X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Statcast Leaderboard - Exit Velocity Midseason Review

garrett cooper fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers waiver wire pickups

Statcast batter leaderboard in the middle of the 2021 MLB season according to exit velocity and barrels. Pierre Camus reviews the midseason leaders on offense.

It's All-Star time, sadly. I say that because there is precious little baseball to watch this week. This presents the opportunity for reflection, so we will once again look back on the first half leaderboard for Statcast.

This time, we will review the top players in average exit velocity, hard hit rate, and barrels. As with last week's analysis of expected stats leaders, I will focus on the surprising players who appear in order to gauge their fantasy value going forward.

All Statcast metrics are current as of July 11, 2021 and data/graphs are taken from BaseballSavant.mlb.com

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Average Exit Velocity

First, a look at the overall exit velocity leaders. There are few surprises at the top.

In last week's expected stats midyear review, I reviewed Evan Longoria and Patrick Wisdom so that leaves Darin Ruf.

Ruf had a strong May before succumbing to injury and missing almost a month of action. He's back and heating up again with three HR and seven RBI in the week leading up to the All-Star break. He's powered up equally against lefties and righties, but it should be noted he's batting .327 against left-handers and .219 against right-handers. While exit velocity alone isn't always telling of power production, he's coupling it with a 41.6% SweetSpot%. That has made for a 16.7% Brls/BBE rate that is tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Not too shabby.

The reason Ruf is hard to count on in fantasy is lack of consistent playing time. The Giants rotate players at nearly every position and Ruf is going to split time between 1B and OF with guys like LaMonte Wade Jr., Steven Duggar, and Alex Dickerson. He's a strong DFS play when in the lineup against LHP, but best left alone in 12-team or shallower leagues.

We've discussed this earlier in the season but a better indicator of power is exit velocity on fly balls and line drives. Again, you'll see Shohei Ohtani, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and the like on here. However, we also see some intriguing names.

Bobby Bradley was highlighted in last week's article on xSLG leaders. Here he is again in the top-10 for FB/LD exit velocity. You'd think he would be more than 13% rostered across Yahoo leagues. The Cleveland offense is mostly a punchline these days after getting no-hit again, but Bradley is one of the exceptions.

One of these things is not like the other... Chad Pinder sticks out like a sore thumb on this list, as does Wisdom, although he did post a 92.3 MPH average exit velocity in 2020. However, he only homered twice last year and has all of three homers in 134 at-bats this year. He is rocking fly balls and line drives, but when you have a 54.7% ground ball rate then it's not quite as meaningful. There's not much to see here so let's move on.

 

Barrels

Bobby Dalbec is getting a shot to stick in the potent Red Sox lineup every day but it's in the eighth or ninth spot. He's been quiet as of late, not going deep yet in July. He does have a top-15 barrel rate and boasts a .474 xwoBACON, so there could be better days to come if his contact rate improves. That's a big if, though. His 68.1% Zone Contact% is 14 points lower than league average and his Chase Contact% is farther off with a 17-point gap. He's a pure slugger right now and one that could binge homers if he locks in but could also pile up 0-fers on a regular basis. Be prepared to stream if he figures things out but he's just a bench stash for now.

One look at Mike Zunino's Statcast sliders says it all:

He's an elite defensive catcher with extraordinary pull-side power and a big hole in his swing. Only one of his 37 base hits this season has gone to the opposite field and 16 of his 19 home runs cleared the left-field fence, with the other three in left-center. It's tough to swallow a .198 average, but few catchers will reach 30 HR this year like he could.

 

Hard Hit Rate

I'd like to direct your attention to the bottom of this list where Max Stassi and Josh Bell have joined the company of players like Rafael Devers, Nelson Cruz, and Ronald Acuna Jr. ?

In his age-30 season, Max Stassi is finally developing an offensive game. He entered the season as a defense-first backstop and career .231 batting average in a supposed timeshare with Kurt Suzuki. Instead, Stassi is slashing .296/.377/.496 and has an impressive 54.5% HardHit% to go with his above-average framing rate in the 74th percentile. Meanwhile, Suzuki is batting .219 with a 29.2% HardHit% and inferior framing rate in the 3rd percentile. Stassi will keep Suzuki on the bench most nights and is proving to be a solid option in two-catcher leagues.

By Statcast accounts, Josh Bell is back. He's posting numbers fairly close to his breakout 2019 in terms of exit velocity and expected slash line. His 54% HardHit% is far higher than two years ago, in fact.

While he's only gone deep once in July, his batting average has gone up each successive month of the 2021 season and he's underperforming his xBA by a full 35 points. A strong 25.1% line drive rate promises for continued success in that regard, which would be a relief after last year's .226 batting average. Bell is not what he showed last year, although he may not reach the heights of 2019 either.

