Todays Game 2 Matchup Details

Player match stat positives for St. Louis at Chicago Game 2 Matchup Today

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Willson Contreras in the 96th percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill.

Willson Contreras is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this game.

Built 599 feet above sea level, Wrigley Field has the 10th-highest elevation among all major league parks, which generally leads to more offense.

Willson Contreras has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 94.1-mph average over the last two weeks to his seasonal 91.6-mph mark.

By putting up a .387 wOBA (a leading indicator of offensive ability) this year, Willson Contreras is ranked in the 95th percentile.

Nolan Gorman projects as the 12th-best home run batter in baseball, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Nolan Gorman will have the handedness advantage over Javier Assad today.

The Chicago Cubs have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Nolan Gorman can likely count on never losing the platoon advantage against the ‘pen all game.

Nolan Gorman has made significant gains with his Barrel% recently, upping his 17.1% seasonal rate to 27.3% over the past 14 days.

Pete Crow-Armstrong’s BABIP talent is projected in the 85th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Batting from the opposite that Erick Fedde throws from, Pete Crow-Armstrong will have an edge in today’s matchup.

Pete Crow-Armstrong will benefit from the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

Pete Crow-Armstrong has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 87.8-mph to 91.9-mph over the past 14 days.

Despite posting a .241 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Pete Crow-Armstrong has had some very poor luck given the .055 deviation between that mark and his estimated true talent wOBA of .296.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Cody Bellinger in the 82nd percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill.

Cody Bellinger is penciled in 4th in the lineup in this matchup.

Batting from the opposite that Erick Fedde throws from, Cody Bellinger will have the upper hand in today’s game.

Home field advantage generally bolsters hitter metrics across the board, and Cody Bellinger will hold that advantage in today’s game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Isaac Paredes in the 85th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill.

Isaac Paredes is penciled in 5th in the batting order in this matchup.

Isaac Paredes pulls a lot of his flyballs (45.5% — 100th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting them towards the game’s 7th-shallowest LF fences in today’s matchup.

Home field advantage typically bolsters batter metrics across the board, and Isaac Paredes will hold that advantage in today’s game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Alec Burleson in the 77th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive talent.

Alec Burleson is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in this matchup.

Batting from the opposite that Javier Assad throws from, Alec Burleson will have the upper hand in today’s game.

The Chicago Cubs have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Alec Burleson stands a good chance of never facing a bullpen mismatch all game.

Alec Burleson has recorded a .334 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, grading out in the 75th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Seiya Suzuki in the 95th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability.

Seiya Suzuki is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card today.

Wrigley Field has the 6th-shallowest left field fences among all parks.

Seiya Suzuki will benefit from the home field advantage in today’s game, which should improve all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Paul Goldschmidt in the 90th percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill.

Paul Goldschmidt is penciled in 5th in the lineup in today’s game.

Paul Goldschmidt has made significant strides with his Barrel% recently, improving his 10.3% seasonal rate to 17.2% in the last two weeks.

This season, Paul Goldschmidt has experienced a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 96.1 mph compared to last year’s 93.9 mph mark.

When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Lars Nootbaar ranks in the 92nd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Lars Nootbaar is penciled in 4th in the lineup in this game.

Batting from the opposite that Javier Assad throws from, Lars Nootbaar will have an advantage in today’s game.

Lars Nootbaar is likely to have the upper hand against every reliever for the whole game, since the bullpen of the Chicago Cubs has just 1 same-handed RP.

Lars Nootbaar has seen a substantial increase in his exit velocity this season; just compare his 91.6-mph average to last season’s 89.1-mph mark.

Masyn Winn is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in this matchup.

Masyn Winn has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 86.1-mph to 91.2-mph in the past week.

In the last week, Masyn Winn’s 57.9% rate of hitting balls at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 44.9%.

By putting up a .276 batting average this year, Masyn Winn is ranked in the 83rd percentile.

Last season, Isaac Paredes had an average launch angle of 18° on his hardest-contacted balls, while this year it has significantly increased to 22.4°.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Michael Busch in the 81st percentile when it comes to his home run talent.

Michael Busch is projected to hit 2nd in the batting order in this matchup.

Michael Busch will hold the platoon advantage against Erick Fedde in today’s matchup.

Home field advantage generally bolsters batter stats across the board, and Michael Busch will hold that advantage in today’s game.

