Todays Series Game 2 Matchup Details

Player match stat positives for Pittsburgh at Chicago Series Game 2 Matchup Today

The Chicago White Sox have 3 hitters in their projected offense today with a high (i.e. over 27%) underlying K% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT X) (Luis Robert, Paul DeJong, Martin Maldonado).

Yasmani Grandal, the Pirates’s expected catcher in today’s matchup, projects as a good pitch framer according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

The wind projects to be blowing in from RF at 8.1-mph in this match-up, the most-favorable of the day for mound aces.

Given his huge platoon split, Luis Ortiz will benefit from being matched up with 6 batters in the projected lineup who share his handedness in today’s matchup.

Luis Ortiz has relied on his cutter 24.1% more often this year (24.4%) than he did last year (0.3%).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Josh Palacios in the 76th percentile when estimating his batting average talent.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Guaranteed Rate Field as the 7th-best park in the majors for lefty home runs.

Guaranteed Rate Field has the 4th-least fair ground in the league — generally good for long-balls.

Batting from the opposite that Chris Flexen throws from, Josh Palacios will have an edge in today’s game.

Out of all the teams today, the weakest outfield defense is that of the Chicago White Sox.

Given Luis Ortiz’s huge platoon split, Nicky Lopez will have a tremendous advantage batting from the opposite side of the dish in today’s matchup.

Nicky Lopez has a 100th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (44%) and has the good fortune of hitting them out towards the league’s 5th-shallowest LF fences today.

The Pittsburgh Pirates infield defense profiles as the 3rd-weakest out of every team in action today.

Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics across the board, and Nicky Lopez will hold that advantage in today’s game.

Nicky Lopez’s launch angle this season (7.7°) is a considerable increase over his 0.2° figure last season.

Compiling a 97-mph average exit velocity in the past two weeks’ worth of games, Josh Palacios has been in great form in recent games.

Joey Bart has strong power (75th percentile) if he makes contact, but that’s usually a big “IF” (30.2% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Chris Flexen has a pitch-to-contact profile (11th percentile K%) — great news for Bart.

Joey Bart pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.6% — 77th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting them towards the league’s 5th-shallowest LF fences in today’s matchup.

Out of all the teams today, the 3rd-weakest outfield defense is that of the Chicago White Sox.

Joey Bart’s 93.7-mph exit velocity on flyballs (an advanced standard to evaluate power) ranks in the 75th percentile since the start of last season.

Korey Lee pulls a lot of his flyballs (34.4% — 83rd percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball’s 5th-shallowest LF fences in today’s game.

Korey Lee will benefit from the home field advantage in today’s game, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

When estimating his overall offensive talent, Tommy Pham ranks in the 81st percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Tommy Pham is projected to hit 1st in the batting order in today’s game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Guaranteed Rate Field as the 7th-best venue in the game for RHB home runs.

Tommy Pham has an 80th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.4%) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball’s 9th-shallowest RF fences today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nick Gonzales in the 95th percentile when estimating his BABIP ability.

Nick Gonzales is projected to bat 5th on the lineup card in this matchup.

The 3rd-worst projected lineup of the day in terms of overall batting skill is that of the the Chicago White Sox.

Guaranteed Rate Field profiles as the #25 venue in the game for base hits, per the leading projection system (THE BAT).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew Benintendi in the 88th percentile when assessing his batting average skill.

Given Luis Ortiz’s huge platoon split, Andrew Benintendi will have a massive advantage batting from the opposite side of the dish in this game.

Andrew Benintendi has a 90th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.6%) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting them in the direction of baseball’s 5th-shallowest LF fences in today’s game.

Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics across the board, and Andrew Benintendi will hold that advantage today.

As it relates to his home run skill, Rowdy Tellez ranks in the 91st percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Rowdy Tellez is penciled in 4th in the lineup in this matchup.

Rowdy Tellez will have the handedness advantage over Chris Flexen today.

Over the past 7 days, Rowdy Tellez’s Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 7.5% up to 23.5%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jack Suwinski in the 95th percentile when assessing his home run talent.

Hitting from the opposite that Chris Flexen throws from, Jack Suwinski will have an edge in today’s game.

Jack Suwinski has a ton of pop (95th percentile) if he makes contact, but that’s usually a big “IF” (31.4% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Chris Flexen struggles to strike batters out (8th percentile K%) — great news for Suwinski.

Jack Suwinski pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35% — 87th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game’s 9th-shallowest RF fences in today’s game.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Luis Robert in the 94th percentile when assessing his home run ability.

Luis Robert is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in today’s game.

Luis Robert pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.7% — 78th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league’s 5th-shallowest LF fences today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Oneil Cruz in the 93rd percentile when assessing his BABIP skill.

