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Statcast batter leaders in Week 16 of the 2024 MLB season, according to Barrel%. Joshua Costello evaluates hitters who could be fantasy baseball adds or drops according to advanced sabermetrics.
Hello, RotoBallers, and welcome to our hitter's advanced metrics leaders article for Week 16 of the 2024 fantasy baseball season! Today, we will be taking a look at players like Ben Rice, Will Smith, Trea Turner, and more. As another week of baseball wraps up, I will recap which hitters had the most impactful plate appearances in the past few days.
For the first 11 weeks of the season, we discussed Statcast's Barrels per Plate Appearance stat, or Brls/PA%, but now we can transition. The weekly leaderboard for Brls/PA% has primarily stabilized, so now we can shift our focus towards Barrel Percentage in the last seven days.
Statcast's Barrel Percentage stat, or Barrel%, works by dividing the total number of barrels by the number of batted ball events within the given period. The higher the Barrel%, the more often the hitter makes ideal contact with the baseball. By narrowing our range, we can zero in on the players who have made the best and worst contact within the past week. We will also examine other stats, but the Barrel% will be the main focus of this piece. Take advantage of the rest of our Statcast analysis for fantasy baseball, including weekly Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds.
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Barrel% Leaders
| Player | BBE | Avg Exit Velocity (MPH) | Max Exit Velocity (MPH) | Brls | Barrel% | |
| Ben Rice | 17 | 91.3 | 110.8 | 8 | 35.3 | |
| Austin Riley | 15 | 92.5 | 111.9 | 9 | 33.3 | |
| Will Smith | 12 | 94.9 | 106.3 | 6 | 33.3 | |
| Shohei Ohtani | 12 | 95.6 | 112.0 | 6 | 33.3 | |
| Brenton Doyle | 21 | 95.9 | 110.1 | 12 | 33.3 | |
| Nolan Gorman | 10 | 92.7 | 110.3 | 4 | 30.0 | |
| Christian Walker | 21 | 94.3 | 109.8 | 13 | 28.6 | |
| Colt Keith | 14 | 85.6 | 108.8 | 5 | 28.6 | |
| Brandon Lowe | 11 | 88.0 | 108.0 | 4 | 27.3 | |
| Oneil Cruz | 15 | 99.6 | 117.3 | 10 | 26.7 | |
| Christian Yelich | 24 | 94.6 | 113.2 | 15 | 25.0 | |
| Julio Rodriguez | 16 | 92.4 | 113.0 | 7 | 25.0 | |
| Trea Turner | 21 | 92.4 | 108.5 | 11 | 23.8 | |
| Dominic Smith | 13 | 90.1 | 103.0 | 5 | 23.1 | |
| Matt Chapman | 18 | 93.1 | 111.4 | 6 | 22.2 | |
| Randy Arozarena | 18 | 89.9 | 109.0 | 9 | 22.2 | |
| Christopher Morel | 9 | 98.5 | 108.9 | 7 | 22.2 | |
| Michael Toglia | 18 | 95.1 | 109.7 | 11 | 22.2 | |
| Marcell Ozuna | 14 | 93.4 | 107.0 | 8 | 21.4 | |
| Joc Pederson | 14 | 90.7 | 107.5 | 5 | 21.4 | |
| Byron Buxton | 14 | 94.9 | 111.1 | 8 | 21.4 | |
| Gabriel Moreno | 14 | 94.6 | 106.0 | 8 | 21.4 | |
| Tyrone Taylor | 19 | 88.0 | 110.0 | 7 | 21.1 | |
| Isaac Paredes | 19 | 85.4 | 105.8 | 7 | 21.1 | |
| Jordan Westburg | 19 | 92.7 | 107.9 | 10 | 21.1 | |
Notable Players
This week's king of the leaderboard is the New York Yankees rookie, who made history on Saturday, Ben Rice. Rice became the first rookie in Yankees history to hit three home runs in a single game. His massive performance launched him to the top of this week's leaderboard with a 35.3% Barrel%.
A Record for the Rookie 🔥 pic.twitter.com/urVCucKrYw
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 6, 2024
The 25-year-old slashed .333/.400/1.000 with four home runs and 11 RBI in the past seven days. Rice is not yet a qualified hitter, but his expected stats are also remarkable. Rice owns a .338 xBA, .698 xSLG, and .462 xwOBA to accompany an elite barrel rate. Those numbers are unlikely to stick as Rice's sample size increases, but those stats show how well he has impacted the ball so far.
The Yankees rookie is making a strong case for a lasting spot in the lineup. Rice's roster percentage is creeping towards 50% in most leagues, and I expect that number to continue climbing. The young slugger is also a catcher and first base eligible, which only bolsters his value due to the lack of depth at the catcher position. Now would be the time to acquire Rice anywhere he is available.
Taking the third spot on this week's leaderboard is Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith. This past week, Smith slashed .375/.474/.1.188 with four home runs in 19 plate appearances. Smith was just announced as an All-Star, so now is an excellent time to take a closer look at his Statcast page.
The 29-year-old does not have the most impressive Statcast page when you consider his .258 xBA and sixth-percentile bat speed, but he does slug. Smith's .497 xSLG is actually 10 points lower than his actual SLG of .507, which ranks first among all catchers in baseball. Smith also ranks first among catchers in wOBA this season. The Dodgers catcher is universally rostered in fantasy but earned a spotlight with his excellent performance this week.
It's time to talk about the Philadelphia Phillies shortstop with the 93rd-percentile xBA, Trea Turner. The veteran hitter is coming off a massive week, which included two multi-home run games.
TREA TURNER WITH HIS SECOND MULTI HOME RUN GAME THIS WEEK!!!
THIS MAN IS PLAYING LIKE A TRUE SUPERSTAR!!!pic.twitter.com/qJAuP5sedJ
— Barstool Philly (@BarstoolPhilly) July 6, 2024
The 31-year-old slashed .444/.444/.889 with four home runs and 11 RBI in his last 27 plate appearances. Turner was sidelined for an extended period with a hamstring injury this season, but he seems to have put that behind him. The speedy shortstop is not typically known for his power, but he launched multiple home runs over 400 feet in the past week.
After his red-hot week, Turner is now batting .335 this season with seven home runs and 11 stolen bases. His .295 xBA is 40 points lower than his actual batting average, suggesting some regression in the future, but that does not mean Turner cannot outperform his expected stats. In 2022, Turner finished the season with a .298 batting average, which was 22 points higher than his xBA of .276. Turner is another universally rostered player, but he deserved a mention for his outstanding performance.
Texas Rangers outfielder Leody Taveras had a strong week at the plate, and it is worth highlighting to see if the trend can continue.
In the past seven days, Taveras slashed .438/.474/.563 with two RBI and three runs scored. Taveras also demonstrated good plate discipline with a 10.5% walk rate and 5.3% strikeout rate in that span. Despite racking up seven hits in his last 19 plate appearances, Taveras offered little reason to believe he can be a helpful contributor in fantasy.
Of the seven hits Taveras collected, two were doubles, and none were home runs. In the past week, the Rangers outfielder has a 6.3% Barrel% and registered just one barrel in 16 batted ball events. This low Barrel% makes sense since Taveras has a 5.4% Barrel% this season. The 25-year-old does not hit the ball particularly hard or often enough to make a significant impact for fantasy. This is a slight sell-high window for managers looking to capitalize on his good week, but Taveras is best left on the waiver wire.
The last hitter I want to highlight is J.D. Martinez. The New York Mets DH struggled to string anything together this past week. Martinez slashed .111/.273/.333 with one home run and three RBI in his last 22 plate appearances. Martinez also had a 36.4% strikeout rate in the past seven days.
The 36-year-old had a down week, but it isn't indicative of the season he has ahead of him. Martinez is well above-average in several Statcast categories, including xwOBA, xSLG, Barrel%, and LA Sweet-Spot%. The Mets slugger will undoubtedly turn it around after a dreadful week and now may be the only opportunity to acquire him before he does. The buy-low window for Martinez will not stay open for long.
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