Michael Busch has made significant improvements with his Barrel% lately, bettering his 11.7% seasonal rate to 16.7% over the past 7 days.

Mike Siani will hold the platoon advantage against Javier Assad in today’s game.

The Chicago Cubs have just 1 same-handed RP in their bullpen, so Mike Siani can likely count on holding the platoon advantage against every reliever all game.

Mike Siani has a 93rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.8%) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting them towards the league’s 7th-shallowest LF fences in today’s matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Dansby Swanson in the 86th percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill.

Dansby Swanson will hold the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which should boost all of his stats.

In the past week, Dansby Swanson’s Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 9% up to 15.4%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Alec Burleson in the 90th percentile when it comes to his batting average skill.

Alec Burleson’s ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved lately, going from 47.5% on the season to 54.5% in the past 14 days.

Home field advantage typically boosts batter stats across the board, and Nico Hoerner will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

When it comes to plate discipline, Nico Hoerner’s talent is quite strong, posting a 1.5 K/BB rate this year while ranking in in the 92nd percentile.

When estimating his overall offensive talent, Ian Happ ranks in the 89th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Ian Happ is projected to bat 1st in the batting order in this matchup.

The switch-hitting Ian Happ will get to bat from his good side (0) today against Erick Fedde.

Ian Happ will benefit from the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which ought to boost all of his stats.

Ian Happ has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 94.5-mph average in the past week to his seasonal 90.2-mph mark.

Javier Assad will have the benefit of the home field advantage today, which should improve all of his stats in all categories.

Nolan Gorman’s average launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls this season (26.3°) is quite a bit better than his 21.5° figure last year.

With a 4.63 FIP this year (Fielding Independent Pitching, an ERA estimator that deals with the things a pitcher has the most control over), Javier Assad falls in the 23rd percentile.

With a .272 Expected Batting Average (an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) based on Statcast data) this year , Masyn Winn has performed in the 82nd percentile.

Dansby Swanson has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 100.8-mph average over the last 7 days to his seasonal mark of 96.1-mph.

Seiya Suzuki’s launch angle this year (15.1°) is considerably higher than his 10.6° figure last year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nico Hoerner in the 96th percentile as it relates to his batting average talent.

Nico Hoerner has suffered from bad luck when it comes to his batting average this year; his .252 mark is considerably lower than his .275 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

The Chicago Cubs have been the 3rd-unluckiest offense in baseball this year, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), and are likely to positively regress in future games, Willson Contreras, the Cardinals’s expected catcher today, grades out as a weak pitch framer according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

Playing on the road typically diminishes pitcher metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Erick Fedde in today’s matchup.

Erick Fedde has been lucky in regards to his ERA this year; his 3.11 rate is deflated compared to his 3.81 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, an estimator of ERA that focuses on the things a pitcher has the most control over).

Erick Fedde has been one of the luckiest hurlers in Major League Baseball on balls in play this year with a .261 BABIP and should see that luck normalize going forward.

Tallying 93.6 adjusted pitches per outing this year on average, Erick Fedde falls in the 86th percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Wrigley Field as the 9th-best ballpark in baseball for strikeouts.

Over his previous 3 outings, Erick Fedde has seen a substantial increase in his fastball spin rate: from 1981 rpm over the entire season to 2037 rpm in recent games.

Over the past week, Willson Contreras’s 23.1% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 11.6%.

Friday Game 2 player match stat slumps with Cardinals vs Cubs Matchup

The league’s 7th-tallest fences can be found at Wrigley Field.

This matchup is expected to have the 5th-best weather for pitching among all the games scheduled today.

The wind projects to be blowing in from LF at 9.4-mph in this contest, the strongest of the day for pitchers.

Javier Assad will have the handedness advantage against Willson Contreras in today’s game.

Willson Contreras has an 82nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.7%) and will have to hit them out towards the game’s 5th-deepest RF fences in today’s matchup.

Nolan Gorman is projected to bat 8th in the batting order in this matchup.

Nolan Gorman pulls a lot of his flyballs (35.5% — 89th percentile) and will be challenged by the game’s 5th-deepest RF fences in today’s matchup.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is projected to hit 8th on the lineup card in today’s game.

This year, Pete Crow-Armstrong has been pinch hit for in 11% of his appearances when starting against righty hurler.

The 5th-deepest RF dimensions in the majors are found in Wrigley Field.

