Todays Game 2 Matchup Details

Player match stat positives for Texas at Boston Game 2 Matchup Today

The leading projection system (THE BAT) profiles Fenway Park as the 4th-best field in the game for run-scoring.

Dominic Smith will hold the platoon advantage against Jose Urena in today’s game… and the cherry on top, Urena has a large platoon split.

Dominic Smith hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.3% — 82nd percentile) and will have a big advantage facing the game’s 3rd-shallowest CF fences today.

Home field advantage typically boosts hitter metrics in all categories, and Dominic Smith will hold that advantage today.

In the last 7 days, Dominic Smith’s Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 10.5% up to 33.3%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Wilyer Abreu in the 89th percentile when it comes to his home run skill.

Wilyer Abreu will have the handedness advantage against Jose Urena in today’s game… and even more favorably, Urena has a large platoon split.

Wilyer Abreu has big-time power (89th percentile) if he makes contact, but that’s usually a big “IF” (27.9% K%). Today, however, opposing pitcher Jose Urena has a pitch-to-contact profile (23rd percentile K%) — great news for Abreu.

Wilyer Abreu hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.8% — 90th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting towards MLB’s 3rd-shallowest CF fences in today’s game.

Masataka Yoshida’s batting average skill is projected to be in the 94th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Masataka Yoshida has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this year (52% of the time), but he is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in this game.

Among all parks, Fenway Park’s RF dimensions are the 3rd-shallowest.

Because of Jose Urena’s large platoon split, Masataka Yoshida will have a gigantic advantage hitting from the opposite side of the plate in this game.

When it comes to his BABIP skill, Josh Jung is projected as the 17th-best hitter in the game by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Josh Jung hits many of his flyballs to center field (39.5% — 96th percentile) and will have a big advantage facing baseball’s 3rd-shallowest CF fences in today’s matchup.

The Boston Red Sox outfield defense grades out as the 5th-weakest among every team in action today.

Josh Jung’s ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has decreased recently, decreasing from 50% on the season to 44.4% in the last week.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Rob Refsnyder in the 95th percentile when assessing his BABIP ability.

Rob Refsnyder is projected to bat 3rd on the lineup card in today’s game.

Fenway Park projects as the #6 venue in the majors for righty base hits, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).

In MLB, Fenway Park’s left field fences are the shallowest.

Home field advantage generally improves batter metrics across the board, and Rob Refsnyder will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

Josh Smith is projected to bat 3rd in the lineup in this matchup.

Josh Smith will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Kutter Crawford today.

Josh Smith hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.9% — 91st percentile) and will have a big advantage facing baseball’s 3rd-shallowest CF fences in today’s game.

Ceddanne Rafaela’s BABIP talent is projected in the 82nd percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Ceddanne Rafaela has a 77th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34%) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting them out towards baseball’s 3rd-shallowest RF fences today.

Ceddanne Rafaela will hold the home field advantage in today’s game, which ought to improve all of his stats.

In the last week, Ceddanne Rafaela’s 63.6% rate of hitting balls at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 40.2%.

The #6 stadium in the game for boosting BABIP to LHB, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Fenway Park.

Connor Wong is projected to hit 5th in the lineup in today’s game.

Connor Wong will hold the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

Connor Wong has notched a .358 BABIP this year, placing in the 97th percentile.

Corey Seager projects as the 8th-best batter in Major League Baseball, via the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Corey Seager is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in this game.

Batting from the opposite that Kutter Crawford throws from, Corey Seager will have the upper hand in today’s game.

Corey Seager hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (38% — 75th percentile) and sets up very well considering he’ll be hitting out towards the league’s 3rd-shallowest CF fences in today’s matchup.

Nick Sogard pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35.3% — 88th percentile) and sets up very well considering he’ll be hitting them towards MLB’s 3rd-shallowest RF fences in today’s game.

Nick Sogard will benefit from the home field advantage in today’s game, which figures to boost all of his stats.

Nick Sogard has been zeroed in on the ideal launch angle for base hits recently, angling balls between -4° and 26° 68.8% of the time in the past two weeks.

David Hamilton has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this year (72% of the time), but he is projected to hit 1st in the lineup today.

Given Jose Urena’s large platoon split, David Hamilton will have a huge advantage batting from the opposite side of the plate today.

David Hamilton will have the benefit of the home field advantage in today’s game, which should bolster all of his stats.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), Rafael Devers ranks as the 15th-best hitter in the league.

Rafael Devers is projected to hit 4th in the batting order in this game.

Given Jose Urena’s large platoon split, Rafael Devers will have a massive advantage hitting from the opposite side of the plate in this game.

Rafael Devers has a 78th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (34.1%) and has the good fortune of hitting them towards baseball’s shallowest LF fences in today’s matchup.

