Todays Game 2 Matchup Details

Player match stat positives for Pittsburgh at Houston Game 2 Matchup Today

Jon Singleton will hold the home field advantage in today’s game, which should bolster all of his stats.

Jon Singleton has made notable improvements with his Barrel% of late, upping his 7.3% seasonal rate to 15.4% over the last week.

Jon Singleton has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 89.2-mph to 94.1-mph over the last week.

Jon Singleton’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved in recent games, increasing from 16.2% on the season to 23.1% in the last week’s worth of games.

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

Bryan Reynolds is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card in this game.

Homers are generally more common at stadiums with shallow fences, and Minute Maid Park has the 2nd-shallowest among all major league parks.

As a switch-hitter who is stronger from the 0 side of the plate, Bryan Reynolds will get to bat from his good side against Hunter Brown in this game.

By putting up a .352 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) based on Statcast data) this year, Bryan Reynolds has performed in the 89th percentile for hitting ability.

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

Yordan Alvarez is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup today.

Home field advantage typically boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Yordan Alvarez will hold that advantage today.

Yordan Alvarez has made notable improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, bettering his 14.3% seasonal rate to 20% in the last two weeks.

Yordan Alvarez has seen a substantial increase in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 95.9-mph average in the last two weeks to his seasonal 92.9-mph average.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been the 7th-unluckiest offense in the league this year, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), and are likely to perform better going forward, Yainer Diaz, the Astros’s expected catcher today, profiles as a weak pitch framer according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

The #6 field in the league for boosting home runs, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Minute Maid Park.

The 2nd-shallowest LF dimensions in Major League Baseball are found in Minute Maid Park.

Hunter Brown has a reverse platoon split and is stuck facing 6 same-handed bats in this matchup.

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 projected to hit 2nd in the lineup in this game.

Alex Bregman will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Bailey Falter in today’s game.

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

Alex Bregman has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% lately, bettering his 4.7% seasonal rate to 11.1% over the past week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew McCutchen in the 84th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive skill.

Andrew McCutchen is penciled in 1st in the lineup in this matchup.

Andrew McCutchen has made significant improvements with his Barrel%, improving his 6.8% rate last season to 12.2% this year.

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

Jeremy Pena is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in this game.

Jeremy Pena will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Bailey Falter in today’s game.

Jeremy Pena will possess the home field advantage in today’s game, which ought to improve all of his stats.

Mauricio Dubon will hold the platoon advantage against Bailey Falter in today’s game.

Home field advantage typically improves hitter metrics in all categories, and Mauricio Dubon will hold that advantage in today’s game.

Mauricio Dubon has notched a .274 batting average this year, checking in at the 80th percentile.

Josh Palacios is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in this matchup, which would be an upgrade from his 59% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this year.

Josh Palacios will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Hunter Brown today.

Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected wOBA (.319) suggests that Josh Palacios has been unlucky since the start of last season with his .299 actual wOBA.

When it comes to power, Josh Palacios is positioned in the 76th percentile, having averaged 22.7 HRs per 600 plate appearances since the start of last season.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jared Triolo in the 92nd percentile when assessing his BABIP talent.

Jared Triolo has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 94.6-mph average in the last week to his seasonal 87.9-mph figure.

Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected wOBA (.290) provides evidence that Jared Triolo has had bad variance on his side this year with his .249 actual wOBA.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ke’Bryan Hayes in the 80th percentile when estimating his batting average skill.

Despite posting a .265 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Ke’Bryan Hayes has been unlucky given the .035 disparity between that mark and his estimated true talent wOBA of .300.

Jeremy Pena has made sizeable improvements with his Barrel% in recent games, improving his 4.9% seasonal rate to 11.1% in the last two weeks’ worth of games.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jake Meyers in the 76th percentile when it comes to his BABIP ability.

Hitting from the opposite that Bailey Falter throws from, Jake Meyers will have an advantage in today’s matchup.

Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter metrics in all categories, and Jake Meyers will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

In the last week’s worth of games, Jake Meyers’s 28.6% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 18.5%.

Mauricio Dubon’s launch angle this season (13.5°) is significantly higher than his 9.7° angle last year.

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 in the batting order today.

Yainer Diaz will have the handedness advantage against Bailey Falter in today’s game.

Home field advantage generally boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Yainer Diaz will hold that advantage today.

Yainer Diaz has made big gains with his Barrel% lately, upping his 7.7% seasonal rate to 20% in the past week’s worth of games.

When it comes to his strikeout ability, the leading projection system (THE BAT) puts Hunter Brown in the 88th percentile among all starting pitchers in the league.

Recording 92.9 adjusted pitches per GS this year on average, Hunter Brown places him the 80th percentile.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have 4 hitters in their projected batting order today with a high (i.e. over 27%) underlying K% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT X) (Oneil Cruz, Joey Bart, Jared Triolo, Michael A. Taylor).

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Minute Maid Park as the 10th-best field in MLB for strikeouts.

Rowdy Tellez is projected to bat 4th in the lineup in today’s game.

