Hitters Advanced Metrics Leaders for Barrel% - Fantasy Baseball Studs and Duds (Week 22)

Hello, RotoBallers, and welcome to our hitter's advanced metrics leaders article for Week 22 of the 2024 fantasy baseball season! Today, we will be taking a look at players like Juan Soto, Ian Happ, Randy Arozarena, 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.

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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.

Barrel% Leaders

Notable Players

This week's leaderboard king is New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto. It is well known that Soto is one of the best hitters in baseball, but it's time we remind ourselves just how good he truly is.

The Yankees superstar is slashing .300/.432/.535 with 34 home runs this season, and he is still underperforming his expected stats. Soto is the best-qualified hitter in several Statcast categories, including xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, Barrel%, and walk rate.

Pairing Soto with Aaron Judge arguably creates the most fearsome twosome in baseball. The Yankees slugger is universally rostered, but he topped our leaderboard and hit .300 with six home runs in the past week, so he demanded attention.

Taking the fourth spot on this week's leaderboard is Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ. Happ finished the week with three home runs and five RBI, so it's time we finally talk about him.

The 30-year-old switch hitter slashed .333/.455/.889 with three home runs and five RBI in the past seven days. Throughout his career, Happ has been a serviceable bat in the Chicago lineup, and this season is no different.

Happ is hitting .232 this season with 22 home runs and nine stolen bases through 494 plate appearances. The former first-round pick has already eclipsed his home run total of 21 from last season in about 200 fewer plate appearances.

Outside of power, though, Happ has been a bit disappointing. The veteran hitter has a 27.1% strikeout rate and .236 xBA this season. Fantasy managers can rely on Happ for some power and speed but not much else.

It's time to discuss a Seattle Mariners outfielder, Randy Arozarena. Since arriving in Seattle, Arozarena has yet to impress in the batter's box, but we will find out if that trend should continue.

The first thing that stands out when looking at Arozarena's profile is his 14th percentile xBA of .225. This stat is discouraging since his actual batting average currently sits at .216 this season.

This stat and his profile offer little optimism for Arozarena managers moving forward. Over the past week, the Mariners slugger hit .095 with a 0% Barrel% and two RBI in his last 26 plate appearances.

If the opportunity arises to sell high-ish on Arozarena based on name value and his production in seasons past, I would jump on that opportunity as fast as possible.

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Leo Jimenez found himself on this week's leaderboard, so let's check if he has any staying power.

Jimenez has not garnered enough plate appearances to be a qualified hitter this season, but his numbers within a small sample size have not been inspiring. The rookie did manage to finish the week with a 20% Barrel%, so he is worth a mention.

The 23-year-old found himself tied for 12th on the leaderboard this week, but he had by far the lowest average and max exit velocities of anyone on the list, with 80.7 mph and 99.9 mph, respectively.

Jimenez was also tied for the fewest batted ball events to qualify for the leaderboard this week. The Blue Jays prospect had a decent week but may not be a fantasy viable option this season.

The last hitter I want to highlight is David Peralta. The San Diego Padres outfielder may still have something left in the tank, so he is worth bringing up.

Peralta has hit .333/.385/.708 with two home runs and six RBI over the past seven days. The veteran outfielder is also not a qualified hitter yet, but if he were, his .277 xBA would be well worth highlighting.

Throughout his career, Peralta has been among the game's best contact hitters, and he has a career batting average of .279 with 11 seasons under his belt.

Peralta has been playing a nearly everyday role for the Padres for the past few weeks, and he could be an interesting streaming option for teams needing a batting average boost.

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