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Statcast batter leaders in Week 17 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 17 of the 2024 fantasy baseball season! Today, we will be taking a look at players like Rece Hinds, Matt Wallner, Rafael Devers, 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% | |
| Rece Hinds | 15 | 98.5 | 112.7 | 6 | 40.0 | |
| Aaron Judge | 12 | 92.9 | 113.7 | 4 | 33.3 | |
| Matt Wallner | 12 | 96.9 | 116.8 | 4 | 33.3 | |
| Cal Raleigh | 21 | 96.5 | 113.9 | 6 | 28.6 | |
| Austin Riley | 16 | 96.8 | 112.4 | 4 | 25.0 | |
| Juan Soto | 20 | 99.1 | 112.6 | 5 | 25.0 | |
| Brandon Nimmo | 21 | 95.4 | 110.5 | 5 | 23.8 | |
| Willy Adames | 13 | 94.2 | 108.6 | 3 | 23.1 | |
| Brent Rooker | 13 | 92.8 | 107.0 | 3 | 23.1 | |
| Eugenio Suarez | 19 | 92.2 | 110.6 | 4 | 21.1 | |
| Francisco Lindor | 20 | 88.8 | 108.4 | 4 | 20.0 | |
| Rafael Devers | 15 | 100.7 | 111.6 | 3 | 20.0 | |
| Isaac Paredes | 10 | 93.4 | 107.0 | 2 | 20.0 | |
| Brandon Marsh | 10 | 87.5 | 109.1 | 2 | 20.0 | |
| Mark Vientos | 20 | 90.4 | 111.3 | 4 | 20.0 | |
| Michael Toglia | 15 | 96.3 | 108.1 | 3 | 20.0 | |
| Andrew Vaughn | 15 | 90.4 | 112.2 | 3 | 20.0 | |
| Gunnar Henderson | 21 | 93.7 | 112.5 | 4 | 19.0 | |
| Patrick Bailey | 16 | 89.7 | 108.2 | 3 | 18.8 | |
| Marcell Ozuna | 22 | 97.2 | 112.7 | 4 | 18.2 | |
| Willson Contreras | 17 | 95.3 | 112.2 | 3 | 17.6 | |
| Jesse Winker | 17 | 91.4 | 108.3 | 3 | 17.6 | |
| Jonathan India | 17 | 86.8 | 109.5 | 3 | 17.6 | |
| Ceddanne Rafaela | 17 | 91.4 | 106.1 | 3 | 17.6 | |
| Tyler Stephenson | 23 | 89.9 | 107.6 | 4 | 17.4 | |
Notable Players
This week's king of the leaderboard is the Cincinnati Reds rookie Rece Hinds, who has been making waves since his debut on Monday. The Reds rookie is off to a historic start to his career, and it will be interesting to see if he can keep it up.
In 6 days as a big leaguer, Rece Hinds of the @Reds has:
9 total XBH
5 total HR
a game with all 3 types of XBH
a grand slam
a multi-HR gameNobody else in MLB history has done all of that over any 6-day span at any point in his career. pic.twitter.com/JupzYqSPOw
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) July 14, 2024
The 23-year-old slashed .500/.542/1.409 with five home runs, seven runs scored, and 11 RBI in the past seven days. Hinds also demonstrated his speed with two stolen bases in the past week. Due to his tiny sample size in the majors, Hinds has some numbers that are off the charts. With an xBA of .402 and Barrel% of 40%, we can take little from his Statcast page so far.
Since he is a newly promoted prospect, Hinds' minor league stats will help draw some insight. The most home runs Hinds has hit at any level was in 2023 at Double-A. In 109 games, the Reds outfielder collected 23 home runs while owning a 32.8% strikeout rate. The most glaring part of Hinds' profile is that he has routinely had strikeout rates north of 30%. My suggestion would be to sell as high as you possibly can or ride him until he flames out.
Taking the third spot on this week's leaderboard is Minnesota Twins outfielder Matt Wallner. Wallner slashed .421/.522/.842 this past week with two home runs in 23 plate appearances.
Wallner has wheels! 💨 pic.twitter.com/Zsls9SuVax
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 14, 2024
The 26-year-old is not a qualified hitter yet, but his Barrel% and bat speed would be among the game's elite if he were. Wallner hits the ball hard, an important aspect of hitting, but the rest of his profile is lacking.
Wallner has an xBA of .209 and a 42.9% strikeout rate through 59 plate appearances in 2024. The Twins outfielder played 76 games in 2023, and it was a similar story. Wallner had an unimpressive .249 batting average with a 31.5% strikeout rate. Aside from his impressive arm, Wallner is also a below-average defender. The Twins hitter had a hot week at the plate, but I would not bet on that continuing for much longer.
It's time to talk about the Boston Red Sox third baseman with the 98th-percentile average exit velocity, Rafael Devers. The veteran hitter is coming off an impressive week, so it's time to shine the spotlight on him.
The 27-year-old slashed .348/.375/.783 with three home runs and six RBI in his last 24 plate appearances. Devers is also having an impressive season at the dish, slashing .295/.378/.599 with 23 home runs in 83 games in 2024. Devers also has impressive Statcast numbers with his .387 xwOBA, .565 xSLG, 14.5% Barrel%, and 94.1 mph average exit velocity. The Red Sox third baseman is a perennial All-Star and is universally rostered, but deserved a mention for his strong week and season.
Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras had a poor showing at the plate over the last week. Let's look at his stats to see if we need to be worried about his recent slump.
He's an All-Star for a reason@Wcontreras42 pic.twitter.com/JXFP89pcHe
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 14, 2024
In the past seven days, Contreras slashed .105/.190/.211 with three RBI and two runs scored. Contreras also owned a 33.3% strikeout rate over his last 21 plate appearances. Despite his recent slump at the plate, Contreras is still one of the most valuable catchers in fantasy. This season, his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate rank in the 92nd percentile among qualified hitters. Contreras' xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG are above average among qualified hitters and well above average for most catchers. If any Contreras managers are concerned about his recent struggles, now may be the only opportunity to buy low on the All-Star catcher.
The last hitter I want to highlight is Christian Walker. The Arizona Diamondbacks' first baseman struggled to string anything together over the past seven days. Walker slashed .208/.387/.250 with two RBI and a 29% strikeout rate in that span. A surprising stat to note is that Walker registered zero barrels in his last 31 plate appearances.
The 33-year-old had a down week, but he is still one of the most dependable producers at his position. Walker owns a 15.8% Barrel%, which ranks in the 96th percentile among qualified hitters this season. His xwOBA and xSLG are also in the 90th percentile. The All-Star break is the perfect time to buy low on one of the better first basemen in the National League.
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