Pittsburgh @ Houston Picks & Props

This year, Michael A. Taylor's 11.8% Barrel%, a reliable standard for measuring power, places him in the 83rd percentile among his peers.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Yordan Alvarez ranks as the 2nd-best batter in the majors. Yordan Alvarez is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order in today's game. Hitting from the opposite that Paul Skenes throws from, Yordan Alvarez will have the upper hand in today's game. Hitters such as Yordan Alvarez with extreme flyball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Paul Skenes who skew towards the groundball end of the spectrum. Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Yordan Alvarez will hold that advantage today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Chas McCormick in the 83rd percentile when estimating his BABIP skill. Chas McCormick will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats. Chas McCormick has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 103.8-mph average over the last week to his seasonal mark of 90.9-mph. Chas McCormick's launch angle recently (25.7° in the last week) is significantly higher than his 15.2° seasonal angle. Chas McCormick 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 deviation.

When estimating his overall offensive talent, Andrew McCutchen ranks in the 84th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Andrew McCutchen is penciled in 1st on the lineup card today. Andrew McCutchen has made substantial strides with his Barrel%, improving his 6.8% rate last year to 12.3% this season. In the past week's worth of games, Andrew McCutchen's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 12.3% up to 18.2%.

Connor Joe is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in this matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Joey Loperfido in the 94th percentile as it relates to his BABIP talent. Hitting from the opposite that Paul Skenes throws from, Joey Loperfido will have the upper hand today. The Pittsburgh Pirates have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Joey Loperfido has a strong chance of holding the advantage against every reliever all game. Joey Loperfido will benefit from the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should improve all of his stats. Ranking in the 91st percentile for Sprint Speed at 28.99 ft/sec this year, Joey Loperfido is very quick.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Alex Bregman in the 93rd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill. Alex Bregman is penciled in 2nd on the lineup card today. Extreme groundball hitters like Alex Bregman tend to perform better against extreme flyball pitchers like Paul Skenes. Alex Bregman will possess the home field advantage today, which ought to bolster all of his stats. Over the past 7 days, Alex Bregman's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 4.7% up to 10.5%.

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 projected to bat 1st on the lineup card today. Jose Altuve pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (41.9% — 99th 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 matchup. Jose Altuve will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats. By putting up a .275 Expected Batting Average (an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) based on Statcast data) this year , Jose Altuve finds himself in the 85th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ke'Bryan Hayes in the 80th percentile as it relates to his batting average skill.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jared Triolo in the 93rd percentile when it comes to his BABIP talent.

Jake Meyers's BABIP skill is projected in the 76th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Among all parks, Minute Maid Park's left field fences are the 2nd-shallowest. Jake Meyers will hold the home field advantage today, which should boost all of his stats. Jake Meyers's ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better lately, rising from 18.7% on the season to 26.1% in the past two weeks. Jake Meyers has compiled a .353 Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year, placing in the 90th percentile for offensive skills according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

Yainer Diaz's batting average skill is projected to be in the 97th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Yainer Diaz is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this game. Home field advantage typically boosts batter stats across the board, and Yainer Diaz will hold that advantage in today's game. In the past week's worth of games, Yainer Diaz's Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 7.4% up to 15.8%. In the last two weeks' worth of games, Yainer Diaz's 57.1% rate of hitting balls at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 48.5%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 95th percentile when estimating his batting average skill. Jeremy Pena is projected to hit 5th in the batting order in today's game. Among all parks, Minute Maid Park's left field fences are the 2nd-shallowest. Jeremy Pena will possess the home field advantage in today's matchup, which should boost all of his stats. Jeremy Pena has made substantial gains with his Barrel% of late, improving his 5% seasonal rate to 11.5% over the last two weeks.

Victor Caratini will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which ought to boost all of his stats. This season, Victor Caratini has experienced a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 91.9 mph compared to last year's 88.3 mph mark. Victor Caratini'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, increasing from 8.8% to 18.6%. The standard deviation of Victor Caratini's launch angle since the start of last season (24.3°) is in the 98th percentile. A low mark like this tends to lead to a higher batting average on balls in play.

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Oneil Cruz ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X). Oneil Cruz is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this game. HRs are generally more common at fields with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest in the majors. Oneil Cruz will hold the platoon advantage against Kaleb Ort today. Oneil Cruz has made sizeable strides with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 18.8% seasonal rate to 26.1% over the last two weeks.

Joey Bart is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup, which would be an upgrade from his 94% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this year. Joey Bart pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (34.7% — 85th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball's 2nd-shallowest LF fences today. Over the past 7 days, Joey Bart's Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 8.5% down to 0%. Joey Bart has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 89-mph to 93.6-mph in the last two weeks' worth of games.

Trey Cabbage will have the handedness advantage over Paul Skenes in today's matchup. Trey Cabbage will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today's game, which should bolster all of his stats.

Josh Palacios is penciled in 1st on the lineup card in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 63% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this year. HRs are generally more common at fields with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest in the majors. Josh Palacios will have the handedness advantage over Kaleb Ort today.

Bryan Reynolds's batting average talent is projected to be in the 95th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X). Bryan Reynolds is projected to hit 2nd in the batting order in this game. HRs are generally more common at fields with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest in the majors. As a switch-hitter who is stronger from the 0 side of the dish, Bryan Reynolds will have the advantage of batting from from his better side against Kaleb Ort in today's game.

HRs are generally more common at fields with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest in the majors. Yasmani Grandal has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 90.8-mph average to last season's 87.9-mph EV.

Hitting from the opposite that Paul Skenes throws from, Jon Singleton will have an edge in today's matchup. Home field advantage typically bolsters batter stats across the board, and Jon Singleton will hold that advantage in today's game. Jon Singleton has been cold recently, with his seasonal exit velocity of 88.9-mph dropping to 85.2-mph in the past week. Checking in at the 93rd percentile, the hardest ball Jon Singleton has connected with this year reached a maximum exit velocity of 115.4 mph -- an advanced indication of underlying power ability.

Rowdy Tellez is projected to bat 4th in the lineup in today's game. Rowdy Tellez will have the handedness advantage against Kaleb Ort today. Rowdy Tellez has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 97.1-mph average over the past week to his seasonal figure of 91.2-mph.

Jack Suwinski has gone over 0.5 in 3 of his last 10 games.