Texas @ Houston Picks & Props

Jonah Heim has gone over 0.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.

Josh Smith is projected to bat 1st in the batting order today. Josh Smith will hold the platoon advantage over Cristian Javier today. Josh Smith has exhibited strong plate discipline this year, checking in at the 79th percentile with a 1.73 K/BB rate.

When it comes to his overall offensive skill, Adolis Garcia ranks in the 82nd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Adolis Garcia is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in this game. The 2nd-shallowest LF fences among all major league stadiums are found in Minute Maid Park. Adolis Garcia's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved from last year to this one, going from 13.9% to 17.8%. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Adolis Garcia's true offensive ability to be a .326, indicating that he has suffered from bad luck this year given the .034 disparity between that mark and his actual .292 wOBA.

When estimating his overall offensive talent, Jake Burger ranks in the 94th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Jake Burger is penciled in 3rd in the batting order in this matchup, which would be an upgrade from his 66% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this season. The 2nd-shallowest LF fences among all major league stadiums are found in Minute Maid Park. Jake Burger has made substantial strides with his Barrel% recently, improving his 13.2% seasonal rate to 21.4% in the last two weeks. Jake Burger has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 105.5-mph average in the past week's worth of games to his seasonal average of 94.2-mph.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Josh Jung in the 88th percentile when assessing his BABIP ability. Josh Jung has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 98.4-mph average in the past two weeks to his seasonal figure of 93.2-mph. Checking in at the 82nd percentile, Josh Jung has posted a .324 BABIP this year.

Jake Meyers's batting average ability is projected to be in the 86th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Out of all the teams today, the 2nd-weakest infield defense is that of the Texas Rangers. Home field advantage typically improves batter stats across the board, and Jake Meyers will hold that advantage in today's game. Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better from last season to this one, going from 44.4% to 50.4%. With a .372 BABIP this year, Jake Meyers is ranked in the 99th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jesus Sanchez in the 87th percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill. Jesus Sanchez will hold the platoon advantage over Jacob deGrom in today's game. Jesus Sanchez has an 88th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.8%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Out of all the teams today, the 2nd-weakest infield defense is that of the Texas Rangers. Home field advantage generally improves hitter stats in all categories, and Jesus Sanchez will hold that advantage in today's matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 89th percentile when assessing his batting average talent. Jose Altuve is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in this matchup. Jose Altuve pulls many of his flyballs (41.7% — 99th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Out of all the teams today, the 2nd-weakest infield defense is that of the Texas Rangers. Jose Altuve will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 97th percentile when it comes to his batting average talent. Jeremy Pena is penciled in 1st in the lineup in today's game. Jeremy Pena pulls a lot of his flyballs (33.6% — 79th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Out of all the teams today, the 2nd-weakest infield defense is that of the Texas Rangers. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Jeremy Pena will hold that advantage today.

The 2nd-shallowest LF fences among all major league stadiums are found in Minute Maid Park.

Alejandro Osuna will have the handedness advantage over Cristian Javier in today's matchup. Alejandro Osuna has experienced some negative variance in regards to his wOBA this year; his .263 mark is considerably lower than his .339 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

As it relates to his overall offensive talent, Wyatt Langford ranks in the 97th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Wyatt Langford is projected to hit 2nd in the batting order in this matchup. Wyatt Langford pulls a lot of his flyballs (35.3% — 89th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. Wyatt Langford has made significant improvements with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 13.8% seasonal rate to 26.9% in the past 14 days. Wyatt Langford has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 91.3-mph to 96.3-mph over the last 7 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Carlos Correa in the 93rd percentile when estimating his batting average talent. Carlos Correa is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card in this game. The 2nd-shallowest LF fences among all major league stadiums are found in Minute Maid Park. Out of all the teams today, the 2nd-weakest infield defense is that of the Texas Rangers. Carlos Correa will hold the home field advantage today, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Christian Walker in the 87th percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability. Christian Walker is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in this matchup. Christian Walker pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.2% — 77th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Out of all the teams today, the 2nd-weakest infield defense is that of the Texas Rangers. Christian Walker will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Yainer Diaz as the 19th-best batter in the league when it comes to his batting average ability. Out of all the teams today, the 2nd-weakest infield defense is that of the Texas Rangers. Yainer Diaz will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which should boost all of his stats. Over the past 7 days, Yainer Diaz's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 9% up to 25%. In the past week, Yainer Diaz's exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 93.9-mph over the course of the season to 103.2-mph lately.

Michael Helman pulls many of his flyballs (37.4% — 95th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game.

Victor Caratini is projected to hit 5th in the lineup in today's game. The switch-hitting Victor Caratini will hold the platoon advantage while batting from from his good side (0) today against Jacob deGrom. Out of all the teams today, the 2nd-weakest infield defense is that of the Texas Rangers. Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter stats across the board, and Victor Caratini will hold that advantage today. Victor Caratini has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 97.3-mph average in the last week to his seasonal 89.2-mph average.

Rowdy Tellez has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (82% of the time), but he is penciled in 4th in the lineup in this matchup. Long-balls are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the shallowest among all major league stadiums. Hitting from the opposite that Cristian Javier throws from, Rowdy Tellez will have an advantage today. Rowdy Tellez has made sizeable gains with his Barrel%, improving his 8.1% rate last year to 14.2% this year. Rowdy Tellez's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last year to this one, going from 12% to 17.5%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Joc Pederson in the 92nd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability. Joc Pederson is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card today. Joc Pederson will hold the platoon advantage over Cristian Javier today. Joc Pederson has experienced some negative variance in regards to his batting average this year; his .178 BA is a fair amount lower than his .217 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data. Joc Pederson has exhibited good plate discipline this year, placing in the 81st percentile with a 1.92 K/BB rate.

Kyle Higashioka has gone over 0.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.