J.D. Martinez
- Brls/PA – 18.2
- AvgEV – 95.4 MPH
- MaxEV – 112.6 MPH
- 95 MPH+ – 31
- wRC+ – 136
- .307/.333/.560
The Boston Red Sox slugger was their prized free agent acquisition this winter. Brought in to add the middle of the order threat the team lacked in 2017, Martinez has done exactly what he was paid to do. His Brls/PA is 1st in the majors, he’s 6th in AvgEV, his 112.6 MPH blast is the 57th hardest MaxEV of the year, and he’s tied for 7th in balls hit 95 MPH or harder. While his wRC+ isn’t tops in the game, his league-leading Brls/PA suggests there may be some room for improvement in his results on balls in play, despite his .400 BABIP.
No one in baseball is making high-quality contact more often than Martinez, and few are hitting the ball as hard as often. This is what the Red Sox were looking for when they signed him. And with the improvements from the four top hitters on this list, we could be in for a wild ride this summer.
Hanley Ramirez
- Brls/PA – 7.7
- AvgEV – 92.2 MPH
- MaxEV – 117.5 MPH
- 95 MPH+ – 27
- wRC+ – 137
- .314/.372/.500
Hanley Ramirez has the second hardest hit baseball of the season at 117.5 MPH. That’s just .4 MPH behind the leader, Aaron Judge. His 92.2 MPH AvgEV is 34th in the majors. He’s got 3 HR and 3 SB so far, and his 137 wRC+ has him tied for 45th in the majors with Jose Ramirez and Matt Davidson.
In short, this is what a healthy Hanley can do. The question, as always, is whether he’ll stay healthy all season and that, unfortunately, is much harder to stay confident about. That said, he’s been absolutely smoking the ball so far, and if this continues, expect the next guy to continue to scrape for PAs despite his success.
Mitch Moreland
- Brls/PA – 8.9
- AvgEV – 93.8 MPH
- MaxEV – 114.3 MPH
- 95 MPH+ – 20
- wRC+ – 171
- .349/.408/.605
Mitch Moreland is on a hot streak. As great as it is to see him with the 17th best wRC+ in baseball, he’s not quite this good. For his career, he is an almost perfectly league average hitter at a 99 wRC+, and his BABIP is an unsustainable .371 when compared to his career .287. So regression is coming.
That said, he’s been an incredibly productive hitter so far with the 24th hardest MaxEV of the season and the 15th highest AvgEV. Mitchy-Two Bags his hitting the ball well and is doing so hard enough to suggest he’s fully recovered from the injuries that plagued him in 2017.
While that doesn’t mean he’s going to be a Mike Trout-level hitter going forward, it could mean a solidly above average year from him in a part-time role, a la Mike Carp in 2013. Doing so while providing excellent defense could make Moreland one of the best bench assets in the game.