Todays Series Game 2 Matchup Details

Player match stat positives for Los Angeles at Houston Series Game 2 Matchup Today

Will Smith projects as the 19th-best hitter in the league, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

The leading projection system (THE BAT) ranks Minute Maid Park as the 5th-best stadium in MLB for righty home runs.

Compared to last season, Will Smith has improved his ability to hit the ball at a launch angle ideal for home runs, increasing his percentage of balls hit between 23° and 34° from 19.4% to 22.5% this season.

Posting a .334 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) using Statcast data) this year, Will Smith is positioned in the 76th percentile for offensive ability.

Utilizing Statcast metrics, Will Smith grades out in the 87th percentile for power per the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected Home Runs per 600 plate appearances this year at 26.500.

Gavin Lux is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card today, which would be an upgrade from his 96% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this season.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Minute Maid Park as the 5th-best ballpark in the game for left-handed home runs.

Gavin Lux will have the handedness advantage over Ronel Blanco in today’s game.

Gavin Lux has made big gains with his Barrel% recently, bettering his 4.3% seasonal rate to 16.7% in the past week.

In the past two weeks, Gavin Lux has significantly improved the launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls: 23° compared to his seasonal mark of 8.1°.

Nick Ahmed pulls many of his flyballs (35.3% — 88th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB’s 2nd-shallowest LF fences today.

Last year, Nick Ahmed had an average launch angle of 11.7° on his hardest-contacted balls, while this season it has significantly increased to 14.9°.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Yainer Diaz in the 97th percentile when estimating his batting average talent.

Yainer Diaz is penciled in 4th on the lineup card in this game.

Hitting from the opposite that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Yainer Diaz will have an edge in today’s matchup.

Yainer Diaz will hold the home field advantage today, which ought to improve all of his stats.

Home field advantage generally boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Jon Singleton will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

When assessing his overall offensive skill, Alex Bregman ranks in the 93rd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Alex Bregman is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card today.

Batting from the opposite that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Alex Bregman will have an edge in today’s game.

Alex Bregman will benefit from the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

Yordan Alvarez projects as the 2nd-best hitter in MLB, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Yordan Alvarez is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order in today’s game.

Yordan Alvarez will hold the home field advantage in today’s game, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

Yordan Alvarez has made notable improvements with his Barrel% of late, upping his 14.7% seasonal rate to 31.3% in the last week.

Among all major league stadiums, Minute Maid Park’s LF dimensions are the 2nd-shallowest.

Jake Meyers will have the handedness advantage over Justin Wrobleski in today’s game.

Home field advantage typically improves batter stats in all categories, and Jake Meyers will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

Compared to his seasonal average of 14.5°, Jake Meyers has significantly improved his launch angle lately, posting a 20.6° mark over the past 14 days.

Compared to last year, Jake Meyers has improved his ability to hit the ball at a launch angle ideal for base hits, increasing his percentage of balls hit between -4° and 26° from 40% to 46.9% this season.

Kike Hernandez has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity this year; just compare his 90.3-mph average to last year’s 87.8-mph mark.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 95th percentile as it relates to his batting average skill.

Jeremy Pena is projected to bat 5th in the lineup in this matchup.

Hitting from the opposite that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Jeremy Pena will have an advantage in today’s matchup.

When estimating his BABIP talent, Teoscar Hernandez is projected as the 10th-best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Teoscar Hernandez is penciled in 2nd in the lineup in this matchup.

Teoscar Hernandez has seen a sizeable gain in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 94.6-mph average over the last week to his seasonal 91.5-mph mark.

Over the past 14 days, Teoscar Hernandez has significantly improved the launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls: 19.8° compared to his seasonal mark of 15.1°.

The 5th-best projected batting order of the day in terms of overall batting skill is that of the Houston Astros.

The Houston Astros have 7 hitters in the projected lineup that will have the handedness advantage against Justin Wrobleski in this matchup.

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

Justin Wrobleski’s high usage percentage of his fastball (64.2% since the start of last season) is likely hurting his results, considering they are typically much less effective than breaking or off-speed pitches.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Shohei Ohtani ranks as the 4th-best hitter in the game.

Shohei Ohtani is projected to hit 1st in the lineup in this matchup.

Batting from the opposite that Ronel Blanco throws from, Shohei Ohtani will have an advantage in today’s matchup.

Shohei Ohtani has an 81st percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.5%) and will have a big advantage hitting them out towards MLB’s 2nd-shallowest LF fences today.

