That's a big if, though. Youth. Exit velo is very important but a *major key* is actually hitting the ball first haha. Let's end with one more exit velocity metric. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted To be fair to Franchy, Machado's blast would lead 29 teams in the big leagues, as it was the fourth-hardest-hit homer ever recorded in the Statcast era, trailing only Yankees sluggers Giancarlo Stanton, who owns the top two, and Aaron Judge. Again, we need to deep dive into every at-bat against every pitcher to really bear that out, but it is something to keep in mind because Dalbec wasn't an entirely different hitter from August on. Its been an interesting ride for Mike Zuninoover this past offseason. Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community! Photo by Nick Tre. A few of the names that show up on the leaderboard are players that I've already discussed this offseason. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. Maybe some of that was bad luck, but the longer it goes on, the more likely it looks the issue is with his batted ball profile. Will Smith Ball In Dirt to Yordan Alvarez . The first home run on our list, Stanton takes an 0-1 slider from Texas pitcher Dane Dunning over the left field wall. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports. While he's only gone deep once in July, his batting average has gone up each successive month of the 2021 season and he's underperforming his xBA by a full 35 points. outfield. I also think people forgot how hard Yasmani Grandal hit the ball last year because they focused so much on his absurd walk rate. Despite his limited overall production, Cordero owns a few of the most impressive home runs in Statcast history, including this 474-foot blast. Amazingly, the long ball wasn't the hardest-hit ball of Cruz's week. For just $0.83/month, get an ad-free experience and access to RotoBaller's VIP Discord Chat Community, If you can't subscribe, please consider turning off your adblocker for RotoBaller.com, Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App, More Statcast & Fantasy Baseball Analysis, Jose Urquidy Leaves Game Early With Shoulder Injury, Matt Brash Earns First Career Save Sunday, Expected To Return Beginning Of Next Season, Doubtful Monday, Continues To Make Improvements, Aledmys Diaz Hopeful To Avoid Injured List, Austin Corbett Not Expected To Be Ready For Season, Could Open Season As No. by Retrosheet. There's not much to see here so let's move on. Hitting the ball hard in the air is the best. Vientos is a different story for a couple reasons. Required fields are marked *. He currently has a ground ball rate of over 50%, which is not ideal. If he does, I will be the first person to say I told you so when he breaks out. While max exit velocity is fun and shows just how hard a human can hit a baseball, I prefer to focus on average EV because it shows who's making loud contact regularly. In spring training, his 64.7% hard-hit rate and a 94.1 mph average exit velocity resulted in a paltry .590 OPS. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. All the same, it looks like hitting the ball harder will not, on its own, take him to the next level. He narrowly missed out on a wins title in 2019, when he was a 20-game winner for the Astros but teammate Justin Verlander won 21. Sano had a 17.7% barrel rate last year and was in the 99th-percentile on exit velocity on balls hit in the air. With Corey Dickerson traded and Starling Marte potentially on the move, Cooper should see regular time in right field and has been holding down the third spot in the lineup. Not only is he continuing to walk at an elite clip and avoiding strikeouts, but he is also hitting the ball well. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. We love to see him hit the ball hard, but, like Stanton, he needs to keep the ball in the air to maximize that ability. Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash - Updated Rankings for 2023 Redraft (Week 6) If he can go back to pulling the ball a bit more or even just maintain last years batted ball profile and with a little bit more power (and in a smaller ballpark), he would go back to being a solid hitter. by Retrosheet. Then on Saturday, both Vientos and Baty were reassigned to minor league camp. By volume, Gausman leads the majors in strikeouts through the first month, with 54 against just six walks, the kind of strike zone control that will get a . Take last year for example. Alvarez. Im in a pretty good spot. I'd like to direct your attention to the bottom of this list where Max Stassi and Josh Bell have