Just outside the top-20 among hitters with at least 50 batted-ball events and out of view of this leaderboard lies Garrett Cooper. He should be of interest to fantasy managers throughout the second half. His 52.5% HardHit% ranks in the top seven percentile and his .474 xwoBACON is similarly high. With Corey Dickerson traded and Starling Marte potentially on the move, Cooper should see regular time in right field and has been holding down the third spot in the lineup.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!



More Statcast & Fantasy Baseball Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Wilyer Abreu

Sitting Versus Southpaw
Luis Gil

Begins Throwing Program
Nolan Schanuel

Absent On Sunday
Devin Williams

Removed From Closer Role
Jeff McNeil

Sitting Out Versus Southpaw
Francisco Alvarez

Resting On Sunday
Colt Keith

Takes A Seat On Sunday
Cade Smith

Earns Third Save
Will Vest

Collects Third Save
Emilio Pagán

Emilio Pagan Notches Seventh Save On Saturday
Yusei Kikuchi

Highly Ineffective In Early Exit On Saturday
Jonathan Cannon

Strikes Out Five In Win
Ben Williamson

Drives In Four In Two-Hit Game
Luis Robert Jr.

Homers, Swipes A Bag On Saturday
Garrett Mitchell

Headed To IL With Oblique Strain
Chase Elliott

Is One OF The Top Overall DFS Picks Of The Week
Joey Logano

Could Joey Logano Finish A Race With A Top Finish At Talladega?
NASCAR

DFS Players Should Like Bubba Wallace For Talladega This Week
Christopher Bell

Should DFS Players Roster Christopher Bell At Talladega?
Austin Cindric

Is Austin Cindric Worth Rostering For Talladega DFS Lineups?
Shane Van Gisbergen

Is A Solid, Safe, DFS Choice For Talladega Lineups
Austin Dillon

Is Austin Dillon A Viable DFS Play At Talladega This Week?
Josh Berry

Qualifies Too High At Talladega To Be Worth Rostering In DFS
Michael McDowell

Should DFS Players Take A Shot On Michael McDowell At Talladega?
Noah Gragson

Could Be A Sneaky DFS Play For Talladega
William Nylander

Posts Two Assists In Losing Effort
Denny Hamlin

Probably Qualified Too Well for DFS Consideration
Kyle Larson

Increasingly Undervalued Due to His Crashing, but Still a Great DFS Option
Kyle Busch

Nearly Always Leads at Talladega, but Rarely Leads Much
Tyler Reddick

Drafting Track Record Worse Than It Looks
Daniel Suarez

Likely Motivated at Talladega Since Trackhouse Cars Likely Too Slow for Him to Win On Regular Tracks
Ryan Preece

Qualifies Fourth Due to Ford Dominance, but Don't Expect Him to Finish There
Justin Haley

Qualifies 37th in First Race After Rodney Childers's Departure
Chase Briscoe

Post-Daytona 500 Penalty Results in Much Worse Talladega Qualifying for Chase Briscoe
Alex Bowman

Starting Too Well for Place Differential Points, but Not Well Enough for Leader Points
Chris Buescher

Qualifies Sixth Thanks to Ford Dominance, but Probably Won't Lead Enough to Be Valuable in DFS
Ty Gibbs

Despite Current Momentum, Ty Gibbs Qualified Too Well for DFS Consideration
Jake Sanderson

Keeps Senators Alive With Overtime Winner
Mackenzie Blackwood

Records First Postseason Shutout
Gabriel Landeskog

Scores First Goal In Nearly Three Years
Ivan Barbashev

Gives Vegas Vital Win
Nikita Kucherov

Records Three Assists In Game 3 Win
Troy Stecher

Cleared For Sunday
Luis Castillo

Throws Six Shutout Frames On Saturday
Zach Neto

Homers, Swipes Three Bags
Austin Hays

Smacks Two Homers On Saturday
Jorge Polanco

Goes Deep Twice On Saturday
Rafael Devers

Homers, Gets On Base Five Times Across Doubleheader
Eugenio Suárez

Eugenio Suarez Hits Four Homers On Saturday
Jimmy Butler III

Ruled Out On Saturday
Isaiah Stewart

Questionable For Sunday's Game
Jaylen Brown

Questionable For Game 4
Jrue Holiday

Won't Play On Sunday
Quinn Ewers

Dolphins Select Quinn Ewers In Seventh Round
Brenden Dillon

Out On Sunday
Mitchell Robinson

Questionable For Game 4 Versus Detroit
Luke Hughes

To Remain Out On Sunday
Michael Porter Jr.

