Rays @ Royals Series Game 2 Matchup Details

Positives for the Tampa Bay Rays Series Game 2 Game Today

Victor Mesa Jr. has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this year (88% of the time), but he is projected to bat 4th on the lineup card in this game.

,Kauffman Stadium sits at the 4th-highest altitude among all major league stadiums. High elevation usually leads (as a rule of thumb) to more offense.

,The wind projects to be blowing out to LF at 14.5-mph in this contest, the best of the day for batters.

,Victor Mesa Jr. will hold the platoon advantage over Seth Lugo today.

,The Kansas City Royals outfield defense profiles as the 2nd-worst among every team on the slate today.

,The #5 venue in the majors for boosting offensive stats, per the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Carter Jensen in the 75th percentile as it relates to his home run talent.

,Carter Jensen is projected to hit 1st on the lineup card in this matchup.

,Batting from the opposite that Seth Lugo throws from, Cedric Mullins will have an advantage today.

,When assessing his batting average skill, Yandy Diaz is projected as the 6th-best batter in the majors by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Yandy Diaz is projected to bat 1st on the lineup card in this game.

,When it comes to his home run skill, Jac Caglianone ranks in the 90th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Jac Caglianone is penciled in 3rd in the lineup in this matchup, which would be an upgrade from his 60% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the batting order this season.

,Kansas City’s 2nd-worst outfield defense on the slate creates a favorable matchup for Cedric Mullins, who tends to hit a lot of flyballs.

,Batting from the opposite that Seth Lugo throws from, Hunter Feduccia will have an advantage in today’s game.

,Chandler Simpson is penciled in 5th in the lineup in today’s game.

,Hitting from the opposite that Seth Lugo throws from, Chandler Simpson will have the upper hand today.

,Batting from the opposite that Seth Lugo throws from, Richie Palacios will have the upper hand in today’s game.

,Over the past two weeks, Richie Palacios’s 20.8% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 12.5%.

,There has been a significant improvement in Taylor Walls’s launch angle from last season’s 14.9° to 21.6° this year.

,The switch-hitting Isaac Collins will get to bat from his strong side (0) today against Shane McClanahan.

,The Tampa Bay Rays infield defense projects as the worst out of every team on the slate today.

,Lane Thomas is projected to bat 4th in the lineup in this matchup.

,Batting from the opposite that Shane McClanahan throws from, Lane Thomas will have an advantage in today’s matchup.

,When estimating his overall offensive talent, Jonathan Aranda ranks in the 92nd percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

,Jonathan Aranda is projected to bat 2nd in the batting order in today’s game.

,Carter Jensen will possess the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which figures to improve all of his stats.

,Kauffman Stadium profiles as the #2 park in baseball for walks, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

,Shane McClanahan will be at a disadvantage playing on the road today.

,Lane Thomas will possess the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which ought to bolster all of his stats.

,When estimating his home run ability, Cedric Mullins ranks in the 84th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,In the last two weeks’ worth of games, Cedric Mullins’s exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 91.5-mph over the course of the season to 95-mph lately.

,In the last 7 days, Victor Mesa Jr.’s exit velocity on flyballs has seen a big rise, from 91.6-mph over the course of the season to 96.4-mph recently.

,Over the last 7 days, Taylor Walls’s 36.4% rate of hitting balls at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) shows big improvement over his seasonal rate of 18.4%.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Starling Marte in the 91st percentile when it comes to his BABIP talent.

,Hitting from the opposite that Shane McClanahan throws from, Starling Marte will have the upper hand in today’s matchup.

,Nick Loftin is projected to bat 2nd in the lineup in today’s game, which would be an upgrade from his 79% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season.

,Nick Loftin will hold the platoon advantage over Shane McClanahan in today’s matchup.

,Salvador Perez will receive the benefit of the platoon advantage against Shane McClanahan in today’s matchup.

,Extreme flyball hitters like Salvador Perez tend to perform better against extreme groundball pitchers like Shane McClanahan.

,Junior Caminero projects as the 18th-best hitter in the game, per the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Junior Caminero is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card in today’s game.

,Batting from the opposite that Seth Lugo throws from, Jonathan Aranda will have an edge today.

,Seth Lugo has averaged 93.3 adjusted pitches per game per started this year, grading out in the 85th percentile.

,The Tampa Bay Rays have been the 2nd-luckiest offense in MLB this year, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), and are likely to hit worse the rest of the season,Tyler Tolbert will have the handedness advantage against Shane McClanahan in today’s matchup.

,Home field advantage generally boosts hitter stats in all categories, and Tyler Tolbert will hold that advantage in today’s game.

,Home field advantage typically boosts batter stats in all categories, and Nick Loftin will hold that advantage in today’s matchup.

,Home field advantage generally bolsters batter stats across the board, and Jac Caglianone will hold that advantage in today’s game.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Chandler Simpson as the 13th-best hitter in baseball when it comes to his batting average skill.

,Over the last week, Hunter Feduccia’s Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 9.7% up to 22.2%.

,Hunter Feduccia’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has improved of late, rising from 15.9% on the season to 44.4% in the past 7 days.

,Isaac Collins will benefit from the home field advantage in today’s game, which ought to boost all of his stats.

,Chandler Simpson has seen a significant gain in his exit velocity on flyballs this season; just compare his 83.2-mph average to last season’s 81.1-mph average.

,Starling Marte will hold the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which ought to improve all of his stats.

,Starling Marte has made substantial strides with his Barrel% recently, improving his 13.1% seasonal rate to 20% in the past 7 days.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Yandy Diaz in the 96th percentile when it comes to his overall offensive ability.

,Yandy Diaz has seen a significant increase in his exit velocity recently; just compare his 95-mph average in the past week to his seasonal 90.7-mph figure.

,Over the last 7 days, Junior Caminero’s Barrel% has experienced a surge, jumping from his seasonal rate of 12.9% up to 33.3%.

,When estimating his overall offensive skill, Jac Caglianone ranks in the 77th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

,As it relates to his strikeout ability, the leading projection system (THE BAT) forecasts Shane McClanahan in the 76th percentile among all starting pitchers in the majors.

,The Kansas City Royals have 3 bats in their projected batting order today with a high (i.e. over 27%) underlying K% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT X) (Tyler Tolbert, Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone).

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Salvador Perez in the 87th percentile when it comes to his home run ability.

,By putting up a 1.64 K/BB rate this year, Richie Palacios has demonstrated impressive plate discipline, ranking in the 81st percentile.

Negatives with the Kansas City Royals Series Game 2 Game Today

Less offense (and more strikeouts) are strongly correlated with cold weather, and the weather forecast for this game predicts the 5th-lowest temperature on the slate at 91,°.

,Victor Mesa Jr. hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (38.1% — 79th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of the game’s 4th-deepest CF fences in today’s game.

,Victor Mesa Jr. will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team today.

,In the last 7 days, Victor Mesa Jr.’s 0% rate of hitting balls at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has taken a nosedive compared to his seasonal rate of 12.2%.

,Kauffman Stadium has the deepest right field fences among all stadiums.

,Batting from the same side that Shane McClanahan throws from, Carter Jensen encounters a tough challenge today.

,In the last two weeks, Carter Jensen’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off from his seasonal EV of 92.1 mph to 89.1 mph.

,Carter Jensen’s ability to hit the ball at a BABIP-maximizing launch angle (between -4° and 26°) has declined in recent games, falling from 37.6% on the season to 25% over the past week.

,Cedric Mullins’s BABIP skill is projected in the 3rd percentile by the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Cedric Mullins is projected to bat 6th in the lineup in this matchup.

,Cedric Mullins pulls a lot of his flyballs (39.4% — 96th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards baseball’s deepest RF fences in today’s matchup.

,Playing on the road generally lowers hitter metrics across the board due to the lack of home field advantage, which ought to be the case for Cedric Mullins in today’s game.

,Batting from the same side that Seth Lugo throws from, Yandy Diaz will have a disadvantage in today’s matchup.