Chas McCormick’s BABIP skill is projected in the 85th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Batting from the opposite that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Chas McCormick will have an edge in today’s game.

Home field advantage typically boosts batter stats in all categories, and Chas McCormick will hold that advantage today.

Chas McCormick’s footspeed has gotten better this season. His 28.09 ft/sec Statcast Sprint Speed last season sits at 28.67 ft/sec now.

Chas McCormick has been unlucky this year, notching a .267 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .314 — a .047 deviation.

This season, Jake Meyers has experienced a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 93.2 mph compared to last year’s 90 mph mark.

Jason Heyward will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Ronel Blanco in today’s matchup.

Jason Heyward has seen a sizeable improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 96.1-mph average over the last week to his seasonal EV of 92.1-mph.

Jason Heyward has had some very poor luck with his batting average this year; his .202 rate is a good deal lower than his .231 Expected Batting Average, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

Jason Heyward has shown impressive plate discipline this year, grading out in the 91st percentile with a 1.64 K/BB rate.

When it comes to his overall offensive skill, Yainer Diaz ranks in the 84th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Andy Pages has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (57% of the time), but he is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in today’s game.

Andy Pages has made significant gains with his Barrel% lately, bettering his 10.6% seasonal rate to 16.7% over the last 7 days.

Andy Pages’s ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has gotten better in recent games, going from 45.8% on the season to 75% in the last week.

When it comes to his wOBA and overall offense, Andy Pages has experienced some negative variance this year. His .300 figure falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .332.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andy Pages in the 77th percentile as it relates to his home run talent.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 92nd percentile when it comes to his batting average ability.

Jose Altuve is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in this matchup.

Batting from the opposite that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Jose Altuve will have an advantage in today’s matchup.

Jose Altuve pulls many of his flyballs (41.8% — 99th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards MLB’s 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today’s matchup.

Alex Bregman has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 88.5-mph to 95.1-mph over the last week.

Jeremy Pena will hold the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which figures to improve all of his stats.

Kike Hernandez has been unlucky this year, notching a .260 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .293 — a .033 deviation.

Jose Altuve will hold the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which should bolster all of his stats.

Throwing 96.4 adjusted pitches per outing this year on average, Ronel Blanco checks in at the 93rd percentile.

Home field advantage typically improves pitcher metrics across the board, and Ronel Blanco will hold that advantage in today’s game.

With a .300 Isolated Power (ISO) this year, Jason Heyward finds himself in the 82nd percentile.

Despite posting a .274 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Gavin Lux has had bad variance on his side given the .031 disparity between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .305.

Among all starters, Justin Wrobleski’s fastball velocity of 94.6 mph grades out in the 79th percentile this year.

Justin Wrobleski’s 2409-rpm fastball spin rate this year ranks in the 83rd percentile out of all starting pitchers.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Teoscar Hernandez in the 94th percentile when estimating his overall offensive talent.

The 3rd-best projected lineup of all teams on the slate today in terms of overall hitting skill is that of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 88th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill.

Will Smith has put up a .337 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, checking in at the 77th percentile.

Will Smith has displayed strong plate discipline this year, grading out in the 78th percentile with a 1.94 K/BB rate.

Yordan Alvarez has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 100.2-mph average over the last 14 days to his seasonal 93.2-mph mark.

Yainer Diaz has experienced some negative variance in regards to his wOBA this year; his .306 figure is a good deal lower than his .336 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

With a .344 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) using Statcast data) this year, Teoscar Hernandez is ranked in the 84th percentile for offensive skills.

Saturday Series Game 2 player match stat slumps with Dodgers vs Astros Matchup

Will Smith has primarily hit in the top-half of the batting order this season (100% of the time), but he is projected to bat 8th in the batting order today.

Minute Maid Park has the 3rd-highest fences among all major league parks.

Built just 20 feet above sea level, Minute Maid Park has one of the lowest elevations in the league, which often leads to less offense.

The Minute Maid Park roof is expected to be closed today, making weather conditions in this contest -7° colder than the average outdoor game of the day — favorable for pitching.

Hitting from the same side that Ronel Blanco throws from, Will Smith faces a tough challenge today.

In today’s game, Gavin Lux is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 8th-deepest CF center field fences given that he hits his flyballs towards center field at a 39.2% rate (95th percentile).

Out of all the teams on the slate today, the 5th-strongest infield defense belongs to the Houston Astros.