Oneil Cruz is penciled in 3rd in the lineup today.

Oneil Cruz will have the handedness advantage against Chris Flexen in today’s matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Paul DeJong in the 87th percentile when assessing his home run talent.

Paul DeJong pulls many of his flyballs (35.4% — 89th percentile) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards the game’s 5th-shallowest LF fences today.

Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Paul DeJong will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

Compared to his seasonal average of 20.9°, Paul DeJong has significantly improved his launch angle recently, posting a 26.3° mark in the last week’s worth of games.

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

Bryan Reynolds is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in this matchup.

As a switch-hitter who performs better from the 0 side of the plate, Bryan Reynolds will get to bat from his good side against Chris Flexen in today’s game.

This season, Andrew Benintendi has experienced a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs, now sitting at an average of 90.8 mph compared to last year’s 87.9 mph mark.

Luis Robert will hold the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which figures to boost all of his stats.

Luis Robert’s BABIP ability is projected in the 93rd percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

The Pittsburgh Pirates have 3 batters in their projected batting order today with a high (i.e. over 27%) underlying K% (per the leading projection system, THE BAT X) (Jack Suwinski, Nick Gonzales, Oneil Cruz).

Chris Flexen has a large reverse platoon split and is fortunate enough to be facing 6 opposite-handed bats today.

Chris Flexen will hold the home field advantage in today’s game, which should boost all of his stats in all categories.

Chris Flexen’s higher utilization rate of his secondary pitches this year (61.8% vs. 54.5% last year) figures to work in his favor consider they are generally much more effective than fastballs.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Eloy Jimenez in the 86th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability.

Eloy Jimenez is penciled in 5th on the lineup card in today’s game.

Eloy Jimenez will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which should bolster all of his stats.

In the past week’s worth of games, Eloy Jimenez’s exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 93.9-mph over the course of the season to 100-mph lately.

Ke’Bryan Hayes has a 98th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (41.3%) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting them out towards MLB’s 9th-shallowest RF fences in today’s matchup.

Despite posting a .261 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Ke’Bryan Hayes has had some very poor luck given the .040 gap between that mark and his estimated true talent wOBA of .301.

When it comes to his wOBA and overall offense, Josh Palacios has had some very poor luck since the start of last season. His .304 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .320.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew McCutchen in the 85th percentile when estimating his overall offensive ability.

Andrew McCutchen is projected to bat 1st in the lineup in today’s game.

Andrew McCutchen pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (33.9% — 80th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting them towards baseball’s 5th-shallowest LF fences today.

When assessing his overall offensive talent, Andrew Vaughn ranks in the 88th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Andrew Vaughn is projected to hit 2nd in the lineup today.

Andrew Vaughn has a 78th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.2%) and will have a big advantage hitting them out towards baseball’s 9th-shallowest RF fences in today’s game.

When it comes to his home run skill, Joey Bart ranks in the 75th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Tommy Pham will possess the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which should bolster all of his stats.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Ke’Bryan Hayes in the 79th percentile when assessing his batting average ability.

Oneil Cruz projects as the 13th-best home run batter in MLB, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Lenyn Sosa has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this year (80% of the time), but he is penciled in 5th in the lineup today.

Lenyn Sosa has a 93rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.7%) and sets up very well considering he’ll be hitting them towards the game’s 9th-shallowest RF fences in today’s matchup.

Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics across the board, and Lenyn Sosa will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

Paul DeJong’s average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls this season (21.3°) is quite a bit higher than his 15.5° angle last season.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) forecasts Chris Flexen in the 15th percentile when it comes to his overall pitching talent level.

It may be best to expect better results for the Pittsburgh Pirates offense in future games, considering that the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes they are the 5th-unluckiest offense in the league this year.

Home field advantage typically boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Andrew Vaughn will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

Jack Suwinski has made significant gains with his Barrel% lately, improving his 9.3% seasonal rate to 20.8% in the past two weeks.

Jack Suwinski has seen a big increase in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 92.8-mph average over the past 14 days to his seasonal 88.7-mph EV.

In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Nick Gonzales has had bad variance on his side this year. His .309 mark falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .330.

In terms of his wOBA and overall offense, Andrew McCutchen has had some very poor luck this year. His .315 figure falls considerably below the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .336.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Eloy Jimenez in the 89th percentile when it comes to his batting average talent.

Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected HR per 600 plate appearances (23.7) suggests that Nick Gonzales has had bad variance on his side this year with his 13.6 actual HR/600.

Andrew McCutchen’s launch angle of late (8.5° over the last week) is a significant dropoff from his 12° seasonal mark.

Lenyn Sosa’s ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has improved from last season to this one, increasing from 46.3% to 52.3%.

Luis Ortiz has been lucky this year, posting a 2.95 ERA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT) estimating his true talent level to be 4.62 — a 1.67 difference.

