Best MLB Hits Matchups — Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Top hits spot: Carlos Jorge
Carlos Jorge (CIN) tops the board at 100, facing RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The lefty is hitting .286 H/PA against righties this year — and .286 over the last two weeks, a strong bat that turns into a hit in about 25% of his trips. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been tough on righties lately — .172 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. No real history against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It all sets up in a park that leans hitter, weather helping.
The rest of the top of the board
- Yandy Díaz (TB) (100) vs RHP Reynaldo López: a strong bat at .268 into an arm with little track record against the same side.
- Elly De La Cruz (CIN) (100) vs RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto: a solid bat at .248 into an arm tough on the same side (.172), hot bat.
- Brett Bateman (TOR) (99) vs LHP Brady Basso: a strong bat at .257 into an arm getting tattooed by the same side (.400).
- Will Smith (LAD) (98) vs RHP Rhett Lowder: a solid bat at .246 into an arm getting tattooed by the same side (.294).
- Drake Baldwin (ATL) (95) vs RHP Griffin Jax: a strong bat at .263 into an arm getting tattooed by the same side (.417).
- Alec Burleson (STL) (94) vs RHP Blade Tidwell: a strong bat at .263 into an arm mostly holding up against the same side (.231), hot bat.
- Jackson Chourio (MIL) (94) vs RHP Kevin Gausman: a solid bat at .246 into an arm tough on the same side (.208).
Pitchers getting tattooed today
- LHP Cody Bradford has been getting tattooed by lefties — .302 hits per batter faced. Bats to target: Josh Naylor (SEA), Randy Arozarena (SEA), and Dominic Canzone (SEA).
- RHP Tomoyuki Sugano has been vulnerable to righties — .274 hits per batter faced. Bats to target: Aaron Judge (NYY), Luis García Jr. (NYY), and Ben Rice (NYY).
- RHP Robert Stock has been vulnerable to righties — .263 hits per batter faced. Bats to target: Otto Lopez (MIA), Kyle Stowers (MIA), and Javier Sanoja (MIA).
- LHP Brady Basso has been giving up plenty to lefties — .259 hits per batter faced. Bats to target: Brett Bateman (TOR), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR), and Alejandro Kirk (TOR).
Platoon edges to target
- Carlos Jorge (CIN) — lefty bat vs RHP, .286 against righties this year.
- Elly De La Cruz (CIN) — lefty bat vs RHP, .225 against righties this year.
- Drake Baldwin (ATL) — lefty bat vs RHP, .262 against righties this year.
- Alec Burleson (STL) — lefty bat vs RHP, .282 against righties this year.
- Steven Kwan (CLE) — lefty bat vs RHP, .250 against righties this year.
Hot bats and bounce-back spots
Swinging hot bats: Elly De La Cruz (CIN), Alec Burleson (STL), Justin Foscue (TEX), TJ Rumfield (COL), Ketel Marte (AZ), and Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC). Cold but due to bounce back: Tommy Edman (LAD), Bobby Witt Jr. (KC), Hao-Yu Lee (DET), Sal Stewart (CIN), and Ben Rice (NYY).
How it played out
8 of the top 10 hits matchups landed at least one hit. Top play Carlos Jorge 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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