Kansas City @ Tampa Bay props

Nick Pratto is penciled in 1st in the lineup in this game. Tropicana Field has the 6th-shallowest RF fences among all stadiums. Nick Pratto will have the handedness advantage over Zach Eflin in today's game. Extreme groundball batters like Nick Pratto are generally more successful against extreme flyball pitchers like Zach Eflin. Nick Pratto has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 96.7-mph average over the last 7 days to his seasonal 88.2-mph figure.

THE BAT X projects MJ Melendez in the 77th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability. MJ Melendez is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this matchup. MJ Melendez will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Zach Eflin in today's game. MJ Melendez pulls many of his flyballs (32.9% — 76th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's matchup. MJ Melendez has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity this season; just compare his 93.4-mph average to last season's 90.7-mph figure.

Tropicana Field grades out as the #26 stadium in MLB for RHB BABIP, according to THE BAT projection system. Zack Greinke will hold the platoon advantage over Harold Ramirez in today's game. Harold Ramirez hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (40.4% — 99th percentile) and and will be challenged by the league's 9th-deepest CF fences today. The Kansas City Royals outfield defense grades out as the 5th-strongest out of every team today. Harold Ramirez has struggled with his Barrel% recently; his 6.3% seasonal rate has decreased to 0% in the past week's worth of games.

Nicky Lopez will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Zach Eflin in today's matchup. Nicky Lopez has a 99th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (43%) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them out towards baseball's 6th-shallowest LF fences today. Nicky Lopez has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his batting average since the start of last season; his .224 BA is quite a bit lower than his .258 Expected Batting Average (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

THE BAT X projects Manuel Margot in the 87th percentile when assessing his batting average ability. Manuel Margot has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this year (94% of the time), but he is penciled in 1st in the batting order in today's game. Manuel Margot will hold the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats. Manuel Margot has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs this year; just compare his 90.7-mph average to last season's 87.9-mph average. Manuel Margot's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved in recent games, increasing from 15.5% on the season to 36.4% in the past week.

THE BAT X projects Edward Olivares in the 81st percentile as it relates to his batting average ability. Edward Olivares is projected to bat 5th in the lineup in this game. Edward Olivares pulls a lot of his flyballs (35.4% — 90th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the game's 6th-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Edward Olivares has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his wOBA this year; his .312 rate is a fair amount lower than his .351 Expected wOBA (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

Isaac Paredes is projected to hit 5th in the lineup in this matchup. Isaac Paredes pulls many of his flyballs (41.4% — 100th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting them towards baseball's 6th-shallowest LF fences in today's matchup. Isaac Paredes will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which figures to boost all of his stats. Isaac Paredes has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 97.1-mph average over the past 14 days to his seasonal mark of 91-mph. Isaac Paredes's launch angle this season (20.3°) is considerably higher than his 15.5° mark last year.

THE BAT X projects Randy Arozarena in the 97th percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability. Randy Arozarena is projected to hit 2nd in the lineup today. Randy Arozarena will hold the home field advantage today, which figures to boost all of his stats. Randy Arozarena has made significant gains with his Barrel%, improving his 7.9% rate last season to 16.7% this year. Randy Arozarena has made substantial improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 16.7% seasonal rate to 23.1% in the past two weeks.

THE BAT X projects Jose Siri in the 87th percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability. Jose Siri pulls a lot of his flyballs (32.9% — 76th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards MLB's 6th-shallowest LF fences today. Jose Siri will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Jose Siri's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased from last season to this one, going from 15.8% to 23.2%. Jose Siri has posted a .351 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, ranking in the 77th percentile.

THE BAT X projects Salvador Perez in the 79th percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability. Salvador Perez is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in this matchup. Tropicana Field has the 5th-shallowest LF dimensions in MLB. Extreme flyball bats like Salvador Perez generally hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Zach Eflin.

Vidal Brujan pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.1% — 84th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Vidal Brujan will hold the home field advantage today, which ought to boost all of his stats. Vidal Brujan has had bad variance on his side thus far when it comes to his batting average since the start of last season; his .168 rate is significantly deflated relative to his .197 Expected Batting Average (based on THE BAT X's interpretation of Statcast data).

Tropicana Field has the 5th-shallowest LF dimensions in MLB. Dairon Blanco has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 86.7-mph average over the last week to his seasonal 83.2-mph figure.

Samad Taylor has an 83rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them towards the game's 5th-shallowest RF fences in today's game. Samad Taylor has been lifting the ball well lately, notching a 28.8° launch angle in the past week. A consistent launch angle is an indicator of good hitting, and Samad Taylor has been very consistent with his in recent games, notching a 31.1° launch angle standard deviation over the past 7 days.

THE BAT X projects Maikel Garcia in the 88th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill. Maikel Garcia is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup. Maikel Garcia's 92-mph average exit velocity is one of the best in MLB this year: 89th percentile. Maikel Garcia has notched a .358 BABIP since the start of last season, checking in at the 93rd percentile.

Taylor Walls will hold the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should boost all of his stats. Taylor Walls's launch angle this year (20.8°) is significantly higher than his 16.4° mark last season. Taylor Walls's launch angle lately (13.8° in the past 7 days) is significantly lower than his 20.4° seasonal mark.

THE BAT X projects Drew Waters as the 12th-best hitter in the majors when assessing his BABIP ability. Drew Waters has a 75th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34%) and is a great match for the park considering he'll be hitting them in the direction of baseball's 6th-shallowest LF fences today. Drew Waters has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 96.4-mph average in the last week to his seasonal EV of 94.3-mph. Drew Waters's average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls in recent games (29° in the past 14 days) is significantly better than his 20.7° seasonal mark.

Josh Lowe has gone over 1.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.

Christian Bethancourt has gone over 0.5 in 6 of his last 10 games.

Yandy Diaz has gone over 1.5 in 4 of his last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has gone over 0.5 in 6 of his last 10 games.