Lenyn Sosa’s launch angle in recent games (13.2° in the last week) is significantly higher than his 8.6° seasonal angle.

Saturday Series Game 2 player match stat slumps with Pirates vs White Sox Matchup

Considering both his underlying tendencies and the matchup, Luis Ortiz is projected to throw 82 pitches in this outing by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) system, which is the 6th-least of all pitchers on the slate.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) ranks Guaranteed Rate Field as the 7th-worst stadium in the league for strikeouts.

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

Given the 0.11 gap between Luis Ortiz’s 7.67 K/9 and his 7.57 estimated true talent K/9 (via the leading projection system, THE BAT), it’s safe to say he’s been one of the luckiest pitchers in the league this year in terms of strikeouts and ought to see worse results going forward.

Josh Palacios is penciled in 6th on the lineup card in today’s game.

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

Compiling a 2.6° launch angle over the last 14 days suggests that Josh Palacios has been finding it challenging to lift the ball recently, which is a key component of hitting for power.

Josh Palacios grades out in the 6th percentile when it comes to hitting balls between -4° and 26°, the launch angle range that tends to result the most in base hits (37.5% rate since the start of last season).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nicky Lopez in the 10th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill.

Nicky Lopez is projected to bat 8th in the batting order in today’s game.

Nicky Lopez’s average exit velocity has dropped off recently; his 85.3-mph seasonal average has fallen off to 79.9-mph over the past 14 days.

Compared to his seasonal mark of 7.7°, Nicky Lopez has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (0.1°) in the past two weeks.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Joey Bart in the 23rd percentile as it relates to his batting average talent.

Joey Bart is projected to hit 9th on the lineup card in this game.

The wind projects to be blowing in from CF at 8-mph in this match-up, the 3rd-most-favorable of the day for mound aces.

Chris Flexen will have the handedness advantage against Joey Bart in today’s matchup.

Playing on the road generally diminishes batter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Joey Bart today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Korey Lee in the 6th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive talent.

Korey Lee is penciled in 9th in the batting order in today’s game.

Luis Ortiz will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Korey Lee in today’s matchup… and it’s an even larger mismatch considering Ortiz’s huge platoon split.

Korey Lee has taken a step back with his Barrel% recently; his 6.7% seasonal rate has lowered to 0% over the last 14 days.

Luis Ortiz will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Tommy Pham today… and it’s a particular mismatch considering Ortiz’s huge platoon split.

Tommy Pham’s exit velocity on flyballs has decreased this season; his 93.9-mph figure last year has decreased to 89.8-mph.

Tommy Pham’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off in recent games; his 89.8-mph seasonal mark has lowered to 83-mph over the past 7 days.

Tommy Pham has averaged 11.2 Expected Home Runs per 600 plate appearances this year, placing in the 21st percentile for power according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

Chris Flexen will hold the platoon advantage against Nick Gonzales in today’s game.

Nick Gonzales will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team in today’s matchup.

Nick Gonzales has taken a step back with his Barrel% in recent games; his 10.6% seasonal rate has lowered to 5% in the last week.

Nick Gonzales’s exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off of late; his 92.2-mph seasonal mark has dropped to 89.1-mph over the last 14 days.

When it comes to his home run talent, Nicky Lopez ranks in the 1st percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

The Chicago White Sox have been the 3rd-unluckiest offense in MLB this year, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), and are likely to positively regress going forward, Guaranteed Rate Field has the 5th-shallowest left field fences in Major League Baseball.

Andrew Benintendi is projected to hit 6th in the lineup in today’s game, which would be a downgrade from his 81% rate of hitting in the top-half of the lineup this season.

Andrew Benintendi has been cold recently, with his seasonal exit velocity of 87.8-mph dropping to 82.9-mph in the past week.

Andrew Benintendi’s ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has fallen off from last season to this one, decreasing from 48.4% to 38.3%.

Andrew Benintendi’s ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has declined in recent games, going from 38.3% on the season to 23.1% in the last week’s worth of games.

Playing on the road typically reduces batter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Rowdy Tellez in today’s game.

Compared to his seasonal mark of 13.2°, Rowdy Tellez has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (7.6°) in the last 14 days.

Rowdy Tellez’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has declined from last season to this one, decreasing from 16.1% to 12.6%.

Rowdy Tellez has been lucky in regards to his home runs this year; his 19.5 HR per 600 plate appearances figure is considerably higher than his 15.0 Expected HR/600, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Rowdy Tellez in the 4th percentile when it comes to his BABIP skill.

Jack Suwinski is penciled in 8th on the lineup card today.

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

Posting a .256 wOBA (a leading indicator of offensive ability) this year, Jack Suwinski is positioned in the 7th percentile.

