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Fantasy Baseball: 3 Young Hitters who are Launch Angle Improvement Candidates

By Lucas Kelly |
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 12: Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves is congratulated by Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 and Freddie Freeman #5 after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on September 12, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 12: Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves is congratulated by Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 and Freddie Freeman #5 after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on September 12, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
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Given that we now have more time to prepare for the upcoming Fantasy Baseball season, here are 3 candidates that can improve their launch angle in 2020.

The coronavirus may have pushed back the season, but we have all been reading, writing and discussing baseball without any MLB games actually being played for months now. I’ll just keep going on as I have been but with a more, elastic, opening day date.

Personally, I’ve been able to spend more time preparing for my fantasy baseball draft and generally nerd out over statistics, projections and pure estimations of what will be once the season starts.

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This article is a mix of all three of those things.

First, launch angle. You may have heard of it.

Historically, hitters were taught to hit the top half of the baseball and hard. This “hard on the ground” approach became less and less successful as teams shifted more and more. The influence of data collection gave defenses the ability to be in the right place at the right time for these more traditional hitters.

As you can imagine, hitters were annoyed with the fact that there was a defender waiting to pluck up a grounder, blooper, or even line drive seemingly every time they came to bat. Thus was born the idea of, “Just hit it over everyone” by hitting the bottom half of the ball in an uppercut type of swing.

According to the MLB glossary, a typical fly-ball will be hit with a 25-50 degree launch angle. If a batter strikes a ball within that range (launch angle), hits the ball hard (hard%) and pulls the ball (pull%), the potential for more home runs should increase.

Here are the stats, provided by Fangraphs, we’re looking for in our Fantasy Baseball projections and why:

(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Fantasy Baseball Stats We’re Looking For

2019 HRs – Obviously a player would change their launch angle in order to hit more home runs. We can look back at last season to see who should be hitting more in 2020.

High ground ball rate (GB%) – If a player is hitting the ball on the ground a lot and hard, perhaps they should take that power and try to elevate the ball. If a player is hitting for average, getting on base often and generally doing well by hitting the ball on the ground (Luis Arraez) then they should probably leave their launch angle alone. But a hitter who keeps getting outs, but is hitting the ball hard, may want to tweak some things.

High home run to fly-ball rate (HR/FB) – This means that a player hits the ball up in the air and it often results in a home run. So, therefore, maybe the hitter should try hitting it up into the air more often.

High hard-hit rate (Hard%) – You won’t hit dingers unless you hit the ball hard. Give me the bat and let me take a rip, maybe I’ll get it out of the infield.

Pull hitters (Pull%) – If a hitter can pull the ball, they have a higher chance of getting it over the wall. High pull hitters who are hitting it hard are perfect candidates to increase launch angle in hopes of adding another homerun hitting skill.

Here are three young hitters who may just be able to increase their HR counts in 2020 with a little work (I am aware of how gigantic of an understatement that is, but just go with it…) on their swing.

(Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /

Fantasy Baseball Players That Could Improve Their Power in 2020

Ozzie Albies, Age 23

  • 2019 HRs: 24
  • GB%: 37.9%
  • HR/FB: 12.4%
  • Hard%: 42.3%
  • Pull%: 45.5%

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Albies is no-doubt one of the most exciting young prospects in the game. 24 home runs in 2019 is nothing to snuff at.

Putting the ball on the ground only 38% of the time means that he already is showcasing the ability to elevate the ball. 12% of the time he put the ball in the air it went for a home run, that’s where Ozzie can improve.

Need a comparison? 2019 AL ROY Yordan Alvarez hit a home run 33% of the time he hit a fly-ball. Hitting the ball just a little bit harder and continuing to pull nearly half of the time, I see Ozzie beating his 2019 home run total easily.

Austin Riley, Age 22

  • 2019 HRs: 18
  • GB%: 26.2%
  • HR/FB: 22%
  • Hard%: 42.3%
  • Pull%: 36.3%

With only 297 plate appearances last season, Riley hit the ball over the wall 18 times. That’s not bad.

He hits the ball just as hard as Ozzie Albies and puts the ball on the ground a whole lot less. With 22% of his fly-balls going for home runs, there is a lot to like in Riley.

Who else hit the ball this hard as a rookie? Pete Alonso. According to Baseball Savant, Riley is already averaging around a 20-degree launch angle. I think we’ll see a lot of home runs from Riley in 2019.

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Adalberto Mondesi, Age 24

  • 2019 HRs: 9
  • GB%: 46.9%
  • HR/FB: 9.3%
  • Hard%: 37.8%
  • Pull%: 46.1%

Maybe some things should not be changed. The one stat that you do not see here is Mondesi’s 43 stolen bases in 2019! But, I suppose you could say, why steal one base at a time when you can round them all at a nice, easy jog.

Mondesi has the potential to hit more home runs, there’s no doubt about it. But, he needs to put some more lift on the ball, hence an increased launch angle.

Mondesi is the perfect candidate because his metrics all show a need to start upper-cutting. He puts too many balls on the ground and doesn’t hit them hard enough, but he pulls the ball often enough.

Some people are projecting Ronald Acuna to go as high as 40-40 (home runs and stolen bases) and I think with some launch angle tweaks, Mondesi could go 20-40.

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Everyone needs a little something to look forward to nowadays. Here’s to looking forward to the return of baseball and seeing more hits fly out of the yard!

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