MLB stats: Combining contact and exit velocity for MLB’s hardest hitters

These 25 players are the MLB’s best at combining velocity off the bat with consistent contact

Because it quantifies how hard a player hits the ball, exit velocity is one of the most informative of MLB’s new statistics. Anybody who has spent any time at all at third base understands the difference between fielding a routine ground ball and fielding a rocket.

The statistic is pretty straightforward. It’s a measure of the average velocity of the ball off the bat. In general, hitters recognized as among MLB’s elite hit the ball harder than “average” players.

The Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton, for example, is famous – pitchers might say notorious – for his exit velocity. In 2018, he averaged 93.7 mph off the bat. In all of baseball, only two hitters exceeded that. They were Joey Gallo, at 93.9, and Stanton’s teammate, Aaron Judge, 94.7.

However, exit velocity remains imperfect in performing its mission. Its essential flaw is that it only factors in balls that are actually hit. Exit velocity ignores the increasingly common instances when a batter strikes out. In assessing batter performance, this can lead to false readings.

Gallo’s 93.9 mph exit velocity for the 2018 Rangers only considers the 293 times when he made contact. But Gallo had 500 official at-bats in 2018, in 41 percent of them his exit velocity didn’t average 93.9 mph; it averaged zero mph because he fanned.

A true valuation of a player’s Exit Velocity Per At Bat cannot ignore those results.

Below we’ve identified the 25 players who, during the 2018 season, had the highest Exit Velocity Per At Bat. The calculation is simple. Multiply each player’s exit velocity by the number of times he actually hit the ball, and divide the result by total at bats.

(One note of clarification: In this rating, we use official at-bats rather than plate appearances in order to provide a measurement structure that is identical to the one used to calculate exit velocity.)

To use Giancarlo Stanton as an example, his 93.7 mph exit velocity came on 406 batting contacts. 406 x 93.7 = 38,042.2. Stanton had 617 official at-bats. 38,042.2 / 617 = 61.7. That makes Stanton’s Exit Velocity Per At Bat 61.7 mph.
For point of reference, the average major league Exit Velocity Per At Bat is about 68 mph.
This top 25 list will underscore the brilliance of some players while casting a few occasionally overlooked ones – such as the major league’s No. 1 in Exit Velocity Per At Bat – in an entirely new light.

25. Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox, 74.6 mph

Compared with teammates Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, Bogaerts’s 2018 batting season may have been easy to overlook. In fact, he hit a totally acceptable .288 with a .360 on-base average, producing 45 doubles, 23 home runs, and 103 RBIs. He had never before driven in 90. The double and home run totals were also career bests.

He did it with improved bat speed. Xander Bogaerts produced a 90.5 average exit velocity, three mph better than his 2017 average. He also produced a very good 9.8 percent barrel rate.

It also represented a substantial one-season improvement from Bogaerts’ previous numbers. In 2017, his 87.3 mph exit velocity came with a 79.7 percent contact rate that matched his career average. In 2018 he raised that contact rate to 82.4 percent.

Since Bogaerts is only 26, it’s reasonable to assume there remains room for improvement, which could be a scary proposition for those rooting against the world champs.

If you like home runs, he also improved his launch angle, to an average of 12.7 degrees. Until 2018 he had averaged about 10 degrees. That doesn’t put him in the “majestic arc” class, and it’s not likely Bogaerts will ever be primarily a power hitter. But he’s gravitating in that general direction.

23. Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals, 75.3 mph

Yadier Molina is one of the game’s recognized stars, and – entering his age 36 season – one of the Cardinals elder statesmen. He is justifiably recognized for his durability, which included catching 123 games in 2018 and getting 503 plate appearances.

His official exit velocity was 88 mph. That came in 459 at-bats and resulted in a .261 average plus a ninth All-Star Game appearance. It also represented Molina’s highest exit velocity since the measurement came into existence in 2015; he has generally averaged about 87 mph.

But that exit velocity is made more impressive by Molina’s low strikeout rate. He whiffed only 66 times in those 459 at bats last season. That’s common for Molina, who in his 15-season career has never fanned as many as 75 times in a season.

In fact, his 86 percent contact rate – measured against official at-bats, not all plate appearances – was actually low when measured against his 89 percent career rate. For comparison, the National League contact rate last year failed to reach 75 percent.