,In today’s matchup, Yandy Diaz is at a disadvantage facing the league’s deepest RF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the opposite field at a 43.4% rate (100th percentile).

,Playing on the road typically diminishes batter metrics in all categories due to the lack of home field advantage, which should be the case for Yandy Diaz today.

,Yandy Diaz’s average exit velocity has dropped off this season; his 93-mph figure last year has dropped to 90.7-mph.

,Batting from the same side that Shane McClanahan throws from, Jac Caglianone has a tough challenge in today’s game.

,Jac Caglianone hits many of his flyballs to center field (38.6% — 88th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards the league’s 4th-deepest CF fences in today’s game.

,Jac Caglianone has been lucky this year, posting a .353 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .319 — a .034 disparity.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Hunter Feduccia in the 12th percentile when estimating his batting average ability.

,Hunter Feduccia is projected to bat 9th on the lineup card today.

,Hunter Feduccia hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (39.3% — 95th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards the league’s 4th-deepest CF fences in today’s matchup.

,Hunter Feduccia will be at a disadvantage playing away from home today.

,When assessing his home run talent, Chandler Simpson ranks in the 0th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Chandler Simpson has a 100th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (41.9%) and has the misfortune of hitting them towards baseball’s deepest LF fences in today’s matchup.

,Chandler Simpson will be at a disadvantage playing on the road today.

,In the past two weeks, Chandler Simpson’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped from his seasonal EV of 83.2 mph to 80.6 mph.

,As it relates to his home run skill, Richie Palacios ranks in the 7th percentile according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X).

,Richie Palacios is projected to hit 8th in the lineup in this matchup.

,In today’s game, Richie Palacios is at a disadvantage facing the league’s deepest RF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the pull field at a 34.5% rate (79th percentile).

,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 Richie Palacios in today’s matchup.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Richie Palacios in the 14th percentile when assessing his BABIP skill.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Taylor Walls in the 8th percentile when it comes to his batting average skill.

,Taylor Walls is penciled in 7th in the lineup today.

,Taylor Walls has an 89th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.2%) but may find it hard to clear MLB’s 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 figures to be the case for Taylor Walls today.

,Isaac Collins is penciled in 7th in the lineup in this game.

,Isaac Collins pulls many of his flyballs (33.9% — 75th percentile) and has the misfortune of hitting them in the direction of baseball’s deepest LF fences today.

,Isaac Collins has taken a step back with his Barrel% in recent games; his 6% seasonal rate has fallen to 0% over the past 14 days.

,Isaac Collins’s exit velocity on flyballs has dropped off in recent games; his 87.5-mph seasonal mark has fallen off to 80.3-mph in the past two weeks’ worth of games.

,Lane Thomas hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (38.3% — 83rd percentile) and will have to hit them out towards MLB’s 4th-deepest CF fences in today’s game.

,Lane Thomas’s average exit velocity has fallen off lately; his 87.1-mph seasonal mark has decreased to 84.1-mph in the past week.

,Lane Thomas has been cold of late, putting up a 0% Barrel% (a reliable standard to measure power) in the last week.

,Sporting a .224 Expected wOBA (or xwOBA, an advanced metric created by the leading projection system (THE BAT X) using Statcast data) since the start of last season, Lane Thomas finds himself in the 10th percentile for hitting ability.

,Jonathan Aranda will be at a disadvantage playing on the visting team today.

,Over the last 14 days, Jonathan Aranda’s Barrel% has experienced a negative regression, plummeting from his seasonal rate of 10.3% down to 0%.

,In the last two weeks, Jonathan Aranda’s exit velocity on flyballs has fallen from his seasonal mark of 92.1 mph to 84.8 mph.

,Kauffman Stadium ranks as the #23 stadium in baseball for lefty home runs, via the leading projection system (THE BAT).

,According to the leading projection system (THE BAT)’s estimation, Shane McClanahan’s overall pitching talent is in the 85th percentile out of all starters in the majors right now.

,The Kansas City Royals projected lineup profiles as the 3rd-weakest of all teams on the slate today in terms of overall offensive ability.

