras in the 95th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent. Willson Contreras is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in this game. Willson Contreras will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Willson Contreras has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 90.7-mph to 93.2-mph over the last two weeks. Willson Contreras has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his batting average this year; his .253 figure is quite a bit lower than his .280 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Masyn Winn's batting average ability is projected to be in the 78th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Masyn Winn is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card in this game. Home field advantage generally boosts batter metrics across the board, and Masyn Winn will hold that advantage today.

Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals.

Hitting from the opposite that Sonny Gray throws from, Carlos Cortes will have an advantage in today's matchup. The St. Louis Cardinals have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Carlos Cortes has a strong chance of holding the advantage against every reliever all game. Carlos Cortes hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (38.7% — 83rd percentile) and is fortunate to face MLB's 7th-shallowest CF fences in today's matchup. Out of every team playing today, the 3rd-worst infield defense is that of the the St. Louis Cardinals.

Nick Kurtz has gone over 0.5 in 7 of his last 10 games.