The combination verifies Molina’s reputation as a guy who puts bat to ball frequently and hits it hard when he does so. Even scarier for NL opponents, his exit velocity doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

22. Maikel Franco, Philadelphia Phillies, 75.5 mph

Some of the off-season speculation in Philadelphia – at least that not involving Bryce Harper or Manny Machado – focused on whether the Phillies would be able to dump Maikel Franco. Having failed in that respect, they’ve written Franco back into his accustomed position as the team’s third baseman.

The Phillies may not realize how fortunate they were to do so.

Franco’s 2018 exit velocity was 88.1 mph, a performance that qualifies as decent but less than overwhelming. It helped him produce 22 home runs and a .270 batting average in 433 official at-bats, but with unimpressive on base or slugging numbers.

What Franco is learning to do is put the bat on the ball consistently and with relative force. He struck out only 62 times in those 433 at-bats, an 87 percent contact rate that marked an improvement on his 85 and 83 percent contact rates of the previous two seasons.

That improvement did come with a tradeoff in terms of a 1.0 to 1.5 mph loss of exit velocity compared with those same seasons. But it raised his Exit Velocity Per At Bat by 1 to 2 mph, from 73.3 mph and 74.2 mph in 2016 and 2017 respectively. In short, Franco is learning to actually hit the ball.

21. Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians, 75.6 mph

Lindor’s 90.2 mph exit velocity marked his first season above 90 mph. He’s generally measured in the low-mid 88s. The results showed up in his .290 extra-base hit average, among the top seven percent in the American League.

That, of course, was hardly the extent of Lindor’s production. He hit. 277, but added a .352 on-base average and .519 slugging average. He ranked among the top five in most offensive categories, no big surprise given his sixth place status in the Most Valuable Player voting.

He was an All-Star for the third straight season.

Francisco Lindor did strike out 107 times, but that came in a league-leading 745 official at-bats, contributing to an 86 percent strikeout rate. That’s typically good plate discipline for him, and exceptional discipline for a player only now entering his age-25 season. Plate discipline is frequently a learned skill.

Lindor’s star status suggests it would not be a surprise if he moved even farther up on this list in future seasons. His immediate challenge, though, will be to invigorate an Indians offense that appears relatively anemic in comparison with its more highly respected pitching staff. Toward that end, he’ll have the assistance of a teammate who occupies a higher position on this list.

20. Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers, 76.0 mph

At 89.2 mph, Justin Turner’s actual average exit velocity falls just below the 90 mph milestone that in many fans’ minds distinguishes the truly powerful hitters. His batting stats, however, tell a different and borderline elite story.

In 2018 he turned in a .312 batting average with a .924 OPS.
Perhaps the only criticism was that for the second consecutive season injuries limited his availability, this time to 103 games.

Turner’s exit velocity has been typical for him; in the three other seasons the stat has been available, he’s finished between 89.3 and 90.5 mph.

He also controlled his strikeout rate, whiffing only 54 times in 365 official at bats. That’s an 85.3 percent contact rate, excellent by contemporary standards.

Ten seasons into his major league career and entering his age 34 season, Turner is a mature hitter whose contact-related skills don’t figure to change much. His 14 home runs did mark a decline from the 27 and 21 he’s hit in each of the previous two seasons, but his .851 slugging average is on par with the .493 and .530 averages he produced the past two seasons.

The Dodgers enter 2019 without either Yasiel Puig or Matt Kemp, leaving Turner as the most likely person to fill the role of the veteran star on the two-time National League champions.

T-18. Jason Heyward, Chicago Cubs, 76.1 mph

Since the Cubs signed Jason Heyward to an eight-year, $184 million contract prior to the 2016 season, his performance has been routinely ridiculed relative to the dollar value of that contract. He’s averaged roughly a .260 batting average, with about nine home runs and about 55 RBIs per season.

It’s a fair critique, particularly given Heyward’s WAR figures for the Cubs, which have run between 1.3 and 2.3. That makes him basically an average major leaguer. But the intimate cohort of Heyward’s friends can point to two positive aspects of his performance, not the least of which is the fact that the Cubs did actually win a World Series with Heyward as a regular in the lineup.