Available On Saturday Night
Aliaksei Protas

Practices Fully On Saturday
Russell Westbrook

Won't Suit Up For Game 4
Gabriel Vilardi

A Game-Time Decision For Sunday
Oskar Bäck

Oskar Back A Game-Time Call On Saturday
Ross Colton

Unavailable Saturday
Miro Heiskanen

Remains Out Saturday
Riley Leonard

Drafted By Colts Saturday
Will Howard

Steelers Select Will Howard In Sixth Round Of NFL Draft
Kyle McCord

Eagles Add Kyle McCord To Quarterback Room
Ollie Gordon II

Miami Adds Ollie Gordon II To Backfield
Oronde Gadsden II

Chargers Add KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Oronde Gadsden II To Offense
DJ Giddens

Colts Add DJ Giddens To Backfield
Jaydon Blue

Dallas Cowboys Draft Jaydon Blue In Fifth Round
Jordan Watkins

49ers Add Jordan Watkins To Offense
Shedeur Sanders

Browns Trade Up To Select Shedeur Sanders In The Fifth Round
Sam Howell

Seahawks Trade Sam Howell To Vikings
Elic Ayomanor

Titans Continue To Address Offense, Select Elic Ayomanor
Jalen Royals

Chiefs Bolster Receiver Room With Jalen Royals
Jaylin Lane

Commanders Add Jaylin Lane To Wide Receiver Room
Dylan Sampson

Browns Select Dylan Sampson With 126th Pick
Gunnar Helm

Titans Use Fourth-Round Pick On Gunnar Helm
Jarquez Hunter

Rams Select Jarquez Hunter In Fourth Round
Woody Marks

Texans Trade Up For Woody Marks
Arian Smith

Jets Select Arian Smith In Fourth Round
Trevor Etienne

Panthers Select Trevor Etienne 114th Overall
Cam Skattebo

Giants Take CFP Darling Cam Skattebo
Darius Garland

Won't Suit Up For Game 3
Darius Garland

Unavailable For Pregame Warmup
Jrue Holiday

Classified As "Day-To-Day"
Jacob Markstrom

Ends Losing Spell Friday
Cole Caufield

Collects Two Points In Friday's Win
Connor McDavid

Totals Three Points In Game 3 Win
Johnathan Kovacevic

Exits Early Friday
Sam Montembeault

Suffers Lower-Body Injury Friday
Logan Thompson

Exits Loss With Injury
Brandon Hagel

Suspended For Game 3
Brandin Podziemski

Not On Injury Report For Game 3
Jimmy Butler III

Warriors Optimistic About Jimmy Butler III Playing Saturday
Jae'Sean Tate

To Remain Out Saturday
Jock Landale

Unavailable For Game 3
Terry Rozier

Out On Saturday
Jrue Holiday

Ruled Out For Friday Night's Game 3 Against Orlando
Kevin Love

To Miss Saturday's Game
Jaylen Brown

Available For Friday Night's Game 3 Against Magic
Gary Payton II

Iffy For Saturday's Action
Jayson Tatum

Officially Available On Friday For Game 3 Against Magic
Luke Kennard

Questionable For Game 4 On Saturday
Carlos Prates

Looks To Remain Undefeated In The UFC
Ian Machado Garry

Set For UFC Kansas City Main Event
Zhang Mingyang

Scheduled For Co-Main Event
Anthony Smith

Set For His Final UFC Bout
David Onama

Set For Featherweight Bout
Giga Chikadze

Looks To Bounce Back
Abus Magomedov

Looks For His Third Consecutive Win
Michel Pereira

Returns To Action At UFC Kansas City
Nicolas Dalby

An Underdog At UFC Kansas City
Randy Brown

A Favorite At UFC Kansas City
Andre Muniz

Set To Open Up UFC Kansas City Main Card
Ikram Aliskerov

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Cam Davis

Looking For Better Fortunes At TPC Louisiana
Adam Svensson

Making Third Apperence At Zurich Classic
Max Greyserman

Aiming For Similar Success At TPC Louisiana
Lee Hodges

A High-Upside Player In New Orleans
PGA

Nico Echavarria Looks To Ride Off Of Elite Putting In New Orleans
Gary Woodland

A Player Worth Watching In New Orleans
Max McGreevy

Returns To The Zurich Classic Of New Orleans
Rasmus Hojgaard

In Search Of Consistency Ahead Of Zurich Classic
Sam Stevens

A Boom-Or-Bust Candidate In New Orleans
Nicolai Hojgaard

Looking To Turn Season Around At Zurich Classic
Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Looks To Sway A Hot Putter In Teams Favor At Zurich Classic
Akshay Bhatia

Looking To Bounce Back At TPC Louisiana
Carson Young

Looks To Turn Things Around At TPC Louisiana
Erik Van Rooyen

Looking For Momentum In Louisiana
Andrew Novak

Making Start At TPC Louisiana After Near Miss At Harbour Town
Ben Griffin

Making Third Career Start At Zurich Classic
Taylor Moore

Competing With A New Teammate In New Orleans
Wyndham Clark

Making Return To New Orleans
Kurt Kitayama

Teeing It Up Again In New Orleans
Collin Morikawa

Back At Zurich Classic For Fifth Time
Thomas Detry

Making Third Appearance At New Orleans Team Event
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF