MLB Picks

Kyle Schwarber has gone deep in each of the last four games he has played against the Rangers, and  has a home run off Gore in his career.

Jesus Luzardo went 4-1 with a 5.11 ERA against the American League in 2025.

Byron Buxton projects as the 10th-best home run hitter in the league, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Byron Buxton is penciled in 2nd in the lineup today.. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 11.5-mph in this match-up, the 4th-strongest of the day for bats.. The Baltimore Orioles infield defense profiles as the 10th-weakest out of all the teams playing today.. Byron Buxton has put up a .360 Expected wOBA (xwOBA) since the start of last season, grading out in the 90th percentile for hitting ability according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)'s interpretation of Statcast data.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Salvador Perez in the 94th percentile when estimating his home run talent.. Salvador Perez is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in today's game.. The #9 venue in baseball for boosting base hits to righties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Truist Park.. Built 981 feet above sea level, Truist Park has the 3rd-highest altitude in Major League Baseball, which often leads to more offense.. The Atlanta Braves outfield defense projects as the 9th-worst out of all the teams playing today.

As it relates to his home run ability, Austin Riley ranks in the 96th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Austin Riley is projected to bat 4th in the batting order in this matchup.. The #9 venue in baseball for boosting base hits to righties, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Truist Park.. Built 981 feet above sea level, Truist Park has the 3rd-highest altitude in Major League Baseball, which often leads to more offense.. Austin Riley hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (37.9% — 75th percentile) and sets up very well considering he'll be hitting out towards baseball's 5th-shallowest CF fences in today's matchup.

Morales is a fastball pitcher who was hit hard last season and throughout spring. He allowed eight homers in 10 appearances last season, and gave up three homers in his final three starts of spring. 

Springer handles a fastball extremely well, sporting a 1.076 OPS against the pitch last season with a team-high 14 home runs. He hit them hard, too, with a .746 xSLG and a hard-hit rate of 55%. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ranked in the 89th percentile in walk rate last season among all qualified hitters in baseball. He’s picked up right where he left off last season with walks in back-to-back games to start the season, totaling three walks in those games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ezequiel Tovar in the 79th percentile when estimating his BABIP ability.. Ezequiel Tovar is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in today's game.. The 6th-shallowest CF fences among all parks are found in LoanDepot Park.. The LoanDepot Park roof projects to be closed today, making the temperature in this contest 15° hotter than the average outdoor game on the slate — favorable for offense.. Extreme flyball hitters like Ezequiel Tovar tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Max Meyer.

Jakob Marsee is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in this game.. The LoanDepot Park roof projects to be closed today, making the temperature in this contest 15° hotter than the average outdoor game on the slate — favorable for offense.. Jakob Marsee is assured to hold the platoon advantage against every reliever the entire game since none of the available options for the Colorado Rockies share his handedness.. Home field advantage generally bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Jakob Marsee will hold that advantage in today's matchup.. In notching a .354 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) based on Statcast data) since the start of last season, Jakob Marsee is positioned in the 92nd percentile for hitting ability.

Connolly Early has a live arm but had a tough spring. Rhett Lowder missed a full season and was hit hard this spring. We’ll likely see the bullpens early, and Boston has the better one. 

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) expects Connelly Early to be limited today, projecting a maximum of 85 pitches.. The Cincinnati Reds have 8 bats in the projected batting order that will hold the platoon advantage over Connelly Early in this matchup.. Connelly Early will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team today.. Connelly Early has had some very good luck with his strikeouts since the start of last season, notching a 13.50 K/9 despite the leading projection system (THE BAT) estimating his true talent level to be 9.45 — a 4.05 K/9 deviation.

Juan Soto projects as the 3rd-best batter in the majors, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).. Juan Soto is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in this game.. The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 16.1-mph in this match-up, the best of the day for bats.. Batting from the opposite that Carmen Mlodzinski throws from, Juan Soto will have an advantage in today's game.. Juan Soto hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.5% — 89th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing the game's shallowest CF fences today.

Tatsuya Imai makes his much-awaited MLB debut, and the Angels have come out of the gate swinging. Jack Kochanowicz has command issues, but Houston's offense and the rookie pitcher are too difficult to trust.

When estimating his strikeout talent, the leading projection system (THE BAT) forecasts Tatsuya Imai in the 81st percentile among all starting pitchers in the league.. The Los Angeles Angels have 4 batters in their projected lineup today with a high (i.e. over 27%) underlying K% (via the leading projection system, THE BAT X) (Jo Adell, Jorge Soler, Mike Trout, Logan O'Hoppe).. It is expected that we will see a Pitchers Umpire (Brennan Miller) in charge of the strike zone in today's game.. Minute Maid Park ranks as the #4 ballpark in the game for strikeouts, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).. Minute Maid Park's elevation is near sea-level, one of the lowest in Major League Baseball, which generally leads to worse offense.

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Miguel Vargas ranks in the 89th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).. Miguel Vargas is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup.. The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles American Family Field as the 8th-best ballpark in Major League Baseball for right-handed home runs.. American Family Field has the 6th-shortest fence height (on average) in MLB.. American Family Field sits at the 8th-highest elevation among all stadiums. High elevation often leads to higher offensive output.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Munetaka Murakami as MLB's 2nd-best home run hitter.. American Family Field projects as the #8 park in the league for LHB home runs, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).. American Family Field has the 8th-shallowest centerfield fences among all stadiums.. American Family Field has the 6th-shortest fence height (on average) in MLB.. The American Family Field roof is expected to be closed today, making weather conditions in this game 15° hotter than the average outdoor game of all games today — favorable for offense.

Irvin coughed up nearly two home runs per nine frames in 2025, and left-handed bats slugged .500 with a .384 wOBA across 100 ⅔ innings.

As previously mentioned, Busch has already tasted success against Irvin, and he’s lit up the Nats pitchers during this series, with a good chance to go yard today. 

 

Imanaga throws strikes, limits walks (1.53 per nine), and works efficiently enough to pitch into the middle innings. He doesn’t need a dominant outing to get there, just his typical steady execution. 

With Washington already prone to strikeouts, the opportunities should be there throughout his outing. This sets up as a solid spot for Imanaga to reach five strikeouts.

 

Do you know who leads Major League Baseball in home runs entering Sunday? 

It’s Cleveland Guardians rookie Chase DeLauter (4), who has homered in each of his first three regular-season games, including last night’s game-winning dinger in the 10th inning of closer Andres Munoz. 

The ballyhood prospect has lived up to the hype and more, and a case can be made that he’s the league’s hottest hitter given his .357/.357/.1.214 slash line. There’s been a lot of swing-and-miss in his game (35.7%), but Hancock’s unimpressive strikeout abilities diminish that concern. 

If DeLauter makes contact, look out — there could be fireworks again at T-Mobile. 

The Seattle Mariners have some worrisome contact data at the plate through three games, leading to an increased expectation for Slade Cecconi’s strikeout numbers.

They have the worst zone-contact percentage (74.6%) in the league, which has led to a 32.1% K Rate. Tanner Bibee (7 strikeouts), Gavin Williams (7), and Joey Cantillo (5) all managed to find swings and misses against this lineup, and now it’s Cecconi’s turn. 

The 26-year-old was sharp in the spring, tossing a 1.62 ERA across 16 ⅔ IP. He’s riding a nine-inning scoreless streak and has found success adding a sweeper and tightening his cutter.