The other upside to Heyward is his contact reliability. His 88.1 mph exit velocity during 2018 is basically average by MLB standards but looks decent compared with Heyward’s 87.4 mph career average. He also improved his contact rate, to 87.9 percent from 82.5 and 86.1 percent the previous two seasons. His 60 strikeouts last season represented a career low.

In SABRmetric numbers, Heyward may never justify that $184 million deal. But after gaining 30 points on his batting average in 2017, he gained another 11 points in 2018. Part of the reason for that probably has to do with his improving contact rate.

T-18. Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox, 76.1 mph

The American League’s Most Valuable Player enjoyed a league-leading .346 batting average and .640 slugging average in 2018. Not surprisingly for a hitter of Betts’s reputation, he posted 92.3 mph average exit velocity.

The World Series champs’ lineup is chock full of impressive exit velocities; Mookie Betts trails J.D. Martinez (93 mph) on his own team, and four other projected 2019 starters – Mitch Moreland, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley, Jr., and Rafael Devers – topped 90 mph.

In terms of Exit Velocity Per At Bat, the difference between Betts and his teammates lay in his ability to put the ball in play.

Compared with the American League’s 24.4 percent strikeout average, the Red Sox did well in that respect, fanning just 22 percent of the time. But Betts was better yet, with a 17.5 percent strikeout rate. He was the only full-time Red Sox starter to whiff fewer than 100 times.

Betts’s exit velocity marked about a three mph step up from his previous seasonal averages, all of which were in the 89 mph range. He coupled that with a 14.1 percent barrel contact rate, one of the top performances in that measurement in the American League. Those numbers may provide the simplest explanation for why Mookie had such a fine season; he hit the ball harder and more consistently.

17. Alex Bregman, Houston Astros, 76.4 mph

Alex Bregman produced a .926 OPS for the Astros in 2018, nearly 100 points better than his previous best. That was due in part to a league-leading 51 doubles accompanied by 31 home runs. Bregman drove in 103 runs.

An 89.3 mph exit velocity, two mph better than his 2017 season, had something to do with his increasing plate ferocity. But so did his plate tenacity. Bregman struck out only 14 percent of the time, well below the league average and noticeably better than his 17 percent average from just one year earlier.

That’s been a focus for Bregman since arriving in Houston; he had a 26 percent strikeout rate as a rookie in 2016.

Since Bregman will only be 25 in 2019, there’s no particular reason to believe his plate discipline is approaching a plateau. It’s asking a lot in the current game for a power hitter to maintain a k-rate under 15 percent, but if Bregman can do it, as hard as he hits the ball he is on course to be one of the game’s most persistently dangerous hitters.

The combination of contact rate plus exit velocity seems to be something the Astros particularly covet. He is one of three Astros on this list; only one other team, the Cubs, have that many, and Houston’s collectively rank higher.

T-15. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres, 76.5 mph

In Manny Machado, the Padres got a player who routinely averages above a 90 mph exit velocity. Beyond that, he’s improving, lifting his exit velocity from 90.3 in 2016 to 90.9 and then to 91.6 last season.

Machado and Bryce Harper were routinely labeled as the two prime free agents this past off-season. From a contact standpoint, Machado was plainly the superior catch. He had an 83.6 percent contact rate in 2018; Harper’s contact rate was a very pedestrian 75.7 percent.

You could see the improvement in Machado’s stat line. He matched his career high with 37 home runs, he drove in a career-best 107 runs. His .905 OPS was also a career best.

The Padres will be counting on Machado to deliver the same level of performance because their two other high-dollar parts, Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers, have not recently operated on the same level. Hosmer’s 2018 exit velocity was an acceptable but unspectacular 88.8 mph, and while Myers did top 90 mph, he also struck out 30 percent of the time.

The closest the Padres have to Machado in terms of combining exit velocity with contact rate is veteran second baseman Ian Kinsler. But Kinsler will be 37 in 2019 and should be entering the decline phase in his career, in velocity if not contact rate.

T-15. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians, 76.5 mph

If it’s possible to win a division championship with only two proven bats, Lindor and Ramirez would be those two.

Jose Ramirez is a living, walking illustration of the fact that exit velocity isn’t everything. In 2018 he produced 39 home runs and 105 RBIs with a .939 OPS. He did that on an 88.8 mph exit velocity that qualifies as good but not great.
That’s been typical of Ramirez, who has lived in the 88 mph velocity range since 2016.

