Los Angeles @ Houston props

Shohei Ohtani projects as the 8th-best batter in Major League Baseball, via THE BAT X. Shohei Ohtani is projected to hit 1st in the lineup today. Malachi Moore projects as a Pitchers Umpire and is expected to be in charge of the strike zone today. Minute Maid Park ranks as the #21 stadium in MLB for batting average, per THE BAT projection system. Minute Maid Park has the 3rd-highest average fence height in MLB.

The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today. Chas McCormick will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which should improve all of his stats. Chas McCormick has made big gains with his Barrel% of late, bettering his 8.3% seasonal rate to 16.7% in the past 7 days. Chas McCormick's launch angle in recent games (38° in the past week's worth of games) is quite a bit higher than his 15.6° seasonal angle.

THE BAT X projects Jose Altuve in the 93rd percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability. Jose Altuve is projected to bat 1st in the batting order today. Jose Altuve pulls a lot of his flyballs (40.6% — 99th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today. Jose Altuve will hold the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats.

Yordan Alvarez projects as the 2nd-best batter in MLB, according to THE BAT X. Yordan Alvarez is penciled in 3rd in the lineup today. Minute Maid Park has the smallest outfield in MLB — generally good for home runs. Yordan Alvarez will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Shohei Ohtani today. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today.

THE BAT X projects Zach Neto in the 81st percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. Zach Neto will hold the platoon advantage against Framber Valdez in today's game. Zach Neto has been unlucky in regards to his wOBA this year; his .308 rate is significantly deflated relative to his .341 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data). Zach Neto has done a favorable job optimizing his launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls. His 18° angle is among the highest in the league this year (91st percentile).

Martin Maldonado pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.7% — 81st percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today. Martin Maldonado will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Martin Maldonado's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased of late, going from 16.3% on the season to 50% in the last week.

The Houston Astros don't have any same-handed relievers in their bullpen, so Jared Walsh is guaranteed to never face a bullpen mismatch the whole game. Jared Walsh has been zeroed in on the ideal launch angle for base hits lately, hitting balls between -4° and 26° 50% of the time over the last two weeks.

THE BAT X projects Kyle Tucker in the 97th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive talent. Kyle Tucker is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in this matchup. Kyle Tucker will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Shohei Ohtani in today's matchup. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today. Kyle Tucker is an extreme flyball hitter and faces the weak outfield defense of Los Angeles (#1-worst of the day).

THE BAT X projects Alex Bregman in the 93rd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive talent. Alex Bregman is projected to bat 4th in the lineup in this matchup. Alex Bregman pulls many of his flyballs (38.5% — 97th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today. Alex Bregman will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to improve all of his stats.

Mike Trout projects as the 6th-best batter in MLB, via THE BAT X. Mike Trout is projected to hit 2nd in the batting order today. Mike Trout will have the handedness advantage over Framber Valdez in today's game. Extreme flyball bats like Mike Trout tend to be more successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Framber Valdez. Mike Trout has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 95.2-mph average in the past 14 days to his seasonal 92.1-mph figure.

THE BAT X projects Brandon Drury in the 75th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent. Brandon Drury has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (59% of the time), but he is penciled in 3rd in the batting order in this game. Brandon Drury will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Framber Valdez in today's matchup. Brandon Drury pulls many of his flyballs (33.1% — 76th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Brandon Drury has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 91.8-mph average in the last two weeks' worth of games to his seasonal 89.6-mph EV.

THE BAT X projects Jeremy Pena in the 92nd percentile when estimating his BABIP skill. Jeremy Pena has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (59% of the time), but he is projected to hit 2nd in the lineup in this matchup. Minute Maid Park has the shallowest LF fences among all parks. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today. Jeremy Pena will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

The switch-hitting Luis Rengifo will have the advantage of batting from from his strong side (0) today against Framber Valdez. Luis Rengifo has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his batting average this year; his .198 figure is considerably lower than his .237 Expected Batting Average (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

Corey Julks pulls a lot of his flyballs (37.7% — 97th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's game. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today. Corey Julks will benefit from the home field advantage in today's game, which should bolster all of his stats. Corey Julks ranks in the 93rd percentile when it comes to hitting balls between -4° and 26°, the launch angle range that tends to result the most in base hits (50% rate this year). Corey Julks has compiled a .275 batting average this year, checking in at the 75th percentile.

THE BAT X projects Taylor Ward in the 92nd percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent. Taylor Ward is projected to hit 4th in the batting order today. Taylor Ward will hold the platoon advantage over Framber Valdez today. Taylor Ward has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 97.1-mph average in the last 7 days to his seasonal 90.4-mph mark. Taylor Ward has been unlucky this year, compiling a .292 wOBA despite THE BAT X estimating his true talent level to be .352 — a .060 deviation.

THE BAT X projects Gio Urshela in the 94th percentile as it relates to his batting average skill. Gio Urshela will have the handedness advantage over Framber Valdez today. Gio Urshela's ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has increased recently, going from 49.7% on the season to 55.9% in the past two weeks. Gio Urshela has compiled a .313 batting average this year, checking in at the 97th percentile.

Chad Wallach will have the handedness advantage against Framber Valdez in today's game. Chad Wallach's footspeed has improved this year. His 24.17 ft/sec Statcast Sprint Speed last season sits at 24.64 ft/sec now.

THE BAT X projects Jose Abreu in the 86th percentile when estimating his batting average skill. The Los Angeles Angels outfield defense grades out as the worst on the slate today. Jose Abreu will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to improve all of his stats. Jose Abreu has been unlucky this year, compiling a .244 wOBA despite THE BAT X estimating his true talent level to be .337 — a .093 difference.

Hunter Renfroe is penciled in 5th in the lineup today. Hunter Renfroe will have the handedness advantage against Framber Valdez today. Hunter Renfroe pulls a lot of his flyballs (38.7% — 98th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup.