Loading…
Highest Barrel Rate in MLB 2025
Source MLB StatcastSeason 2025 (archive)249 qualified hitters
Aaron Judge led MLB in barrel rate in 2025 at 24.8%. The top three were Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, from Statcast data.
Play free · no signup · 2025 archive
Square it up like Judge
Aaron Judge led 2025. Play a half-inning in our Statcast-driven sim with today's leaders: the same kind of numbers drive every card's rating.
What barrel rate measures
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. Qualified hitters meet MLB Statcast's default qualified minimum for Statcast batted-ball leaderboards (2.1 plate appearances per team game, roughly 340 over a 162-game season).
Why barrel rate matters
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.
This archive captures the 2025 season as it ended; for the live, nightly-updated leaderboard see Highest Barrel Rate in MLB.
Questions
Who led MLB in barrel rate in 2025?
Aaron Judge led MLB in barrel rate in 2025 at 24.8%. The top three were Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, based on Statcast data.
What is barrel rate in baseball?
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. Qualified hitters meet MLB Statcast's default qualified minimum for Statcast batted-ball leaderboards (2.1 plate appearances per team game, roughly 340 over a 162-game season).