,It is expected that we will see a Pitchers Umpire (Junior Valentine) behind the plate in this game.

,Hunter Feduccia, the Rays’s expected catcher in today’s matchup, profiles as a good pitch framer according to the leading projection system (THE BAT).

,The deepest left field dimensions among all parks are found in Kauffman Stadium.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT) ranks Kauffman Stadium as the 4th-worst stadium in the game for right-handed home runs.

,Lane Thomas’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-optimizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has fallen off in recent games, going from 14.1% on the season to 11.1% over the last 7 days.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Taylor Walls in the 16th percentile when estimating his overall offensive skill.

,Starling Marte is projected to bat 8th in the batting order in this matchup.

,Starling Marte has an 89th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (35.2%) and will be challenged by the game’s deepest RF fences in today’s game.

,Typically, batters like Starling Marte who hit a lot of groundballs usually hit worse when facing pitchers who also induce a lot of groundballs such as Shane McClanahan.

,Starling Marte’s average exit velocity has fallen off of late; his 89.4-mph seasonal average has dropped to 82-mph in the past two weeks.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nick Loftin in the 19th percentile when estimating his BABIP talent.

,Today, Nick Loftin is at a disadvantage facing the league’s deepest LF fences given that he hits his flyballs to the pull field at a 35.3% rate (84th percentile).

,Nick Loftin’s exit velocity on flyballs has fallen off this season; his 91.6-mph average last year has dropped to 88.6-mph.

,With a .238 BABIP since the start of last season, Nick Loftin grades out in the 3rd percentile.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Salvador Perez in the 7th percentile when estimating his BABIP skill.

,Salvador Perez has primarily hit in the top-half of the lineup this season (89% of the time), but he is projected to bat 6th in the batting order today.

,Salvador Perez pulls many of his flyballs (36.5% — 89th percentile) and will have to hit them out towards baseball’s deepest LF fences today.

,Over the last week, Salvador Perez’s exit velocity on flyballs has lowered from his seasonal mark of 93 mph to 85.4 mph.

,Batting from the same side that Seth Lugo throws from, Junior Caminero will have a tough matchup today.

,Junior Caminero pulls a high percentage of his flyballs (38.5% — 95th percentile) and will be challenged by the game’s deepest LF fences today.

,Junior Caminero will be at a disadvantage playing away from home today.

,Junior Caminero’s ability to hit the ball at a HR-maximizing launch angle (between 23° and 34°) has declined from last season to this one, going from 14.3% to 10.3%.

,With 7 bats who hit from the other side in the opposing team’s projected offense, Seth Lugo faces a tough challenge while lacking the platoon advantage in most plate appearances in today’s outing.

,Seth Lugo will hold the home field advantage in today’s matchup, which should bolster all of his metrics across the board.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Shane McClanahan to throw 82 pitches in today’s game (6th-least of all pitchers today), considering both his underlying tendencies and the matchup.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Tyler Tolbert in the 5th percentile when assessing his overall offensive skill.

,Tyler Tolbert is penciled in 9th in the batting order in this game.

,Tyler Tolbert has an 81st percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (33.8%) but may find it hard to clear the league’s deepest RF fences in today’s game.

,Extreme flyball hitters like Tyler Tolbert usually hit worse against extreme flyball pitchers like Shane McClanahan.

,The leading projection system (THE BAT X) projects Nick Loftin in the 22nd percentile as it relates to his home run skill.

,Compared to his seasonal figure of 1.6°, Chandler Simpson has produced a noticeably lower launch angle (-6.6°) in the last two weeks’ worth of games.

,When estimating his overall offensive skill, Hunter Feduccia ranks in the 18th percentile according to the leading projections (THE BAT X).

,The Tampa Bay Rays (20 K% (per the leading projection system, THE BAT X) are projected to have the 5th-least strikeout-prone group of hitters of the day.

,The #5 stadium in MLB for suppressing strikeouts, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT), is Kauffman Stadium.

,As it relates to plate discipline, Jac Caglianone’s skill is quite poor, putting up a 3.65 K/BB rate this year while grading out in in the 17th percentile.

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