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Statcast batter leaders in Week 19 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 19 of the 2024 fantasy baseball season! Today, we will be taking a look at players like Oneil Cruz, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Santander, 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% | |
| Oneil Cruz | 25 | 95.7 | 120.5 | 7 | 28.0 | |
| James Wood | 22 | 96.5 | 111.2 | 6 | 27.3 | |
| Juan Soto | 34 | 91.5 | 114.9 | 9 | 26.5 | |
| Kyle Schwarber | 23 | 95.4 | 111.5 | 6 | 26.1 | |
| Shohei Ohtani | 23 | 101.0 | 118.7 | 6 | 26.1 | |
| Tyler Fitzgerald | 27 | 89.5 | 107.3 | 7 | 25.9 | |
| Aaron Judge | 24 | 92.1 | 114.4 | 6 | 25.0 | |
| Mark Vientos | 20 | 91.4 | 110.0 | 5 | 25.0 | |
| Byron Buxton | 17 | 91.2 | 106.8 | 4 | 23.5 | |
| Anthony Santander | 30 | 92.6 | 110.3 | 7 | 23.3 | |
| Tyler O'Neill | 26 | 92.4 | 112.9 | 6 | 23.1 | |
| Ben Rice | 18 | 92.1 | 109.2 | 4 | 22.2 | |
| Marcell Ozuna | 23 | 87.5 | 108.3 | 5 | 21.7 | |
| Brandon Lowe | 23 | 92.0 | 109.5 | 5 | 21.7 | |
| Jorge Polanco | 28 | 94.8 | 110.7 | 6 | 21.4 | |
| Brent Rooker | 33 | 95.3 | 111.0 | 7 | 21.2 | |
| Jose Siri | 19 | 86.2 | 107.7 | 4 | 21.1 | |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 24 | 88.6 | 108.3 | 5 | 20.8 | |
| Ketel Marte | 24 | 93.1 | 111.3 | 5 | 20.8 | |
| Cal Raleigh | 29 | 88.3 | 108.4 | 6 | 20.7 | |
| Eugenio Suarez | 25 | 94.6 | 111.4 | 5 | 20.0 | |
| Yordan Alvarez | 25 | 95.9 | 111.9 | 5 | 20.0 | |
| Luis Robert Jr. | 15 | 90.2 | 113.0 | 3 | 20.0 | |
| Shea Langeliers | 20 | 93.3 | 110.0 | 4 | 20.0 | |
| Jarren Duran | 32 | 92.6 | 108.9 | 6 | 18.8 | |
Notable Players
This week's king of the leaderboard is the hard-hitting Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz. Cruz tends to be a standout performer in exit velocity, and his performance over the past 10 days deserves a closer look.
My goodness, Oneil Cruz clears EVERYTHING with this home run!
115.5 MPH, 472 feet pic.twitter.com/3h0lR2YlRT
— MLB (@MLB) July 28, 2024
The 25-year-old slashed .314/.385/.743 with three home runs, eight runs scored, and nine RBI since returning from the All-Star break. Cruz has always been a player with elite power and speed metrics but has yet to put it all together to perform consistently well for any extended period. Stretches like this one show flashes of Cruz's potential, but they also tend to come between extended stretches of mediocrity.
That said, the Pirates slugger has been very impressive during this recent stretch. Over the past 10 days, Cruz led all qualified hitters in Barrel% with 28% and max exit velocity with a batted ball event clocked at 120.5 mph. Cruz's .253 batting average and .265 xBA suggest that he is unlikely to maintain his current success, but his 98th percentile Barrel rate and 99th percentile average exit velocity will continue.
Taking the fifth spot on this week's leaderboard is Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani's performances since the All-Star break warrant a spotlight.
A Texas-sized home run for Shohei Ohtani!
118.7 MPH, 443 feet 😱 pic.twitter.com/Jr01NGDnWv
— MLB (@MLB) July 27, 2024
Ohtani was fifth in Barrel% over the past 10 days but was first in average exit velocity by a large margin with 101.0 mph. He had 23 batted ball events in that span, including a 118.7 mph home run at Minute Maid Park against the Houston Astros. Since the break, Ohtani has also ranked fifth in Hard-Hit Percentage among qualified hitters. The Dodgers slugger is a generational talent, and he ranks 99th percentile or higher in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, Barrel%, and Hard-Hit% this season.
It's time to talk about the unsung hero of the Baltimore Orioles lineup, Anthony Santander. Among a lineup of Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and top prospects, Santander rarely gets the credit he deserves for being a stable veteran presence. It's time to take a closer look at his Statcast page.
The 29-year-old slashed .270/.357/.676 with five home runs, 10 runs scored, and 10 RBI in his last 42 plate appearances. Over the past few seasons, Santander has proven himself a decent power source and is already up to 29 home runs this season. The Orioles outfielder does not have an awe-inspiring Statcast page, but he does have 85th percentile Barrel% and 86th percentile xSLG this season. Santander is universally rostered and now is not the time to try to acquire him, but managers who roster him must be happy with his contributions.
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith had a dreadful past ten days at the plate, and we should take a closer look to see if we need to be worried about him moving forward.
Since the All-Star break, Smith has slashed .074/.219/.074 with two runs scored and one RBI in 32 plate appearances. Smith's performances have been disappointing, given what fans are accustomed to seeing from the All-Star catcher. Smith also owned a 31.3% strikeout rate during this recent stretch. His batting average is creeping down towards his xBA of .243. Despite his recent struggles, Smith is still one of the best catchers in baseball. There is a buy-low opportunity here with Smith's recent struggles, and I suggest jumping on it before the window closes.
The last hitter I want to highlight is Luis Robert Jr. The Chicago White Sox outfielder has been the subject of many trade rumors, so now is as good a time as any to highlight his performances.
I'm Ron Burgundy? pic.twitter.com/UtOoXQIPsp
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 25, 2024
Since the All-Star break, the 26-year-old has been ranked 23rd on our top 25 for Barrel%, which is no surprise given his talent. Robert has demonstrated his potential to be a superstar in the league, but he has yet to put it all together for an extended period due to numerous health issues. Despite his potential, Robert has had a rough last 10 days at the plate.
Robert slashed .103/.146/.231 with one home run and two runs scored in his last 41 plate appearances. The White Sox slugger also had a 58.5% strikeout rate in his last 10 games. Despite his recent struggles, teams around the league know the talent he possesses, which makes him an intriguing trade target. With his recent struggles and potential to be moved by the deadline, now would be the time to buy low on Robert.
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