Rafael Devers will benefit from the home field advantage today, which figures to boost all of his stats.

Leody Taveras has a 92nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.5%) and has the good fortune of hitting them in the direction of the league’s shallowest LF fences today.

Leody Taveras has made significant improvements with his Barrel% of late, improving his 5.9% seasonal rate to 11.8% in the past two weeks.

Leody Taveras’s average launch angle on his hardest-contacted balls in recent games (28.5° over the past two weeks) is considerably better than his 9.6° seasonal angle.

Based on Statcast metrics, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected wOBA (.322) implies that Leody Taveras has had some very poor luck this year with his .281 actual wOBA.

Leody Taveras’s batting average skill is projected to be in the 76th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nathaniel Lowe in the 89th percentile as it relates to his BABIP skill.

Nathaniel Lowe is penciled in 5th in the lineup in this matchup.

Batting from the opposite that Kutter Crawford throws from, Nathaniel Lowe will have the upper hand today.

Nathaniel Lowe has a 99th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (42.7%) and sets up very well considering he’ll be hitting them in the direction of MLB’s shallowest LF fences in today’s game.

Extreme groundball hitters like Wilyer Abreu generally hit better against extreme flyball pitchers like Jose Urena.

In the past 7 days, Nick Sogard has been successful in optimizing the launch angle of his hardest hit balls to hit for power, putting up a 22.8° angle.

As it relates to his overall offensive skill, Wyatt Langford ranks in the 86th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Wyatt Langford has seen a notable gain in his exit velocity on flyballs recently; just compare his 97.8-mph average in the last week to his seasonal mark of 91-mph.

As it relates to his overall offensive ability, Masataka Yoshida ranks in the 87th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

Home field advantage typically bolsters batter stats across the board, and Masataka Yoshida will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

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 hit 1st in the lineup today.

Marcus Semien pulls many of his flyballs (38.3% — 97th percentile) and is a great match for the park considering he’ll be hitting them towards baseball’s shallowest LF fences in today’s matchup.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Adolis Garcia in the 94th percentile as it relates to his home run ability.

Adolis Garcia is projected to hit 4th on the lineup card in today’s game.

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

Compared to his seasonal average of 17.3°, Wyatt Langford has significantly improved his launch angle of late, posting a 23° mark over the last 14 days.

Based on Statcast data, the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected HR per 600 plate appearances (19.4) implies that Wyatt Langford has suffered from bad luck this year with his 9.5 actual HR/600.

Jonah Heim, the Rangers’s expected catcher today, profiles as a good pitch framer according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

Out of all starters, Jose Urena’s fastball velocity of 95.1 mph is in the 86th percentile this year.

The Texas Rangers have been the 2nd-unluckiest offense in the league this year, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), and are likely to positively regress in the future, Projected catcher Connor Wong profiles as a weak pitch framer, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).

The #3 park in the league for boosting batting average, via the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Fenway Park.

As it relates to his home run talent, Josh Jung ranks in the 83rd percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Checking in at the 86th percentile, Josh Jung has put up a .471 Slugging Percentage (SLG) since the start of last season.

Jonah Heim pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (35.7% — 90th percentile) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the league’s 3rd-shallowest RF fences in today’s game.

Despite posting a .291 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Adolis Garcia has been unlucky given the .032 difference between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .323.

Based on Statcast data, Adolis Garcia is in the 79th percentile for power per the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Expected Home Runs per 600 plate appearances this year at 24.800.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Wilyer Abreu in the 82nd percentile when it comes to his overall offensive talent.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Kutter Crawford in the 85th percentile when estimating his strikeout skill.

Over the last 14 days, Corey Seager has improved his Barrel% substantially, increasing it from his seasonal rate of 16.4% to 27.8%.

Connor Wong’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has gotten better from last season to this one, rising from 13.2% to 17%.

Ranking in the 78th percentile, Connor Wong has notched a .339 wOBA (widely regarded as the top measure of overall offense) this year.

Dominic Smith has been hot recently, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 89-mph to 96.4-mph in the past week’s worth of games.

Marcus Semien has seen a substantial improvement in his exit velocity on flyballs of late; just compare his 99.1-mph average over the past week to his seasonal figure of 91.1-mph.

Compared to his seasonal average of 16°, Marcus Semien has significantly improved his launch angle of late, posting a 19.8° mark in the past two weeks.

David Hamilton has made sizeable gains with his Barrel% of late, improving his 5.7% seasonal rate to 15% in the past 14 days.

Over the last 7 days, Josh Smith has significantly improved the launch angle on his hardest-hit balls: 26.8° compared to his seasonal mark of 13.5°.

Josh Smith has posted a .346 wOBA (the best measure of overall offense) this year, ranking in the 82nd percentile.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Rob Refsnyder in the 89th percentile when assessing his overall offensive talent.

Rob Refsnyder has made notable strides with his Barrel% recently, upping his 10.9% seasonal rate to 20% in the past 14 days.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nathaniel Lowe in the 85th percentile as it relates to his overall offensive ability.

Batters such as Nathaniel Lowe with extreme groundball tendencies are usually more effective when facing pitchers like Kutter Crawford who skew towards the flyball end of the spectrum.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) projects Jose Urena in the 7th percentile when it comes to his overall pitching abilities.

Tuesday Game 2 player match stat slumps with Rangers vs Red Sox Matchup

Dominic Smith is penciled in 7th in the lineup in this matchup.

20% of the time that Dominic Smith has started against a northpaw this year, he has been replaced by a pinch-hitter.

In Major League Baseball, the 2nd-tallest average fence height are at Fenway Park.

Built just 16 feet above sea level, Fenway Park has one of the lowest elevations among all major league parks, which generally leads to less offense.

The Texas Rangers infield defense grades out as the 5th-best out of every team playing today.

Wilyer Abreu has primarily hit in the top-half of the lineup this season (81% of the time), but he is penciled in 6th in the lineup in today’s game.

This year, Wilyer Abreu has been replaced by a pinch-hitter in 27% of his appearances when starting against righty on the mound.

When starting against a right-handed pitcher this year, Masataka Yoshida has been lifted for a pinch-hitter 13% of the time.

Extreme flyball hitters like Masataka Yoshida tend to perform worse against extreme flyball pitchers like Jose Urena.

Josh Jung is penciled in 6th on the lineup card today, which would be a downgrade from his 67% rate of hitting in the top-half of the lineup this year.

Kutter Crawford will have the handedness advantage against Josh Jung in today’s matchup.

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

Jose Urena will have the handedness advantage against Rob Refsnyder in today’s game… and it’s an even larger mismatch considering Urena’s large platoon split.

Rob Refsnyder’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off of late; his 91.3-mph seasonal mark has dropped to 77-mph over the last 7 days.

In the last 14 days, Rob Refsnyder’s 26.7% rate of hitting balls at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 47.3%.

Playing on the road generally reduces hitter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Josh Smith in today’s matchup.

Josh Smith has struggled with his Barrel%; his 10.7% rate last season has decreased to 3.6% this year.

Josh Smith’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off this year; his 93.8-mph average last year has decreased to 89.6-mph.

Ceddanne Rafaela is projected to hit 9th in the lineup today.

Jose Urena will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Ceddanne Rafaela in today’s matchup… and it’s an even bigger mismatch considering Urena’s large platoon split.

Josh Smith has experienced some positive variance in regards to with his wOBA this year; his .348 figure is significantly inflated relative to his .307 Expected wOBA, based on the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s interpretation of Statcast data.

Because of Jose Urena’s large platoon split, Connor Wong will be at a gigantic disadvantage hitting from the same side of the dish today.

Connor Wong’s average exit velocity has decreased this season; his 89.1-mph figure last season has decreased to 86.5-mph.

Connor Wong’s ability to hit the ball at a base hit-optimizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has dropped off from last year to this one, going from 44.3% to 37.4%.

Playing on the road generally lowers hitter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Corey Seager today.

Josh Jung has negatively regressed with his Barrel% in recent games; his 8.1% seasonal rate has decreased to 0% over the past 7 days.

When assessing his home run skill, Nick Sogard ranks in the 12th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

Nick Sogard is projected to hit 8th in the batting order in this matchup.

As a switch-hitter who is weaker from the 0 side of the dish, Nick Sogard will be at a big disadvantage against Jose Urena and his large platoon split today.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects David Hamilton in the 25th percentile when assessing his overall offensive ability.

19% of the time that David Hamilton has started against a right-handed starter this year, he has been pinch hit for.

Despite posting a .307 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes David Hamilton has had positive variance on his side given the .024 gap between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .283.

In the last 7 days, Rafael Devers’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 14.4% down to 7.1%.

In the last week’s worth of games, Rafael Devers’s exit velocity on flyballs has decreased from his seasonal EV of 96.3 mph to 86.7 mph.

Compared to his seasonal mark of 11.3°, Rafael Devers’s average launch angle on his highest exit velocity balls has dropped significantly in recent games (4.1° in the past 14 days).

In the last week’s worth of games, Ceddanne Rafaela’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 6.8% down to 0%.

Leody Taveras is projected to hit 9th in the lineup in this game.

