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Aaron Judge led MLB in barrel rate in 2023 at 27.5%. The top three were Aaron Judge, Bobby Dalbec, Nelson Velázquez, based on Statcast data from Baseball Savant.
Barrel rate (also called barrel percentage or barrel%) is the percentage of a hitter's batted balls that fall into the "barrel" zone — a combination of exit velocity and launch angle that historically produces a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage. A barrel requires at least 98 mph exit velocity paired with a launch angle window that opens wider as velocity climbs. This is the cleanest single metric for elite power contact quality, separating hitters who merely hit the ball hard from those who hit it hard in the air.
Judge, Soto, and Ohtani lead off vs. a Cy Young CPU pitcher. Three outs or three runs — whichever comes first. Real Statcast pitch-by-pitch sim, ~30 seconds. No download, no signup, no card pack to open.
Barrel rate is one of the stickiest year-over-year Statcast stats for hitters, which makes it a stronger forecaster than raw HR/AB. Elite hitters typically post barrel rates above 10%; league average is around 6%. This board surfaces the hitters most likely to sustain power production regardless of batted-ball luck.
Data source: MLB Statcast via Baseball Savant. This archive captures the 2023 season as it ended; for the live, nightly-updated leaderboard see Highest Barrel Rate in MLB.