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Hello, RotoBallers, and welcome to our hitter's advanced metrics leaders article for Week 21 of the 2024 fantasy baseball season! Today, we will be taking a look at players like Corey Seager, Jackson Merrill, Jackson Holliday, 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% | |
| Corey Seager | 17 | 94.1 | 107.1 | 6 | 35.3 | |
| Willy Adames | 15 | 96.8 | 106.5 | 5 | 33.3 | |
| Wilyer Abreu | 9 | 96.1 | 106.2 | 3 | 33.3 | |
| Elly De La Cruz | 18 | 98.1 | 114.0 | 6 | 33.3 | |
| Jackson Merrill | 20 | 93.3 | 107.6 | 6 | 30.0 | |
| Ketel Marte | 14 | 93.1 | 105.9 | 4 | 28.6 | |
| Kyle Schwarber | 19 | 97.3 | 114.9 | 5 | 26.3 | |
| Joc Pederson | 16 | 98.3 | 110.9 | 4 | 25.0 | |
| Yordan Alvarez | 20 | 97.3 | 117.0 | 5 | 25.0 | |
| Jazz Chisholm Jr. | 12 | 97.0 | 104.8 | 3 | 25.0 | |
| Jackson Holliday | 16 | 89.0 | 107.2 | 4 | 25.0 | |
| Matt Olson | 17 | 90.0 | 111.0 | 4 | 23.5 | |
| Jake Burger | 17 | 96.5 | 107.7 | 4 | 23.5 | |
| Cal Raleigh | 13 | 89.4 | 107.0 | 3 | 23.1 | |
| Austin Riley | 18 | 98.2 | 113.5 | 4 | 22.2 | |
| Teoscar Hernandez | 19 | 90.5 | 112.9 | 4 | 21.1 | |
| Brandon Lowe | 19 | 91.8 | 108.1 | 4 | 21.1 | |
| Shohei Ohtani | 19 | 91.2 | 117.1 | 4 | 21.1 | |
| Juan Soto | 19 | 97.5 | 115.2 | 4 | 21.1 | |
| Brent Rooker | 15 | 86.5 | 111.3 | 3 | 20.0 | |
| Brenton Doyle | 15 | 90.5 | 106.7 | 3 | 20.0 | |
| Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 21 | 90.3 | 107.0 | 4 | 19.0 | |
| Zach Neto | 21 | 95.1 | 108.1 | 4 | 19.0 | |
| Pete Alonso | 16 | 96.2 | 115.3 | 3 | 18.8 | |
| Alex Verdugo | 17 | 94.4 | 107.9 | 3 | 17.6 | |
Notable Players
This week's king of the leaderboard is Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. The reigning World Series MVP made an impact with several home runs over the past week, so it's time we take a closer look at his profile.
The 30-year-old has had an impressive season, slashing .274/.353/.499 with 25 home runs and 61 RBI through 105 games. Seager's quality of contact metrics also shares a similar story of success with plenty of stats on his Statcast profile, ranking in the 92nd percentile or better among qualified hitters. The Rangers lefty has a .576 slugging percentage, in the 97th percentile among hitters this season.
Seager did not have the most impressive week from a slash line standpoint, as he only batted .200, but his power shined. The superstar shortstop ended the week with four home runs and seven RBI in his last 26 plate appearances. Seager is one of the most talented hitters in baseball, and another impressive week only continued to cement that fact.
Taking the fifth spot on this week's leaderboard is San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill. Not only did Merrill finish the week with a 30% Barrel%, but he was arguably the best baseball hitter over the past seven days.
Merrill slashed .478/.536/1.174 with four home runs and nine RBI over the past seven days. The youngster also demonstrated good plate discipline, recording an equal strikeout and walk rates of 14.3%. Merrill had a good week, but that is just the tip of the iceberg for the top prospect. The Padres outfielder owns a .299 xBA, which ranks in the 95th percentile among qualified hitters this season. Merrill's .515 xSLG shows that he also can hit for power. Merrill is nearly universally rostered; these stats confirm this should be the case.
It's time to discuss the Baltimore Orioles' second baseman, Jackson Holliday. Holliday first entered the league with high hopes before swiftly returning to the minors, but he seems to be better adjusted this time.
Jackson Holliday has gone deep AGAIN
His 4th homer in his last 6 games! pic.twitter.com/6AGuNwiGP9
— MLB (@MLB) August 10, 2024
The top prospect in baseball hardly made a good impression when he was first called up, as he struggled to produce at the plate. Holliday is now up for the second time and doing much better, but still leaving some things to be desired. The young slugger had a strong week, hitting four home runs and collecting six RBI. Despite the excellent counting stats, Holliday only slashed .192/.250/.654 in his last 28 plate appearances. Although seeing the ball clear the outfield wall is nice, now may be an excellent opportunity to capitalize on name value and recent success. I suggest selling high on Holliday in redraft leagues.
New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe had a very down week, but the numbers suggest it may not end soon.
Volpe started the year strong, but he has since faded heavily. Over the past seven days, the Yankees slugger slashed .069/.069/.103 with two runs scored and one RBI. Despite hitting .250 with 11 home runs, Volpe still has one of the saddest Statcast profiles of any qualified hitter this season. The 23-year-old has shown flashes of potential during his hot stretches, followed by sustained periods of mediocrity. I recommend selling high on Volpe to anyone who seems interested.
The last hitter I want to highlight is Zach Neto. The Los Angeles Angels shortstop is one of the younger shortstops in the league, and he has demonstrated that he is one of the better shortstops.
MAGNETO GOES DEEP 💥@Angels | #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/sRxpeNQuBM
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) August 11, 2024
Neto slashed .367/.457/.833 with three home runs, six runs scored, and 10 RBI over the past seven days. The Halos do not have much to play for without superstars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani there to anchor the lineup, but Neto has been a shining light in the abyss. Neto is rostered in most leagues but should be picked up in leagues where he is still available.
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