At the plate, Ramirez gives nothing away. He had an 86.2 percent contact rate in 2018, completely in keeping with his career 87.4 rate. When you put the ball in play, even if you don’t absolutely flatten it, good things can happen.

What the Indians need to do, obviously, is find one or two parts capable of supporting Ramirez and Lindor. Indians fans have been waiting for Tyler Naquin, the favorite to win the starting spot in right field, to develop. He had an 89 mph exit velocity last season but only a 75.8 percent contact rate. DH Carlos Santana could be the guy; he produced an 88.8 mph exit velocity and an 83.3 percent contact rate.

Whether Cleveland pitchers can count on them will be seen; the credentials of Ramirez and Lindor are well-established.

14. Anthony Rendon, Washington Nationals, 76.6 mph

Assuming Bryce Harper does not return to the Nationals, Anthony Rendon is the likely heir to the role of lineup centerpiece. He’s well-prepared to fill that role.

Rendon produced a 90.6 mph exit velocity in 2018, a season in which he batted .308 with a .374 on-base average and .535 slugging average. He led the National League in doubles with 44 and added 24 home runs, accounting for his .305 extra-base percentage, among the league’s best.

He also brings an improving contact rate to the game. Rendon hit the ball in 84.5 percent of his official at-bats last season, improving from 79.4 percent in 2016 and 83.9 percent in 2017. His career average is 81.8 percent and rapidly climbing. He doesn’t rank among the game’s elite in contact rate, but he’s getting there.

Only two major leaguers in 2018 combined a plus 90 mph exit velocity with a plus 85 percent contact rate. Both are veterans generally viewed as beyond their primes – and both, by the way, will soon show up later on this list. Rendon isn’t quite at their level yet, but he’s close. He’s also just entering his age 29 season, making his ceiling an especially desirable one.

13. Jean Segura, Philadelphia Phillies, 76.8 mph

With the Mariners last season, Jean Segura produced a solid 4.3 WAR comprised of a .304/.341/.415 slash line and 178 base hits. For that, the Mariners sent him (plus a couple of additional pieces) to the Phillies for James Pazos, J.P. Crawford, and Carlos Santana, who they turned over to the Indians for Edwin Encarnacion.

Factoring everything into the equation, Segura was probably the best part of the deal. He’ll be at shortstop this season for the Phillies.

Segura made his production look easy last year, using a very average 87 mph exit velocity to compile those stats. That pedestrian a velocity might suggest to some that there was an element of luck to Segura’s numbers, although both his WAR and his 112 OPS+ — another synoptic offensive measurement – were right in line with his averages for the past three seasons.

The secret to Segura’s success has been his contact rate. He may not hit the ball especially hard, but he hits it often. That rate stood at 88.3 percent in 2018, up significantly from the competent 84.2 percent contact rates he produced in 2016 and 2017.

Segura has only exceeded 12 home runs once in his career. But if he can continue to put the ball in play close to 90 percent of the time, he can be forgiven a lack of long ball credentials.

12. Daniel Murphy, Colorado Rockies, 76.9 mph

Daniel Murphy has a deserved reputation as a reliable batsman who combines contact with some power. His 87.9 percent contact rate while splitting time in 2018 with the Nationals and Cubs is one-half of an illustration of why Murphy is valued. The other half is his .299 average with a .790 OPS.

Murphy’s downside is that he is entering his age-34 season, and those offensive skills give some evidence of a decline.

Mix that with the reality that he has never been viewed as more than a serviceable infielder and you begin to understand why the Rockies got him at an acceptable, if not a discount, rate. The plan is to move him to first base and assume he finds Coors Field to his liking.

The data demonstrates that Murphy’s bat has slowed. He recorded only an 87.6 mph exit velocity last season, two miles per hour worse than his previous worst. So far, though, he has been able to offset that with the wisdom that should accrue to a veteran bat. His mere 40 strikeouts in 328 official at bats last year is proof of that.

If Murphy’s bat continues to slow, that will almost certainly be a problem. Unless you’re a fan of Ender Inciarte, the list of effective batsmen with less than an 85 mph exit velocity is a short one. The task for Murphy going forward will be to stay off that list.

