Houston @ Oakland Picks & Props

Oakland Coliseum grades out as the #22 stadium in the majors for right-handed batting average, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT). Oakland Coliseum's altitude is near sea-level, one of the lowest among all stadiums, which usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to worse offense. The weather report expects the 5th-most suitable pitching weather on the slate, as it relates to temperature and humidity. Osvaldo Bido will hold the platoon advantage over Yainer Diaz in today's matchup. Yainer Diaz has an 84th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35%) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards the game's 10th-deepest RF fences today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Zack Gelof in the 94th percentile when estimating his BABIP skill. HRs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 7th-shallowest among all stadiums. Zack Gelof will possess the home field advantage in today's game, which should bolster all of his stats. Compared to his seasonal average of 14.8°, Zack Gelof has significantly improved his launch angle recently, posting a 28.4° mark over the last two weeks. Zack Gelof has been unlucky this year, compiling a .272 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .308 — a .036 deviation.

Joey Loperfido's BABIP talent is projected in the 94th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Joey Loperfido will have the handedness advantage against Osvaldo Bido in today's matchup. Joey Loperfido has made notable gains with his Barrel% recently, upping his 3.3% seasonal rate to 13.3% over the past two weeks. Joey Loperfido has seen a big gain in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 97.5-mph average over the past two weeks to his seasonal figure of 92.2-mph. In the last 14 days, Joey Loperfido has significantly improved the launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls: 21.6° compared to his seasonal mark of 14.6°.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Yordan Alvarez ranks as the 2nd-best batter in baseball. Yordan Alvarez is projected to hit 3rd in the lineup in this matchup. Hitting from the opposite that Osvaldo Bido throws from, Yordan Alvarez will have an edge in today's matchup. In the past week, Yordan Alvarez's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 13.9% up to 25%. Yordan Alvarez has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 92.8-mph to 96.8-mph in the past two weeks' worth of games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 92nd percentile when it comes to his batting average skill. Jose Altuve is penciled in 1st on the lineup card today. HRs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 7th-shallowest among all stadiums. Checking in at the 87th percentile, Jose Altuve sports a .355 wOBA (widely regarded as the top indicator of overall offense) this year. Grading out in the 97th percentile, Jose Altuve has posted a .311 batting average this year.

Extreme flyball hitters like Victor Caratini generally hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Osvaldo Bido. Victor Caratini has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 91.4-mph average to last season's 88.3-mph average. Last season, Victor Caratini had an average launch angle of 4.7° on his hardest-contacted balls, while this season it has significantly increased to 10.3°. In notching a .262 Expected Batting Average (an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) utilizing Statcast data) since the start of last season , Victor Caratini is ranked in the 75th percentile. A low launch angle standard deviation tends to lead to a higher batting average on balls in play, and Victor Caratini's 24.3° mark (98th percentile) since the start of last season indicates a strong hitting profile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Miguel Andujar in the 84th percentile when assessing his batting average ability. Miguel Andujar is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card in this matchup. HRs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 7th-shallowest among all stadiums. Miguel Andujar will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should bolster all of his stats. Miguel Andujar has notched a .306 batting average this year, placing in the 95th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Meyers in the 76th percentile as it relates to his BABIP talent. HRs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 7th-shallowest among all stadiums. Jake Meyers has made sizeable gains with his Barrel% recently, improving his 9.9% seasonal rate to 19.2% over the last two weeks. Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has increased in recent games, rising from 18.3% on the season to 26.9% over the past two weeks. Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better from last season to this one, increasing from 40% to 47.5%.

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Alex Bregman ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Alex Bregman is penciled in 2nd in the lineup in today's game. HRs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 7th-shallowest among all stadiums. Alex Bregman has seen a significant improvement in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 97-mph average over the past week to his seasonal 88.3-mph mark. The leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimates Alex Bregman's true offensive talent to be a .340, providing some evidence that he has experienced some negative variance this year given the .025 deviation between that figure and his actual .315 wOBA.

Lawrence Butler has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (78% of the time), but he is projected to bat 1st in the batting order in this game. Lawrence Butler will have the handedness advantage over Jake Bloss today. Home field advantage generally improves batter stats in all categories, and Lawrence Butler will hold that advantage today. Lawrence Butler has made significant improvements with his Barrel% of late, upping his 12% seasonal rate to 20.8% over the last two weeks. Lawrence Butler has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 102.8-mph average in the past 14 days to his seasonal EV of 94.7-mph.

Jeremy Pena's batting average skill is projected to be in the 95th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). HRs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 7th-shallowest among all stadiums. Extreme flyball batters like Jeremy Pena generally hit better against extreme groundball pitchers like Osvaldo Bido. There has been a significant improvement in Jeremy Pena's launch angle from last season's 5.5° to 9° this year. Over the past 7 days, Jeremy Pena's 0% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 12.9%.

Shea Langeliers is penciled in 5th in the lineup in today's game. HRs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 7th-shallowest among all stadiums. Home field advantage typically boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Shea Langeliers will hold that advantage in today's game. Shea Langeliers has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 96.7-mph average in the last 14 days to his seasonal 91.3-mph average. Shea Langeliers's ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last season to this one, going from 13.4% to 18.5%.

When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Brent Rooker ranks in the 95th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Brent Rooker is projected to bat 4th in the batting order in this matchup. HRs are generally more common at venues with shallow fences, and Oakland Coliseum has the 7th-shallowest among all stadiums. Brent Rooker will hold the home field advantage in today's game, which should boost all of his stats. Brent Rooker has made big improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, upping his 17.7% seasonal rate to 30% in the past two weeks' worth of games.

Seth Brown will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Jake Bloss in today's game. Seth Brown will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Seth Brown has made significant improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 9.8% seasonal rate to 30% in the past 14 days. Seth Brown's average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls in recent games (26° in the last two weeks) is quite a bit better than his 17.6° seasonal figure. Seth Brown has been unlucky this year, posting a .262 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .313 — a .051 gap.

Jon Singleton is projected to bat 5th in the lineup today. Jon Singleton will hold the platoon advantage over Osvaldo Bido today. Jon Singleton's maximum exit velocity (an advanced stat to assess power) has been 115.4 mph this year, placing in the 93rd percentile.

Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics across the board, and Abraham Toro will hold that advantage today. Abraham Toro has gotten much quicker this season, improving from last year's 26.92 ft/sec to 27.97 ft/sec now (according to Statcast's Sprint Speed metric). Abraham Toro ranks in the 81st percentile when it comes to hitting balls between 23° and 34°, the launch angle range that tends to optimize home runs (17.9% rate this year).

J.J. Bleday is penciled in 3rd on the lineup card in today's game. Hitting from the opposite that Jake Bloss throws from, J.J. Bleday will have the upper hand in today's game. J.J. Bleday will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats. J.J. Bleday has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 89.1-mph to 94.6-mph over the past week. J.J. Bleday's launch angle this season (18.8°) is considerably better than his 15.4° figure last year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Trey Cabbage in the 92nd percentile when assessing his BABIP talent. Trey Cabbage will hold the platoon advantage over Osvaldo Bido today.