joined the company of players like Rafael Devers, Nelson Cruz, and Ronald Acuna Jr.? xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. All free! Bobby Bradley was highlighted in last week's article on xSLG leaders. Meanwhile, Gallo had an 18.5% barrel rate and was in the 96th-percentile on exit velocity on balls hit in the air. Play Ball Youth Baseball . The Reds are crushing everything, and Naquin is leading the charge. Realistically, it's hard to be upset about any aspect of Alvarez's hitter profile. He joins his teammate Stanton as the only players to make the list more than once. Last year he had a 99th-percentile wOBA (.526), 93rd-percentile xwOBA (.373), and 95th-percentile xwOBA on contact, to go along with a .526 xSLG. He only has 40th-percentile contact rates, but that's normal for a power hitter, and he made clear gains there from his debut season. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. AJ Cassavell. The other obvious thing with Dalbec is that he has a swing-and-miss problem. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as Yet, Longoria raised his fly ball rate (FB%) to 40.1%, which is an 8% jump from 2020 and is the highest mark he's achieved since 2016. 90th-percentile exit velocity performs similar to or better than many of our favorite Statcast metrics, such as hard-hit rate, barrel rate, and xwOBAcon, when it comes to predicting future success on contact. Our depth charts have Darin Ruf and Tommy Pham getting the lions share of PAs against lefties, with Daniel Vogelbach mashing righties as usual. He continued to hit just under 60% of balls in the air or on a line and, after a dip in pull rate in the first half of the season, regained his pull side power. The 23-year-old sensation crushed a 122.4 mph single the hardest-hit ball of the Statcast era just five days earlier. A lot of the same names appear on this list too. Analyzing Spring Training's Exit Velocity Leaders, Part 2 The two Matts -- Chapman and fellow Gold Glover Matt Olson -- dominate both the corners of the infield and the top of the As list. Pierre Camus evaluates hitters who could be fantasy baseball adds or drops according to . However, we also see some intriguing names. Note: Hit Strength and Location Data is provided by Sports Info Solutions. Spencer Torkelson had solid exit velocity numbers last year, but that didnt translate into solid performance. His groundball rate plummeted, but unfortunately so did his line drive rate and his pull rate. Major League Leaders. Our goal is to put out the highest-quality content and tools. and 32 degrees. . Current: The Cleveland offense is mostly a punchline these days after getting no-hit again, but Bradley is one of the exceptions. Standings. 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 . He is the oldest player on this list, at 40 years old, but has the second-hardest hit homer in the division despite his age. Fernando Tatis Jr. slugs first homer of 2023 - MLB Still, it must be frustrating for Vientos, who has done everything to the baseball save light it on fire in trying to make the team this spring. Hopefully, he can earn some more playing time as well. In 2021, I was hurting to start the year but played through it. However, considering Longoria is slated to be the Giants' opening day third baseman, and the Giants have an organizational track record of getting peak performance out of veteran players, it's important not to write off Longoria's hot start. Sunday Notes: Bill Haselman Recalls the Brawl That Almost Broke Cal's Streak, Effectively Wild Episode 2000: We Thought of More Things We Like About Baseball, The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1169 Sunday FAAB ft. Michael Govier, Starting Pitchers Arent Leaning On Their Best Pitches, Analyzing Spring Trainings Exit Velocity Leaders, Thank You Mario! Thats a question that could be asked of Aaron Judge, who makes the list of the 20 hardest hit balls of the season on three occasions. able to make a catch on an individual batted ball. Not sure whats going on with the fangraphs commenting community lately, but it appears some of us are incapable of framing feedback in a constructive or positive manner. Position. From there, you can sort by EV: FB/LD. As with last week's analysis of expected stats leaders, I will focus on the surprising players who appear in order to gauge their fantasy value going forward. attempt. Both players are 23, and its pretty clear that Baty has all the seasoning he needs to get a real shot. Statcast Hitter Leaderboard: Whiff Rate | Fantasy News - RotoBaller Statcast Home Run Tracking | baseballsavant.com