11. Wilmer Flores, Arizona Diamondbacks, 77.1 mph

New Mets GM Brody Van Wagenen let Wilmer Flores go to free agency, probably seeing the career Met as no better than a competent filler piece.

Flores, who signed a two-year deal to play middle infield with the Arizona Diamondbacks, may never be a glamour hitter. But if he’s not noted for hitting the ball hard, he can hit it frequently, a very desirable quality.

It’s easy to look past Flores. He registered an 86.5 mph exit velocity in 2018. That’s down from the 87.5 mph he registered in 2017, but it’s right in line with his career average.

Flores has always been hard to overpower. He produced a 90.3 percent contact rate in 2019, even better than his very good 85.1 percent rate in 2017 or his career 85.3 percentage entering that season. Even when they don’t go long, contact hitters help the team by the simple act of moving the ball…sometimes into places uninhabited by fielders.

Contact, even in the absence of velocity, has always been a Flores trait. His 75.0 mph Exit Velocity Per At Bat would have ranked among the 25 best in 2015 as well. But his 77.1 mph rating for 2018 steps up even that a notch or two. He is one of those players who deserves more respect than he gets.

T-9. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants, 77.2 mph

Buster Posey’s status as the game’s best catcher is questioned only for reasons of durability. The accumulation of a decade as a big league backstop limited him to 105 appearances last season, and there is an ongoing discussion about shifting him to first base or some other less physically demanding position.

His production did decline in 2018. He hit only five home runs, and both his .284 batting average and 41 RBIs were Posey’s lowest in those categories since 2011.
His .741 OPS was the worst of his career.

But Posey can still do two things that make him a recurring threat. He can still hit the ball hard, and he can still hit it frequently. He produced an 89.1 mph exit velocity in 2018, best on the Giants’ team. Then he combined that with an 86.7 percent contact rate.

These two skills have been reliable aspects of what has made Posey a dangerous hitter. Since exit velocity came into existence as a measurable, Posey has averaged 89.3 mph. In those four seasons, his contact rate has been 90.7, 87.4, 86.7 and the aforementioned 89.3 percent. If you’ve spent any amount of time watching Posey, you instinctively knew that already.

The question for Posey, then, isn’t whether he’ll continue to be a formidable offensive presence; it’s whether he’ll be physically able to continue to do so from behind the plate.

T-9. Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs, 77.2 mph

It’s appropriate that Anthony Rizzo exactly matches Posey’s Average Exit Velocity Per At Bat result. Like the Giants catcher, he is a mature hitter combining consistent barrel pop with consistent contact.

Rizzo’s 89.9mph exit velocity matched Kyle Schwarber as the Cubs’ best in 2018. Kris Bryant, who usually hangs in those guys’ company, was hampered by a shoulder injury that limited him to just an 85.8 mph exit velocity.

That was Rizzo’s best season in the velocity category although there wasn’t much to choose between since his worst was only 88.0 mph. Over the course of a full season, Rizzo is consistent.

His 80 strikeouts were his lowest total since he became a full-timer in 2013, and resulted in an 85.7 percent contact rate. That’s where Rizzo has improved. In the previous four seasons, his contact rates were 82.1, 81.5, and 84.3 percent. When you’re a slugger – Rizzo has averaged 30 home runs and 105 RBIs since 2015 – those are solid contact totals.

Because he has developed a recent tendency to get off to slower starts, Rizzo was not selected to the All-Star team in 2017 or 2018. But in a National League widely recognized for the depth of its first base quality, no NL first baseman ranks higher than Rizzo in the ability to combine solid contact with frequent contact.

8. Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels, 77.4 mph

Yes, Albert Pujols. Entering his age 39 season and the eighth year of his 10-year contract with the Angels, his production hasn’t really returned to the levels that brought him three Most Valuable Player awards. But he retains bat speed and contact ability.

The downside for Pujols is that his 19 home runs and 64 RBIs both represented multi-season lows. His .245 batting average continued a four-season trend of being average.

What Pujols has not lost is his quick bat. He produced a 90 mph exit velocity in 2018, right on par with his 90.2 mph career exit velocity. He combined that with an 86.1 percent contact rate, again a figure that is in concert with his 88.1 87.4 and 84.4 percentage rates of the preceding three seasons.