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

Leody Taveras has been cold in recent games, with his seasonal exit velocity of 89.3-mph dropping to 86.1-mph in the last two weeks’ worth of games.

Playing on the road typically lessens hitter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which figures to be the case for Nathaniel Lowe in today’s game.

Nathaniel Lowe’s exit velocity on flyballs has declined this season; his 92.5-mph figure last year has dropped to 89.7-mph.

Nathaniel Lowe’s launch angle lately (0.3° over the last two weeks) is quite a bit lower than his 6.5° seasonal figure.

In the last 7 days, Nathaniel Lowe has failed to produce much power, posting a mere a 0% Barrel% (an advanced standard to study power).

Wyatt Langford is penciled in 7th in the lineup in this matchup, which would be a downgrade from his 63% rate of hitting in the top-half of the batting order this season.

Hitting from the same side that Kutter Crawford throws from, Wyatt Langford will not have the upper hand today.

Wyatt Langford will be at a disadvantage playing as a visiting player in today’s game.

In the last week, Wyatt Langford’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 6.8% down to 0%.

Kutter Crawford will hold the platoon advantage against Marcus Semien in today’s game.

Typically, bats like Marcus Semien who hit a lot of groundballs are generally less successful when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of groundballs such as Kutter Crawford.

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

From last year to this one, Marcus Semien’s ability to hit the ball at a launch angle that optimizes home runs (23° to 34°) has decreased substantially, plummeting from 21.1% to 15.7%.

Batting from the same side that Kutter Crawford throws from, Adolis Garcia meets a tough challenge in today’s matchup.

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

Adolis Garcia’s average exit velocity has dropped off recently; his 91.4-mph seasonal EV has fallen off to 86-mph in the last week’s worth of games.

Adolis Garcia’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off this season; his 96.2-mph figure last season has fallen off to 93.7-mph.

Over the last week, Dominic Smith’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 20.1%.

The leading projection system (THE BAT) forecasts Jose Urena in the 3rd percentile when it comes to his strikeout ability.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jose Urena to throw 85 pitches today (13th-least on the slate), considering both his underlying tendencies and the matchup.

The Boston Red Sox have 6 hitters in the projected batting order that will hold the platoon advantage against Jose Urena in this matchup, which is especially troublesome given his large platoon split.

Playing on the road generally reduces pitcher stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Jose Urena in today’s matchup.

In his previous GS, Jose Urena struggled when it came to striking hitters out and was only able to post 0 Ks.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT)’s evaluation, Kutter Crawford’s overall pitching talent grades out in the 79th percentile among all starters in the game right now.

Home field advantage generally improves pitcher metrics across the board, and Kutter Crawford will hold that advantage in today’s game.

Kutter Crawford’s fastball spin rate over his last 3 starts (2549 rpm) has been quite a bit better than than his seasonal rate (2498 rpm).

Among all starters, Kutter Crawford’s fastball spin rate of 2498 rpm grades out in the 92nd percentile this year.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Jonah Heim in the 3rd percentile when estimating his BABIP skill.

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

The switch-hitting Jonah Heim will bat from his weak side (0) today against Kutter Crawford, Playing on the road generally lowers hitter stats across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Jonah Heim in today’s matchup.

As it relates to his batting average, Wilyer Abreu has been lucky this year. His .266 mark has been quite a bit higher than the leading projection system (THE BAT X)’s version of Statcast-based Expected Batting Average (xBA) at .229.

The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Kutter Crawford to throw 84 pitches in this game (7th-least of all pitchers on the slate), considering both his underlying tendencies and the matchup.

Kutter Crawford has utilized his curveball 6% less often this year (6.1%) than he did last year (12.1%).

Connor Wong’s average launch angle on his hardest-hit balls recently (3.8° in the past two weeks’ worth of games) is considerably lower than his 13.5° seasonal mark.

Despite posting a .340 wOBA this year, the leading projection system (THE BAT X) believes Connor Wong has been lucky given the .043 discrepancy between that figure and his estimated true talent wOBA of .297.

In notching a .281 wOBA (a leading indicator of offensive ability) this year, Leody Taveras is positioned in the 17th percentile.

When assessing his overall offensive talent, Nick Sogard ranks in the 19th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

As it relates to plate discipline, David Hamilton’s talent is quite bad, sporting a 4.09 K/BB rate this year while placing in in the 17th percentile.

Rob Refsnyder has been lucky this year, posting a .374 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .332 — a .042 difference.

According to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), the projected lineup for the Boston Red Sox today owns an estimated true talent wOBA of .313, which is considerably worse than their actual wOBA of .330 this year.

It may be sensible to expect worse results for the Boston Red Sox offense the rest of the season, considering that the leading projection system (THE BAT X) sees them as the luckiest offense in the game this year.