Ranking in the 1st percentile, Jack Suwinski sits with a .176 batting average this year.

Luis Ortiz will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Luis Robert today… and it’s an even bigger mismatch considering Ortiz’s huge platoon split.

Over the past two weeks, Luis Robert’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 15.8% down to 10%.

Luis Robert’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has dropped off lately, going from 18.9% on the season to 7.1% over the past 7 days.

Luis Robert’s ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has fallen off from last year to this one, decreasing from 45.5% to 36.8%.

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

Sporting a 4.38 K/BB rate this year, Oneil Cruz has demonstrated bad plate discipline, grading out in the 14th percentile.

Paul DeJong is penciled in 7th in the lineup in this game.

Considering Luis Ortiz’s huge platoon split, Paul DeJong will be at a colossal disadvantage batting from the same side of the dish in today’s game.

Paul DeJong’s exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off recently; his 93.3-mph seasonal figure has fallen off to 86.9-mph over the past 7 days.

In terms of his home runs, Paul DeJong has experienced some positive variance this year. His 30.2 HR per 600 plate appearances mark has been significantly inflated relative to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected HR/600 at 23.0.

Playing on the road typically lowers hitter metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Bryan Reynolds in today’s game.

Over the past week, Bryan Reynolds’s exit velocity on flyballs has lowered from his seasonal average of 94.5 mph to 86.1 mph.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Andrew Benintendi in the 20th percentile when assessing his home run ability.

Over the last 7 days, Andrew Benintendi’s 7.7% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 18.4%.

Last season, Luis Robert had a launch angle of 17.6° on his highest exit velocity balls, but this season he experienced a significant decline to just 13.9°.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) forecasts Chris Flexen in the 20th percentile when it comes to his strikeout ability.

Projected catcher Martin Maldonado profiles as a weak pitch framer, per the leading projection system (THE BAT).

Chris Flexen’s 90.7-mph fastball velocity this year is in the 10th percentile among all starters.

Chris Flexen’s 2145-rpm fastball spin rate this year grades out in the 13th percentile out of all SPs.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Paul DeJong in the 6th percentile when assessing his batting average talent.

Luis Ortiz will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Eloy Jimenez in today’s matchup… and it’s a particular mismatch considering Ortiz’s huge platoon split.

Eloy Jimenez’s launch angle this year (2.7°) is considerably lower than his 5.8° angle last season.

Eloy Jimenez’s launch angle recently (-0.8° in the past two weeks’ worth of games) is considerably lower than his 2.7° seasonal figure.

Eloy Jimenez has compiled a .288 Expected wOBA (xwOBA) this year, checking in at the 23rd percentile for hitting ability according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

Ke’Bryan Hayes has primarily hit in the top-half of the lineup this year (79% of the time), but he is penciled in 7th in the lineup in today’s game.

Hitting from the same side that Chris Flexen throws from, Ke’Bryan Hayes will have a tough challenge in today’s matchup.

Ke’Bryan Hayes will be at a disadvantage playing away from home in today’s matchup.

Ke’Bryan Hayes has struggled with his Barrel%; his 7.5% rate last year has lowered to 2.5% this year.

Grading out in the 14th percentile, Jack Suwinski has notched a .327 Slugging Percentage (SLG) this year.

Chris Flexen will hold the platoon advantage against Andrew McCutchen in today’s matchup.

Andrew McCutchen will be at a disadvantage playing away from home today.

In the past week, Andrew McCutchen’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 12.4% down to 0%.

Andrew McCutchen’s average exit velocity has declined recently; his 88.6-mph seasonal EV has fallen off to 80.5-mph over the past 7 days.

Given Luis Ortiz’s huge platoon split, Andrew Vaughn will be at a gigantic disadvantage hitting from the same side of the dish today.

Joey Bart’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has declined recently, decreasing from 10.5% on the season to 0% over the last 7 days.

Luis Ortiz will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Lenyn Sosa today… and it’s a particular mismatch considering Ortiz’s huge platoon split.

Lenyn Sosa has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs in recent games; just compare his 94.2-mph average in the past week’s worth of games to his seasonal average of 91.6-mph.

Lenyn Sosa has notched a .274 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, grading out in the 16th percentile.

Lenyn Sosa has shown bad plate discipline this year, checking in at the 3rd percentile with a 6.65 K/BB rate.

In his previous game started, Chris Flexen was on point and conceded 2 ER.

Jack Suwinski’s batting average ability is projected to be in the 13th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Utilizing Statcast metrics, Eloy Jimenez ranks in the 20th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected Batting Average this year at .225.

Chris Flexen has averaged 14.9 outs per game per started this year, placing in the 20th percentile.

Tommy Pham’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has dropped off from last year to this one, falling from 13.8% to 10.7%.