So whatever is causing Pujols’ batting average to recede, it isn’t a product of either the speed with which he swings the bat or his ability to put the ball in play. Perhaps he’s become a victim of the game’s evolving defensive strategies.

That performance decline isn’t arguable. He produced only a 92 OPS+ in 2018, his second consecutive sub-par figure. But even at 38, Pujols retains the ability to move the bat through the strike zone, and also retains the ability to put the ball in play.

7. Ben Zobrist, Chicago Cubs, 77.6 mph

Like Pujols, Ben Zobrist is a 38-year-old veteran whose ball-contact and bat speed figures have retained their youthful vigor. Unlike Pujols, his actual production hasn’t declined. His produced a 115 OPS in 2018 and actually made a run at the NL batting title before finishing at .305.

In several respects, Zobrist’s 2018 season looked a lot like his 2016 one, when he played a central role in the Cubs’ world championship. His .440 slugging average was just six points off his .446 mark of that season.

The improvement he made came in contact. Zobrist struck out only 60 times in 455 at-bats, an 86.9 percent contact rate. In 2017 that figure was 83.7 percent; his career contact rate has been 83.1 percent.

He noticeably upgraded his exit velocity in 2018, to 89.4 mph. That was a career best, nearly three mph higher than his 86.8 mph percent exit velocity from 2017. If Zobrist can propel the ball with that velocity again in 2019, he is almost guaranteed to be an asset in the Cubs’ hopes of restoring their hold on the NL Central.

At 38, of course, there are no guarantees that Zobrist will continue to tick both his exit velocity and contact rate upward.

6. Yuli Gurriel, Houston Astros, 78.8 mph

The 35-year-old veteran of Cuban ball is entering only his third full major league season. Given the depth and name recognition of the Astros’ lineup, he may be one of the lesser-known lights. Indeed the Astros lineup is populated with guys who propel the ball; four of the nine starters topped 89 mph exit velocity in 2018, and neither Jose Altuve nor Carlos Correa was among them.

What distinguishes Yuli Gurriel is his ability to put the ball in play. He fanned only 63 times in 534 official at bats in 2018, an 88.3 percent contact rate. That plus exit velocities consistently in the 89 mph range have produced extreme Exit Velocities Per At Bat.

In fact, Gurriel’s 78.8 mph score for 2018 is actually the worst of his three-season career; he hit 80.6 mph in 2016 and 79.3 mph in 2017.

The only weakness in Gurriel’s game – the element that may be holding him back from emerging into the ranks of the game’s elite – has been a weakness in his ability to truly square up the ball. His 2018 barrel rate was just 1.9 percent, among the AL’s lowest. So while he’s meeting the ball consistently and propelling it, there remains room for improvement.

Still, Houston fans are seeing a mature, consistent professional hitter.

T-4. Nick Markakis, Atlanta Braves, 79.0 mph

Nick Markakis, who will be 35, re-upped for one season with the Braves when the open market showed no interest in his abilities. The market may not know what it’s missing.
In 2018, Markakis hit .297 with a .366 on-base and .440 slugging average. Those may not be All Star numbers, but they’ll play. He did so while playing all 162 games. There is always something to be said for showing up.

That’s especially so when you can drive the ball. In 2018, Markakis’ exit velocity was 90.6 mph. That’s elite territory. And despite getting 623 official at-bats, he fanned only 80 times, an 87.2 percent contact rate. Only two players in baseball combined a plus-90 mph exit velocity with a plus 85 percent contact rate last year; those two were Pujols and Markakis.

Given those credentials, why did teams view Markakis with such skepticism this past winter? The answer probably had to do with a lack of extra-base power. Since 2015, Markakis has averaged just 9.5 home runs and a slugging average that can’t quite reach .400.

That puts Markakis solidly in the realm of a hidden asset, a guy who will always be under-valued. He may not excel in the usual headline numbers. But his offensive fundamentals – his ability to hit the ball hard and consistently – are as good as anybody in the game.

T-4. Robinson Cano, New York Mets, 79.0 mph

Few hit the ball with as much consistent power as Robinson Cano, the Mets new infielder. With the Mariners in 2018, he is average exit velocity was 93.1 mph. Among all major league players with more than 150 official at-bats, only Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo generated a higher average exit velocity.