Hitting from the opposite that Hunter Brown throws from, Rowdy Tellez will have an advantage in today’s matchup.

In the past week’s worth of games, Rowdy Tellez’s Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 7.5% up to 33.3%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Altuve in the 93rd percentile when estimating his batting average talent.

Jose Altuve is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in today’s game.

Batting from the opposite that Bailey Falter throws from, Jose Altuve will have the upper hand in today’s game.

Jose Altuve pulls a lot of his flyballs (42% — 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 game.

Home field advantage generally boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Jose Altuve will hold that advantage today.

Joey Bart is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 91% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season.

Joey Bart pulls a lot of his flyballs (34.4% — 82nd percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards MLB’s 2nd-shallowest LF fences in today’s matchup.

In the past week’s worth of games, Joey Bart’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 8.5% down to 0%.

Joey Bart has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 94.4-mph average in the last two weeks’ worth of games to his seasonal 89.2-mph average.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Oneil Cruz as MLB’s 10th-best home run batter.

Oneil Cruz is projected to hit 3rd in the batting order in this matchup.

Oneil Cruz will hold the platoon advantage over Hunter Brown today.

Oneil Cruz has made substantial strides with his Barrel% recently, upping his 19% seasonal rate to 28% over the last 14 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Chas McCormick in the 83rd percentile as it relates to his BABIP talent.

Chas McCormick will hold the platoon advantage over Bailey Falter today.

Chas McCormick will benefit from the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats.

Chas McCormick has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 103.8-mph average in the last 7 days to his seasonal mark of 90.9-mph.

Compared to his seasonal average of 14.9°, Chas McCormick has significantly improved his launch angle recently, posting a 33.7° mark in the past week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Bryan Reynolds in the 94th percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill.

When estimating his home run skill, Joey Bart ranks in the 76th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

The Houston Astros projected offense projects as the 5th-strongest on the slate in terms of overall hitting ability.

Bailey Falter will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today’s game.

Despite conventional wisdom, fastballs are generally a pitcher’s least effective pitch. Bailey Falter has used his off-speed and breaking balls 12.7% less often this season (34.5%) than he did last year (47.2%).

As it relates to his overall offensive ability, Yainer Diaz ranks in the 85th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Rowdy Tellez in the 90th percentile as it relates to his home run talent.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Mauricio Dubon in the 84th percentile when assessing his batting average skill.

Jake Meyers has seen a big improvement in his exit velocity this season; just compare his 89.2-mph average to last year’s 86-mph figure.

When it comes to his overall offensive talent, Jose Altuve ranks in the 89th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Oneil Cruz in the 93rd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability.

Despite posting a .262 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Chas McCormick has had some very poor luck given the .051 discrepancy between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .313.

Tuesday Game 2 player match stat slumps with Pirates vs Astros Matchup

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

Jon Singleton is projected to bat 8th in the lineup in today’s game.

Minute Maid Park projects as the #22 ballpark in the game for run-scoring, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).

In the majors, the 3rd-highest fences are at Minute Maid Park.

Built just 20 feet above sea level, Minute Maid Park has one of the lowest altitudes among all major league parks, which tends to lead to worse offense.

The Minute Maid Park roof is expected to be closed today, making the temperature in this match-up -7° colder than the average outdoor game of all games today — favorable for pitching.

Among all the teams in action today, the 4th-best infield defense is that of the the Houston Astros.

Playing on the road generally weakens batter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Bryan Reynolds in today’s matchup.

Bailey Falter will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Jon Singleton in today’s game.

Batting from the same side that Bailey Falter throws from, Yordan Alvarez meets a tough challenge in today’s game.

In today’s game, 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 39% rate (92nd percentile).

The leading projection system (THE BAT) forecasts Hunter Brown in the 87th percentile when it comes to his overall pitching abilities.

Hunter Brown is an extreme groundball pitcher (48.7% GB% via the leading projection system, THE BAT), which should make him somewhat immune to the dangers of pitching in Minute Maid Park — the #6 HR venue in the majors — in this matchup.

Today, 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 38.3% rate (82nd percentile).

Hunter Brown will have the handedness advantage against Andrew McCutchen today.

Andrew McCutchen hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (38.6% — 86th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of the league’s 8th-deepest CF fences today.

Over the past week, Jeremy Pena’s 0% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 12.8%.

With a 3.69 K/BB rate this year, Jeremy Pena has shown bad plate discipline, checking in at the 24th percentile.

As it relates to his home run ability, Mauricio Dubon ranks in the 15th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Mauricio Dubon is projected to bat 7th in the batting order in today’s game.

Mauricio Dubon has been pinch hit for 12% of the time when starting against a lefty on the mound this year.

Minute Maid Park projects as the #21 ballpark in the game for run-scoring, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).

The Minute Maid Park roof is expected to be closed today, making the temperature in this match-up -8° colder than the average outdoor game of all games today — favorable for pitching.

Extreme groundball batters like Josh Palacios tend to be less successful against extreme groundball pitchers like Hunter Brown.

