Best MLB Hits Matchups — Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Top hits spot: Jeremy Peña
Jeremy Peña (HOU) tops the board at 100, facing RHP Trey Yesavage. The righty is hitting .306 H/PA against righties this year — and .478 over the last two weeks, an elite bat that turns into a hit in about 32% of his trips. And Trey Yesavage has been tough on righties lately — .167 hits per batter faced. One catch: the bullpen behind him has been stingy to that side late. He's hitting in a spot worth about 4.7 trips, so the volume's there. He's just .000 in 3 career PA against Trey Yesavage, but that's a tiny sample and the matchup says regression. It all sets up in a neutral park.
The rest of the top of the board
- Yandy Díaz (TB) (100) vs RHP Gabriel Hughes: a solid bat at .241 into an arm with little track record against the same side, hitter's park, due to bounce back.
- Jackson Merrill (SD) (100) vs LHP Eduardo Rodriguez: an excellent bat at .284 into an arm getting tattooed by the same side (.350).
- Gleyber Torres (DET) (100) vs RHP Emerson Hancock: a strong bat at .258 into an arm getting tattooed by the same side (.381).
- Ceddanne Rafaela (BOS) (97) vs RHP Davis Martin: an excellent bat at .293 into an arm tough on the same side (.200), hot bat.
- Cole Young (SEA) (94) vs RHP Troy Melton: a strong bat at .253 into an arm mostly holding up against the same side (.233), hot bat.
- Freddie Freeman (LAD) (93) vs RHP Javier Assad: an elite bat at .304 into an arm mostly holding up against the same side (.222), hot bat.
- Dillon Dingler (DET) (92) vs RHP Emerson Hancock: a strong bat at .258 into an arm getting tattooed by the same side (.381).
Pitchers getting tattooed today
- LHP Patrick Sandoval has been getting tattooed by lefties — .292 hits per batter faced. Bats to target: Munetaka Murakami (CWS), Colson Montgomery (CWS), and Chase Meidroth (CWS).
- RHP Randy Vásquez has been vulnerable to righties — .273 hits per batter faced. Bats to target: Corbin Carroll (AZ), Max Kepler (AZ), and Geraldo Perdomo (AZ).
- RHP Grayson Rodriguez has been vulnerable to righties — .273 hits per batter faced. Bats to target: Dylan Beavers (BAL), Pete Alonso (BAL), and Jackson Holliday (BAL).
- RHP Hunter Dobbins has been vulnerable to righties — .265 hits per batter faced. Bats to target: Heliot Ramos (NYY), Ben Rice (NYY), and Luis García Jr. (NYY).
Platoon edges to target
- Cole Young (SEA) — lefty bat vs RHP, .249 against righties this year.
- Freddie Freeman (LAD) — lefty bat vs RHP, .291 against righties this year.
- Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD) — righty bat vs LHP, .255 against lefties this year.
- Corbin Carroll (AZ) — lefty bat vs RHP, .175 against righties this year.
- Drake Baldwin (ATL) — lefty bat vs RHP, .249 against righties this year.
Best parks to hit in today
Coors Field is playing as a real hitter's park today (+6% hits park). Top bat there: Yandy Díaz (TB) at 100.
Hot bats and bounce-back spots
Swinging hot bats: Jeremy Peña (HOU), Ceddanne Rafaela (BOS), Cole Young (SEA), Freddie Freeman (LAD), Munetaka Murakami (CWS), and Ryan Jeffers (MIN). Cold but due to bounce back: Yandy Díaz (TB), Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD), Wyatt Langford (TEX), Corbin Carroll (AZ), and Nick Sogard (BOS).
How it played out
8 of the top 10 hits matchups landed at least one hit. Top play Jeremy Peña finished with 0 hits. We post the result next to every projection so you can grade the board yourself — and so the model gets re-tuned against what actually happened.
How to read these hits matchups
Each score (0–100) starts with the hitter's hits per plate appearance against the hand he's facing — weighted toward the last two weeks, then the season, then a two-year baseline. Then it layers in the bullpen, his spot in the order, and park and weather. Higher means more of it points his way. It's context, not a lock — a great spot still goes 0-for-4 sometimes, and a tough one runs into one. The edge is in stacking the odds, and since we grade every board, you can see how often the top of the list delivers.
What the hits board is
The Hits board projects the chance a hitter records at least one hit, matchup-adjusted. One statistical model scores every matchup on the slate the same way — a star and a backup judged on the matchup in front of them, not their name — and every number is graded against the real box score once the games go final.
How the model gets its number
It isn't a gut call or a name game. The projection is built from a few things:
- The hitter's contact rate vs this pitcher's hand.
- The starter's hit-suppression and the park.
- Recent form, without over-reacting to a hot or cold week.
Those pieces combine into one number, and the model re-tunes itself weekly against how its past calls actually landed.
Is there a betting edge here?
Hits is an efficient market — the book prices a 1+ hit line about as well as we do, so we publish the WizLine as graded transparency, not a play. Our projection is sharp (the ranking is well-calibrated); the book just isn't leaving room on it.
How to use it
Use it to see who the model likes to square one up, and how that squares with the price — but there's no systematic edge here, so treat it as research, not a lean.
Everything here is a research signal from the model, graded in public — not betting advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.
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