When estimating his overall offensive ability, Nick Ahmed ranks in the 12th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Nick Ahmed is projected to bat 9th in the batting order in this matchup.

Yainer Diaz has an 84th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.1%) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of MLB’s 9th-deepest RF fences in today’s game.

Among every team in action today, the 5th-worst infield defense belongs to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jon Singleton in the 3rd percentile when assessing his batting average ability.

Jon Singleton is penciled in 8th on the lineup card in this game.

In today’s game, Alex Bregman is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 8th-deepest CF center field fences given that he hits his flyballs towards center field at a 38.2% rate (80th percentile).

The #9 venue in the majors for suppressing BABIP to left-handed batters, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Minute Maid Park.

Justin Wrobleski will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Yordan Alvarez today.

In today’s matchup, Yordan Alvarez is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 8th-deepest CF center field fences given that he hits his flyballs towards center field at a 38.8% rate (90th percentile).

Jake Meyers is projected to hit 6th on the lineup card in today’s game.

Minute Maid Park ranks as the #22 ballpark in Major League Baseball for right-handed BABIP, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).

Kike Hernandez is projected to hit 7th on the lineup card in this matchup.

Ronel Blanco will have the handedness advantage against Kike Hernandez in today’s matchup.

Jeremy Pena’s launch angle recently (2.2° in the last two weeks) is significantly lower than his 8.7° seasonal angle.

Jeremy Pena has displayed bad plate discipline this year, placing in the 23rd percentile with a 3.76 K/BB rate.

Ronel Blanco will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Teoscar Hernandez in today’s game.

Today, Teoscar Hernandez is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 9th-deepest RF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the opposite field at a 35% rate (84th percentile).

David Rackley projects as a Pitchers Umpire and is likely to be behind the plate today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Minute Maid Park as the 7th-worst stadium in the league for base hits.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Kike Hernandez in the 7th percentile when it comes to his BABIP skill.

Shohei Ohtani will be at a disadvantage playing away from home today.

Chas McCormick is projected to hit 9th in the lineup in this matchup.

Chas McCormick has an 89th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.3%) but may find it hard to clear the game’s 9th-deepest RF fences today.

Jake Meyers’s average exit velocity has fallen off recently; his 89.4-mph seasonal average has fallen off to 85.4-mph in the past week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jason Heyward in the 8th percentile when estimating his BABIP ability.

Jason Heyward is projected to hit 6th in the lineup in this game.

Yainer Diaz’s exit velocity on flyballs has decreased this season; his 94.9-mph average last year has dropped to 91.3-mph.

Hitting from the same side that Ronel Blanco throws from, Andy Pages has a tough challenge in today’s matchup.

Andy Pages will be at a disadvantage playing away from home today.

Despite posting a .427 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Shohei Ohtani has had positive variance on his side given the .026 difference between that mark and his estimated true talent wOBA of .401.

Jose Altuve’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off this season; his 92.9-mph EV last year has dropped off to 90.3-mph.

When it comes to his home run skill, Jeremy Pena ranks in the 20th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Yainer Diaz, the Astros’s expected catcher in today’s game, profiles as a horrible pitch framer according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

Ronel Blanco’s 92.7-mph velocity on his fastball this season is a sizeable 1.1-mph drop off from last season’s 93.8-mph figure.

Among all starters, Ronel Blanco’s fastball spin rate of 2211 rpm is in the 22nd percentile this year.

Compared to his seasonal mark of 16.1°, Andy Pages’s average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls has dropped significantly in recent games (6.5° in the past 14 days).

Jason Heyward pulls many of his flyballs (36.4% — 93rd percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of MLB’s 9th-deepest RF fences today.

Playing on the road typically diminishes batter stats in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Gavin Lux in today’s game.

Hitting from the same side that Justin Wrobleski throws from, Jon Singleton will be at a disadvantage in today’s matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Justin Wrobleski to throw 76 pitches in today’s game (least of all pitchers on the slate), considering both his underlying tendencies and the matchup.

The Houston Astros (19.5 K% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT X) are forecasted to have the 3rd-least strikeout-prone team of batters of all teams today.

Alex Bregman’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has fallen off recently, going from 15% on the season to 3.4% over the past two weeks.

It may be smart to expect negative regression for the Los Angeles Dodgers offense in the future, given that the leading projection system (THE BAT X) views them as the 10th-luckiest offense in baseball this year.

Jose Altuve’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has dropped off lately, decreasing from 17% on the season to 0% over the past 7 days.