Cody Bellinger pulls a lot of his flyballs (35.4% — 88th percentile) and will be challenged by the league’s 5th-deepest RF fences in today’s game.

Cody Bellinger’s ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has fallen off from last season to this one, decreasing from 43.4% to 37.5%.

Erick Fedde will have the handedness advantage against Isaac Paredes today.

In the past two weeks’ worth of games, Isaac Paredes’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 5.3% down to 0%.

Alec Burleson will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team in today’s game.

Hitting from the same side that Erick Fedde throws from, Seiya Suzuki will be at a disadvantage today.

Seiya Suzuki has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 102.3-mph average in the past week to his seasonal mark of 94.4-mph.

Seiya Suzuki’s average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls recently (3.1° in the last two weeks’ worth of games) is considerably worse than his 10.9° seasonal mark.

Hitting from the same side that Javier Assad throws from, Paul Goldschmidt has a tough challenge in today’s game.

Playing on the road typically weakens hitter metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Paul Goldschmidt in today’s game.

Playing on the road typically reduces batter stats in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Lars Nootbaar in today’s matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Masyn Winn in the 14th percentile as it relates to his home run ability.

Hitting from the same side that Javier Assad throws from, Masyn Winn will be at a disadvantage today.

Isaac Paredes’s BABIP skill is projected in the 1st percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

11% of the time that Michael Busch has started against a righty on the mound this year, he has been lifted for a pinch-hitter.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mike Siani in the 4th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill.

Mike Siani is projected to hit 9th in the lineup in this matchup.

Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected wOBA (.297) implies that Cody Bellinger has had some very good luck this year with his .327 actual wOBA.

Dansby Swanson is projected to hit 7th on the lineup card in this game.

Erick Fedde will have the handedness advantage over Dansby Swanson today.

Placing in the 17th percentile, Dansby Swanson sits with a .282 wOBA (widely regarded as the top measure of overall offense) this year.

When it comes to his home run skill, Nico Hoerner ranks in the 2nd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Nico Hoerner is penciled in 6th on the lineup card today, which would be a downgrade from his 67% rate of hitting in the top-half of the batting order this season.

Javier Assad has tallied 14.9 outs per start this year, ranking in the 23rd percentile.

Javier Assad has relied on his sinker 6.6% more often this year (36.4%) than he did last season (29.8%).

Javier Assad’s 91.1-mph fastball velocity this year grades out in the 14th percentile among all starters.

Javier Assad’s 2041-rpm fastball spin rate this year is in the 10th percentile out of all SPs.

Javier Assad has had positive variance on his side thus far when it comes to his ERA this year; his 3.23 rate is significantly deflated relative to his 4.63 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, an estimator of ERA that focuses on the things a pitcher has the most control over).

Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected Batting Average (.219) may lead us to conclude that Michael Busch has been very fortunate this year with his .259 actual batting average.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nolan Gorman in the 16th percentile when assessing his batting average talent.

Masyn Winn has a 79th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.2%) and will have to hit them out towards MLB’s 5th-deepest RF fences today.

Masyn Winn will be at a disadvantage playing away from home in today’s matchup.

Playing on the road generally lessens batter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Mike Siani in today’s game.

Lars Nootbaar has struggled with his Barrel% of late; his 9.2% seasonal rate has decreased to 0% in the past week’s worth of games.

Willson Contreras will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today’s matchup.

Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected Batting Average (.232) provides evidence that Cody Bellinger has had some very good luck this year with his .277 actual batting average.

Erick Fedde will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Nico Hoerner today.

In today’s matchup, Nico Hoerner is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 5th-deepest RF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the opposite field at a 37.9% rate (93rd percentile).

In the last week, Alec Burleson’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 7% down to 0%.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT)’s appraisal, Erick Fedde’s overall pitching skill grades out in the 83rd percentile out of all starting pitchers in baseball currently.

In terms of plate discipline, Paul Goldschmidt’s talent is quite bad, sporting a 4.09 K/BB rate this year while ranking in in the 18th percentile.

Checking in at the 25th percentile, Erick Fedde compiled a 9.1% Swinging Strike% this year.

With a 0.51 disparity between Javier Assad’s 8.18 K/9 and his 7.67 estimated true talent K/9 (via the leading projection system, THE BAT), it’s safe to say he’s been one of the most fortunate pitchers in MLB this year in terms of strikeouts and figures to perform worse the rest of the season.