Playing on the road generally diminishes hitter metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Josh Palacios today.

Josh Palacios has been cold lately, with his seasonal exit velocity of 88.4-mph dropping to 82.3-mph over the last 14 days.

In the last 14 days, Alex Bregman’s 10% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 15.1%.

Jared Triolo is penciled in 8th in the batting order in today’s game.

Hunter Brown will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Jared Triolo in today’s game.

Jared Triolo has an 89th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.3%) and will have to hit them out towards the league’s 9th-deepest RF fences in today’s game.

Ke’Bryan Hayes has primarily hit in the top-half of the batting order this year (71% of the time), but he is projected to hit 6th in the batting order in today’s game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jeremy Pena in the 20th percentile when estimating his home run ability.

Jake Meyers is projected to bat 6th in the lineup in this game.

Jake Meyers’s exit velocity on flyballs has declined lately; his 92.8-mph seasonal EV has lowered to 83.3-mph over the last 7 days.

Connor Joe is projected to hit 7th on the lineup card today, which would be a downgrade from his 86% rate of hitting in the top-half of the batting order this season.

Today, Yainer Diaz is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 9th-deepest RF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the opposite field at a 35.1% rate (84th percentile).

Hunter Brown has utilized his slider 20.1% less often this season (5%) than he did last season (25.1%).

Considering the 0.06 deviation between Hunter Brown’s 9.63 K/9 and his 9.57 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 the majors this year as it relates to strikeouts and should negatively regress going forward.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Rowdy Tellez in the 2nd percentile when it comes to his BABIP ability.

When starting against a right-handed starter this year, Rowdy Tellez has been replaced by a pinch-hitter 24% of the time.

Hunter Brown will have the handedness advantage over Connor Joe today.

Connor Joe hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (38.5% — 85th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball’s 8th-deepest CF fences today.

Jose Altuve’s average exit velocity has dropped off in recent games; his 86.7-mph seasonal EV has dropped to 84.7-mph in the last two weeks.

Hitting from the same side that Hunter Brown throws from, Joey Bart will have a tough challenge in today’s game.

Playing on the road typically reduces hitter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Joey Bart in today’s game.

Oneil Cruz will be at a disadvantage playing on the road today.

Chas McCormick is projected to bat 9th on the lineup card in this game.

When starting against a left-handed starter this year, Chas McCormick has been lifted for a pinch-hitter 16% of the time.

Over the past 14 days, Bryan Reynolds’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off from his seasonal figure of 94.5 mph to 89 mph.

In the past 14 days, Bryan Reynolds’s 0% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 16.6%.

Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected Batting Average (.282) suggests that Yordan Alvarez has experienced some positive variance this year with his .299 actual batting average.

Hunter Brown will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Ke’Bryan Hayes in today’s matchup.

Ke’Bryan Hayes has a 99th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (41.9%) and will have to hit them out towards MLB’s 9th-deepest RF fences in today’s matchup.

Because of his reverse platoon split, Bailey Falter figures to be at an advantage squaring off against 7 hitters in the projected lineup who bat from the opposite side in today’s game.

Bailey Falter’s 91.2-mph velocity on his fastball this year is a substantial 1.1-mph jump from last season’s 90.1-mph mark.

Houston Astros hitters collectively rank 26th- in the game for power this year when judging by their 91.4-mph exit velocity on flyballs.

In today’s game, Chas McCormick is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 9th-deepest RF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the opposite field at a 36.3% rate (89th percentile).

Yainer Diaz’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has decreased from last season to this one, falling from 21.6% to 11.5%.

Oneil Cruz has shown weak plate discipline this year, grading out in the 14th percentile with a 4.3 K/BB rate.

Rowdy Tellez hits many of his flyballs to center field (40.3% — 99th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball’s 8th-deepest CF fences in today’s matchup.

As it relates to his batting average, Jose Altuve has had some very good luck this year. His .311 figure has been a fair amount higher than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .277.

Mauricio Dubon has a 92nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.7%) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards MLB’s 9th-deepest RF fences today.

As it relates to his wOBA and overall offense, Jose Altuve has been lucky this year. His .354 figure has been quite a bit higher than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .330.

When estimating his strikeout talent, the leading projection system (THE BAT) puts Bailey Falter in the 21st percentile among all starters in MLB.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) expects Bailey Falter to be on a pitch count in this game, projecting a maximum of 75 pitches.

Per the leading projection system (THE BAT X), the team with the 4th-least strikeout-prone lineup on the slate today is the Houston Astros with a 19.4% underlying K%.

Bailey Falter struggled when it came to striking hitters out in his previous GS and put up 2 Ks.

As it relates to his home run talent, Ke’Bryan Hayes ranks in the 23rd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jared Triolo in the 17th percentile when assessing his home run skill.

With a 3.76 K/BB rate this year, Yainer Diaz has shown bad plate discipline, ranking in the 23rd percentile.

Oneil Cruz’s ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has decreased recently, falling from 43.1% on the season to 20% in the last week.