What Cano did that none of those three matched was the consistency of his contact rate. That averaged 84.9 percent in 2018, a level generally considered slap hitter territory.

But that’s always been a Cano talent; in fact, he was off a bit in that respect in 2018. He produced an 85.5 percent contact rate in 2017, and his career rate is 86.6 percent.

When you combine the ability to hit the ball hard with the ability to hit it often, you often get a .303 batting average, which is what Cano produced.

The one obvious drawback was his 80-game drug suspension, which not only cost him about 300 at-bats but also cast some shadow on his numbers. To the extent they are a defense of his stat line, if not of the player himself, Cano batted .317 after returning from the suspended list, 30 percentage points higher than he was hitting when he left.

3. Joe Panik, San Francisco Giants, 79.3 mph

The top three players on this list all fit the category of under-appreciated players. Panik, the Giants’ second baseman, is a textbook study in this respect.

By big league standards, Joe Panik does not drive the ball. His average exit velocity was only 86.5 mph, and that did not represent a bad year. His average exit velocity since the introduction of that stat is only 85.7 mph, and his 3.2 percent barrel rate is equally unremarkable.

In the box, however, Panik is almost a desperate fighter. In 392 official at-bats, he fanned just 30 times, a 92.4 percent contact rate. Since 2015, that contact rate has never dipped below 89 percent. He is a stereotypical situational hitter. Panik may not hit rockets, but he’s forever challenging fielders in a way few major league hitters do.

It may also demonstrate that no statistic is perfect, not even Exit Velocity Per At Bat. Despite that kind of contact consistency, it was inarguably weak contact. Panik produced only a .254 batting average with sub-par on-base and slugging averages. That, in turn, yielded only a 77 OPS+, making Panik a below-average offensive threat.

For Panik, then, the challenge moving forward will be to find a way to translate his raw assets into productivity.

2. Michael Brantley, Houston Astros, 80.4 mph

For the remainder of his career, Michael Brantley will probably carry with him the onus of being injury-prone. Those injuries limited him to just 11 games in 2016 and just 90 in 2017.

His rebound to 143 games – and 570 at-bats – in 2018 may have re-established his reliability in his own mind. But the two-year deal he signed with the Astros may also suggest that entering his age 32 season, the rest of Major League Baseball isn’t quite convinced.

If Bradley carries forward his 2018 performance, the Astros got a bonus. He produced an 89.4 mph exit velocity and layered on top of that an 89.5 percent contact rate. The combination brought Brantley home with a .309/.364/.468 slash line and 123 OPS+.

If that’s what the Astros bought when they signed Brantley to play left field, Houston may send opposing pitchers to the poorhouse. The starting nine – Chirinos, Gurriel, Altuve, Correa, Bregman, Brantley, Springer, Reddick and White – has an average Exit Velocity Per At Bat of 70.85 mph, and that projects to be the majors’ best. In fact, only the Red Sox, at 70.27 and the Reds at 70.14 come within 1.0 mph of matching them.

All of this presumes, of course, that Brantley remains healthy and available to play.

1. Andrelton Simmons, Los Angeles Angels, 80.8 mph

Andrelton Simmons’ offensive reputation is overshadowed by his defensive prowess. He is recognized as the game’s premier defensive player at the game’s most important defensive position.

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Despite that, he somehow has never been named to an All-Star team, a fact for which he can probably thank Francisco Lindor. It also hurts Simmons that he plays for an also-ran.

But take at least a moment to appreciate what Simmons did at the plate in 2018. His 87.8 mph exit velocity was good although not great. But he combined it with a 92.7 percent contact rate, striking out just 44 times in 600 official at bats. That is right at the top of performance in the majors. It is also a Simmons staple; his 2015-2017 contact rates have been 91.8, 92.1 and 89.6 percent.

It all finally translated to the batter’s box, where Simmons hit a career-best .292 batting average and a 6.2 WAR.

With his average exit velocity, Simmons may never propel the ball hard enough to be an elite offensive threat. But his bat speed is good enough to, in combination with his gnat-like persistence, make him a difficult out and an improving on-base threat. If he repeats his 2018 performance in 2019, it might even lead to his first All-Star Game recognition.

That’s the list of the top 25 in MLB in Exit Velocity Per At Bat. Any names that surprised you on this list? Comment below!