Todays Game 2 Matchup Details

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

Josh Smith is projected to bat 1st on the lineup card in today’s game.

Among all major league stadiums, Busch Stadium has the 7th-lowest average fence height.

A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer whiffs), and this game is projected to have the hottest weather of all games on the slate at 93°.

Hitting from the opposite that Lance Lynn throws from, Josh Smith will have the upper hand in today’s matchup.

Josh Smith hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (38.9% — 90th percentile) and is fortunate to face the league’s 7th-shallowest CF fences in today’s game.

Jonah Heim has seen a big gain in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 95.3-mph average over the last two weeks to his seasonal mark of 90.8-mph.

Wyatt Langford’s batting average talent is projected to be in the 88th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Wyatt Langford is projected to hit 4th in the lineup in this matchup.

Wyatt Langford has seen a notable improvement in his exit velocity of late; just compare his 93.1-mph average in the last week to his seasonal 89-mph mark.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) ranks Nolan Gorman as Major League Baseball’s 13th-best home run batter.

Nolan Gorman will hold the platoon advantage against Max Scherzer in today’s game.

Nolan Gorman will probably have an advantage against every reliever for the duration of the game, since the bullpen of the Texas Rangers only has 1 same-handed RP.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Alec Burleson in the 89th percentile when assessing his batting average skill.

Alec Burleson is projected to hit 2nd on the lineup card in this game.

Hitting from the opposite that Max Scherzer throws from, Alec Burleson will have an edge in today’s matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Lance Lynn in the 79th percentile as it relates to his strikeout skill.

It is scheduled that we will see a Huge Pitchers Umpire (Alex MacKay) in charge of the strike zone in today’s game.

Home field advantage typically bolsters pitcher metrics across the board, and Lance Lynn will hold that advantage today.

Lance Lynn’s 2460-rpm fastball spin rate this year grades out in the 89th percentile among all starting pitchers.

Lance Lynn has been unlucky in regards to his strikeouts this year, compiling an 8.35 K/9 despite the leading projection system (THE BAT) estimating his true talent level to be 9.10 — a 0.75 K/9 discrepancy.

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Adolis Garcia ranks in the 82nd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Adolis Garcia is projected to hit 5th on the lineup card in this matchup.

Adolis Garcia has seen a notable increase in his exit velocity lately; just compare his 97.2-mph average over the past 7 days to his seasonal 91.6-mph average.

Adolis Garcia has been unlucky this year, posting a .287 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .323 — a .036 deviation.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Leody Taveras in the 75th percentile when assessing his batting average ability.

In the last two weeks, Leody Taveras’s exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 89.8-mph over the course of the season to 94.7-mph of late.

Leody Taveras has experienced some negative variance in regards to his wOBA this year; his .278 mark is considerably lower than his .316 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Josh Jung in the 97th percentile when assessing his BABIP talent.

Josh Jung hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (39.5% — 96th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting towards baseball’s 7th-shallowest CF fences today.

Josh Jung has posted a .266 Expected Batting Average since the start of last season, placing in the 79th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

Nathaniel Lowe’s BABIP talent is projected in the 90th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Hitting from the opposite that Lance Lynn throws from, Nathaniel Lowe will have an advantage in today’s game.

Nathaniel Lowe’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better lately, increasing from 13.9% on the season to 28.6% in the last week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Adolis Garcia in the 95th percentile when estimating his home run skill.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Lars Nootbaar in the 92nd percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability.

Lars Nootbaar will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Max Scherzer in today’s game.

Lars Nootbaar will probably have the upper hand against every reliever for the duration of the game, since the bullpen of the Texas Rangers has just 1 same-handed RP.

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

Willson Contreras is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this game.

Willson Contreras hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.5% — 85th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting towards MLB’s 7th-shallowest CF fences in today’s matchup.

Hitting from the opposite that Max Scherzer throws from, Mike Siani will have an edge today.

Mike Siani may have an edge against every reliever from start to finish, since the bullpen of the Texas Rangers has just 1 same-handed RP.

Bats such as Mike Siani with extreme flyball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Max Scherzer who skew towards the groundball end of the spectrum.

Mike Siani will possess the home field advantage today, which should bolster all of his stats.

Nolan Arenado is penciled in 5th in the batting order in this matchup.

Home field advantage typically bolsters batter metrics in all categories, and Nolan Arenado will hold that advantage in today’s game.

Nolan Arenado has been hot in recent games, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 85.4-mph to 95.3-mph over the last 7 days.

The #3 field in the majors for suppressing home runs, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Busch Stadium.

Among all stadiums, Busch Stadium’s right field fences are the 2nd-deepest.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nathaniel Lowe in the 86th percentile when estimating his overall offensive talent.

When assessing his overall offensive ability, Marcus Semien ranks in the 90th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Marcus Semien is projected to bat 3rd in the batting order in this matchup.

Marcus Semien has seen a substantial gain in his exit velocity in recent games; just compare his 95-mph average over the last week to his seasonal 87.4-mph mark.

When it comes to his strikeout skill, the leading projection system (THE BAT) places Max Scherzer in the 93rd percentile among all starters in the league.

Projected catcher Jonah Heim projects as a good pitch framer, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

In his last GS, Max Scherzer turned in a great performance and accumulated 9 strikeouts.

Max Scherzer has used his slider 6.1% more often this year (22.9%) than he did last year (16.8%).

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Corey Seager ranks as the 9th-best hitter in Major League Baseball.

Corey Seager is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order today.

Corey Seager will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Lance Lynn in today’s matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Max Scherzer in the 85th percentile when assessing his overall pitching abilities.

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

Home field advantage typically bolsters hitter stats in all categories, and Paul Goldschmidt will hold that advantage in today’s game.

Paul Goldschmidt has made substantial strides with his Barrel% lately, upping his 10.5% seasonal rate to 20.8% over the last 14 days.

Masyn Winn is penciled in 1st in the lineup in today’s game.

Home field advantage generally boosts batter metrics in all categories, and Masyn Winn will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

Masyn Winn has seen a sizeable increase in his exit velocity on flyballs lately; just compare his 96.2-mph average in the last week to his seasonal EV of 86.8-mph.

Compared to his seasonal average of 16.7°, Wyatt Langford has significantly improved his launch angle of late, posting a 21.2° figure in the past two weeks.

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

Brendan Donovan is projected to bat 4th in the lineup in today’s game.

Brendan Donovan will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Max Scherzer today.

With a 1.68 K/BB rate this year, Nathaniel Lowe has displayed favorable plate discipline, checking in at the 88th percentile.

Brendan Donovan is likely to have an advantage against every reliever for the duration of the game, since the bullpen of the Texas Rangers only has 1 same-handed RP.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Josh Jung in the 85th percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability.

Josh Jung’s 12% Barrel% (a reliable standard to measure power) is in the 85th percentile since the start of last season.

Paul Goldschmidt has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 96.1-mph average to last season’s 93.9-mph mark.

Corey Seager has been hot of late, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 92-mph to 97.5-mph in the last 14 days.

In the last two weeks’ worth of games, Josh Smith has significantly improved the launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls: 27.1° compared to his seasonal mark of 13.2°.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Alec Burleson ranks in the 76th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Lars Nootbaar hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (40.1% — 98th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting towards the league’s 7th-shallowest CF fences today.

Home field advantage typically improves batter metrics in all categories, and Nolan Gorman will hold that advantage in today’s game.

Last season, Nolan Gorman had an average launch angle of 21.5° on his hardest-contacted balls, while this season it has significantly increased to 26.1°.

When estimating his overall offensive skill, Wyatt Langford ranks in the 85th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Marcus Semien has been unlucky in regards to his wOBA this year; his .314 figure is a fair amount lower than his .351 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

Bats such as Willson Contreras with extreme groundball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Max Scherzer who skew towards the flyball end of the spectrum.

Max Scherzer’s fastball velocity has fallen 1.2 mph this year (91.9 mph) below where it was last year (93.1 mph).

Using Statcast data, Masyn Winn grades out in the 78th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected Batting Average this year at .269.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Brendan Donovan in the 84th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive skill.

Alec Burleson is likely to have an edge against every reliever from start to finish, since the bullpen of the Texas Rangers has just 1 same-handed RP.

Tuesday Game 2 player match stat slumps with Rangers vs Cardinals Matchup

Josh Smith will be at a disadvantage playing on the road in today’s game.

Josh Smith’s exit velocity on flyballs has declined this season; his 93.8-mph mark last season has fallen to 89.1-mph.

Josh Smith’s exit velocity on flyballs has declined recently; his 89.1-mph seasonal mark has lowered to 84.3-mph in the past week.

Josh Smith has been lucky in regards to with his wOBA this year; his .365 mark is a fair amount higher than his .320 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

Jonah Heim’s BABIP ability is projected in the 5th percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Jonah Heim is projected to bat 8th in the lineup today.

Busch Stadium grades out as the #26 venue in the game for run-scoring, per the leading projection system (THE BAT).

As a switch-hitter who bats worse from the 0 side of the dish, Jonah Heim will bat from his weak side against Lance Lynn today.

Jonah Heim pulls a lot of his flyballs (36.1% — 92nd percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball’s 2nd-deepest RF fences in today’s game.

Busch Stadium has the 5th-largest outfield among all major league stadiums — generally bad for homers.

Batting from the same side that Lance Lynn throws from, Wyatt Langford will have a disadvantage in today’s matchup.

The St. Louis Cardinals outfield defense projects as the 2nd-best among every team in action today.

Wyatt Langford will be at a disadvantage playing away from home in today’s game.

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

Nolan Gorman pulls many of his flyballs (35.7% — 90th percentile) but may find it hard to clear the game’s 2nd-deepest RF fences in today’s game.

Extreme groundball hitters like Nolan Gorman usually hit worse against extreme groundball pitchers like Max Scherzer.

There has been a decrease in Nolan Gorman’s average exit velocity this year, from 91 mph last year to 88.2 mph now, As it relates to plate discipline, Nolan Gorman’s talent is quite weak, posting a 4.28 K/BB rate this year while checking in at in the 15th percentile.

When starting against a northpaw this year, Alec Burleson has been replaced by a pinch-hitter 10% of the time.

The Texas Rangers infield defense profiles as the 4th-strongest out of all the teams playing today.

Over the past 7 days, Alec Burleson’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 7.2% down to 0%.

Alec Burleson’s exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off in recent games; his 93-mph seasonal average has fallen off to 85.1-mph in the last week.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT), Willson Contreras (the Cardinals’s expected catcher today) is considered to be a weak pitch framer.

The #5 field in the game for suppressing strikeouts, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Busch Stadium.

Lance Lynn struggled when it came to striking hitters out in his previous game started and posted 2 Ks.

Lance Lynn’s higher utilization percentage of his fastball this year (63.2 vs. 56.2% last year) is not ideal considering they are typically much less effective than breaking or off-speed pitches.

Lance Lynn will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Adolis Garcia in today’s matchup.

Adolis Garcia will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today’s game.

Adolis Garcia has struggled with his Barrel% recently; his 12.5% seasonal rate has fallen off to 0% in the past 7 days.

Leody Taveras is projected to hit 9th in the lineup in today’s game.

Leody Taveras has a 93rd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.9%) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards the game’s 6th-deepest LF fences in today’s matchup.

Leody Taveras will be at a disadvantage playing away from home today.

Leody Taveras has struggled with his Barrel% recently; his 5.5% seasonal rate has dropped to 0% in the last 7 days.

Josh Jung has primarily hit in the top-half of the batting order this year (100% of the time), but he is penciled in 7th on the lineup card today.

Hitting from the same side that Lance Lynn throws from, Josh Jung will have a disadvantage in today’s game.

Josh Jung will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team today.

Nathaniel Lowe is penciled in 6th in the lineup in today’s game.

Nathaniel Lowe has a 99th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (43.1%) and will be challenged by MLB’s 6th-deepest LF fences in today’s matchup.

Playing on the road typically weakens hitter stats in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Nathaniel Lowe in today’s game.

In the past two weeks, Adolis Garcia’s 3.3% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 15%.

Lars Nootbaar is projected to hit 6th in the lineup in this game.

Lars Nootbaar has taken a step back with his Barrel% recently; his 9.5% seasonal rate has dropped to 0% over the past week.

Compared to his seasonal angle of 4.8°, Lars Nootbaar has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (-13.5°) over the past 14 days.

Max Scherzer will hold the platoon advantage over Willson Contreras in today’s matchup.

Willson Contreras’s ability to hit the ball at a base hit-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has decreased recently, falling from 44.4% on the season to 23.1% in the last 7 days.

In terms of his home runs, Willson Contreras has had positive variance on his side this year. His 30.2 HR per 600 plate appearances rate has been quite a bit higher than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected HR/600 at 20.0.

When it comes to his overall offensive ability, Mike Siani ranks in the 5th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Mike Siani is projected to bat 9th in the batting order in today’s game.

This year, Mike Siani has been pinch hit for in 37% of his appearances when starting against right-handed starter.

In today’s game, Mike Siani is at a disadvantage facing the league’s 6th-deepest LF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the opposite field at a 37.8% rate (93rd percentile).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nolan Arenado in the 5th percentile as it relates to his BABIP ability.

Max Scherzer will have the handedness advantage over Nolan Arenado today.

Nolan Arenado pulls many of his flyballs (42.1% — 100th percentile) and will be challenged by MLB’s 6th-deepest LF fences in today’s game.

Typically, hitters like Nolan Arenado who hit a lot of groundballs are generally less successful when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of groundballs such as Max Scherzer.

It may be smart to expect better numbers for the Texas Rangers offense the rest of the season, considering that the leading projection system (THE BAT X) sees them as the 6th-unluckiest offense in the majors this year.

From last season to this one, Nathaniel Lowe’s flyball exit velocity has decreased from an average of 92.5 mph to 89.1 mph.

Nathaniel Lowe’s exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off recently; his 89.1-mph seasonal average has decreased to 84.6-mph over the last 7 days.

Lance Lynn will have the handedness advantage against Marcus Semien in today’s matchup.

Marcus Semien pulls many of his flyballs (38.2% — 96th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards the game’s 6th-deepest LF fences today.

Marcus Semien will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today’s matchup.

Max Scherzer has averaged 82.3 adjusted pitches per outing this year, grading out in the 20th percentile.

Considering that flyball batters hold a substantial advantage over groundball pitchers, Max Scherzer and his 42.3% underlying GB% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT) finds himself in a difficult spot in today’s outing squaring off against 2 opposing GB hitters.

Max Scherzer will be at a disadvantage playing away from home in today’s game.

Corey Seager will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team today.

Paul Goldschmidt is projected to bat 7th on the lineup card today, which would be a downgrade from his 95% rate of hitting in the top-half of the lineup this season.

Max Scherzer will have the handedness advantage against Paul Goldschmidt in today’s matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Masyn Winn in the 12th percentile when assessing his home run ability.

Max Scherzer will have the benefit of the platoon advantage against Masyn Winn in today’s game.

Masyn Winn has an 82nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.7%) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball’s 2nd-deepest RF fences today.

From last season to this one, Masyn Winn’s flyball exit velocity has decreased from an average of 89.7 mph to 86.8 mph.

Masyn Winn’s launch angle recently (-4.7° in the past week) is a significant dropoff from his 14.5° seasonal mark.

Marcus Semien’s launch angle this season (15.6°) is significantly lower than his 18.7° mark last season.

Marcus Semien’s launch angle recently (-0.1° in the past week’s worth of games) is a significant dropoff from his 15.6° seasonal figure.

Wyatt Langford grades out in the 14th percentile when it comes to hitting balls between -4° and 26°, the launch angle range that tends to optimize base hits (38.8% rate this year).

Brendan Donovan has an 88th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36%) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball’s 6th-deepest LF fences today.

In the past week, Brendan Donovan’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 5.1% down to 0%.

Compared to his seasonal angle of 11.2°, Brendan Donovan has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (-2.7°) in the last two weeks.

Over the past two weeks, Mike Siani’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off from his seasonal EV of 88.4 mph to 75.5 mph.

Playing on the road generally reduces hitter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Jonah Heim today.

Compared to his seasonal angle of 13.9°, Jonah Heim has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (3°) in the last two weeks.

Brendan Donovan’s average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls this year (8.1°) is considerably worse than his 12.3° angle last season.

Over the past 14 days, Corey Seager’s average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls (6.9°) has significantly dropped compared to his seasonal mark of 11.2°.

In terms of his home runs, Josh Jung has experienced some positive variance since the start of last season. His 28.1 HR per 600 plate appearances rate has been a fair amount higher than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected HR/600 at 25.9.

Josh Jung has exhibited bad plate discipline since the start of last season, ranking in the 10th percentile with a 4.83 K/BB rate.

In terms of plate discipline, Paul Goldschmidt’s talent is quite weak, posting a 4.17 K/BB rate this year while placing in in the 17th percentile.

Leody Taveras’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has dropped off of late, decreasing from 14.8% on the season to 0% in the last week’s worth of games.

In the last two weeks’ worth of games, Alec Burleson’s average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls (4.8°) has significantly dropped compared to his seasonal mark of 12.5°.

Alec Burleson has been lucky in regards to his home runs this year; his 28.0 HR per 600 plate appearances rate is a fair amount higher than his 17.3 Expected HR/600, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

Nolan Gorman’s batting average talent is projected to be in the 17th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Nolan Arenado’s average exit velocity has decreased this year; his 88.8-mph EV last season has decreased to 85.4-mph.

When it comes to his wOBA and overall offense, Nolan Arenado has been very fortunate this year. His .306 figure has been considerably higher than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected wOBA (xwOBA) at .289.

Power-wise, Wyatt Langford finds himself in the 10th percentile, having paced 7.7 HRs per 600 plate appearances this year.

Willson Contreras has been very fortunate when it comes to with his wOBA this year; his .386 mark is inflated compared to his .340 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

As it relates to his overall offensive skill, Masyn Winn ranks in the 25th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Josh Jung has experienced some positive variance in regards to with his wOBA since the start of last season; his .342 mark is significantly inflated relative to his .331 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.