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Statcast batter leaders in Week 20 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 20 of the 2024 fantasy baseball season! Today, we will be taking a look at players like Byron Buxton, Michael Busch, Matt Chapman, 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% | |
| Byron Buxton | 9 | 98.2 | 106.7 | 4 | 44.4 | |
| Aaron Judge | 13 | 95.2 | 117.5 | 5 | 38.5 | |
| Michael Busch | 16 | 92.6 | 107.5 | 5 | 31.3 | |
| Matt Olson | 13 | 93.6 | 110.1 | 4 | 30.8 | |
| Kyle Schwarber | 10 | 91.6 | 110.2 | 3 | 30.0 | |
| Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 24 | 94.7 | 115.1 | 7 | 29.2 | |
| Michael A. Taylor | 14 | 90.6 | 109.6 | 4 | 28.6 | |
| Royce Lewis | 7 | 90.2 | 108.9 | 2 | 28.6 | |
| Logan O'Hoppe | 14 | 89.7 | 110.2 | 4 | 28.6 | |
| Jose Ramirez | 22 | 96.5 | 108.8 | 6 | 27.3 | |
| Manny Machado | 16 | 91.2 | 108.3 | 4 | 25.0 | |
| Orlando Arcia | 20 | 92.6 | 106.0 | 5 | 25.0 | |
| Jake Bauers | 8 | 80.0 | 101.7 | 2 | 25.0 | |
| Pete Alonso | 12 | 100.3 | 114.7 | 3 | 25.0 | |
| Michael Toglia | 12 | 91.5 | 108.2 | 3 | 25.0 | |
| Jake Burger | 17 | 96.9 | 110.4 | 4 | 23.5 | |
| Brent Rooker | 13 | 99.1 | 109.5 | 3 | 23.1 | |
| Dominic Smith | 14 | 93.4 | 107.3 | 3 | 21.4 | |
| Matt Chapman | 14 | 101.2 | 113.5 | 3 | 21.4 | |
| Shohei Ohtani | 14 | 95.1 | 116.3 | 3 | 21.4 | |
| Eugenio Suarez | 19 | 86.2 | 111.2 | 4 | 21.1 | |
| Corey Seager | 24 | 96.8 | 109.4 | 5 | 20.8 | |
| Joey Bart | 15 | 91.2 | 108.4 | 3 | 20.0 | |
| Jorge Soler | 11 | 95.8 | 108.8 | 2 | 18.2 | |
| Jake Cave | 11 | 88.3 | 106.8 | 2 | 18.2 | |
Notable Players
This week's king of the leaderboard is Minnesota Twins slugger Byron Buxton. Buxton tends to fluctuate between cold and hot streaks, but he's hot right now.
Buck reeled in a big HR and hit the buds!!!!
Reply using #HitTheBuds and #MNTwinsSweepstakes for your chance to win any time a Twins player hits a home run into the bullpen!
Official rules: https://t.co/B2rSLMNdqc pic.twitter.com/pOyWnn24nP
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 3, 2024
The 30-year-old slashed .278/.435/.667 with two home runs, six runs scored, and four RBI over the past week. Buxton has always had the tools to be an elite outfielder in the league but has never quite put it all together for an entire season, primarily due to injuries. The Twins outfielder was placed on the injured list with a knee injury earlier this season, but that hasn't stopped him from putting together one of the best seasons of his career.
Buxton has only played more than 100 games once in 10 seasons, and he has a chance to do that again this season if all goes well. That said, the Minnesota slugger did leave the game yesterday after crashing into the wall to make a catch. Buxton jogged off on his own power, so hopefully, the removal was precautionary, but it is something to watch. Most of Buxton's quality of contact metrics are in the 80th percentile or higher, and his plate discipline statistics are in the 20th percentile or lower. The former second-overall pick is rostered in most leagues, but try to acquire him if you can stomach the possibility of losing him to injury.
Taking the third spot on this week's leaderboard is Cubs first baseman Michael Busch. Busch ended the week with a 31.3% barrel percentage, so he warrants a spotlight here.
Busch slashed .280/.333/.680 with three home runs and six RBI over the past seven days. Despite his hot streak, the young slugger might not be a hitter to depend on. The 26-year-old former Dodgers prospect has an xBA of just .224, well below his actual batting average of .260 this season. Busch also has strikeout and whiff rates over 30% this year. The Cubs' first baseman is a decent source of power, with his 15 home runs, but he may be a victim of regression in the batting average department. I would try to sell high, if possible.
It's time to talk about the San Francisco Giants' veteran third baseman, Matt Chapman. Chapman is one of the hardest-hitting players in the league this season, and it's time we mentioned him here.
The 31-year-old slashed .391/.440/.739 with two home runs, five runs scored, and five RBI in his last 25 plate appearances. Chapman's glove has routinely been more valuable than his bat in his career, but that is not to say that he is a slouch at the plate. Chapman has 172 home runs in eight seasons and a .241 career batting average. His most impressive stat this season is his 95th-percentile average exit velocity of 92.9 mph. The Giants slugger also owns an 87th percentile barrel rate of 12.9%. Oracle Park is not the most hitter-friendly environment, but Chapman is talented enough to move the needle still.
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper had a very down week, so let's see if there is anything to worry about in his batting profile.
Heading into the Sunday night game, it seemed like Harper would finish the week without a single run scored or RBI, but that was not the case. Despite slashing .138/.219/.276 for the past week, the Phillies slugger ended the week on a high note with a three-hit game, including a two-run home run. Despite a rough week at the plate, Harper is still one of the most talented hitters in the league and extremely valuable in fantasy. If the past week opened a buy-low opportunity in your league, by all means, partake in that opportunity.
The last hitter I want to highlight is Isaac Paredes. The Chicago Cubs recently acquired the former Tampa Bay Ray at the deadline, so let's take a look at how he did during his transition to a new team.
Paredes slashed .120/.241/.200 with four runs scored over the past seven days. The hard-hitting third baseman has yet to become accustomed to Wrigley Field, and his hitting metrics do not offer much to be optimistic about. His .215 xBA is 23 points lower than his actual batting average of .238. Paredes' average exit velocity of 84.8 mph ranks in the 2nd percentile among qualified hitters this season. Now would be the time to sell high on Paredes based on his 16 home runs this season and his 31 home run season last year.
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