MLB: The 2020 leaders in “True Exit Velocity”
By Bill Felber
Nos. 8, 9 and 10
10. Vlad Guerrero Jr. had 243 official at bats in helping the Toronto Blue Jays reach the expanded 2020 playoffs. As calculated under the existing formula, his 92.5 mph exit velocity ranked 12th among all qualifying major leaguers.
By the standards of sluggers, Guerrero was a relatively reliable contact guy. He fanned 38 times, but that only represented 15 percent of his official at bats. So his “True Exit Velocity” only declined less than 15 mph, to 78.03 mph.
9. Los Angeles Angels free agent acquisition Anthony Rendon ranked only 42nd in exit velocity at 90.1 mph. He achieved that in 201 official at bats in which Rendon contacted the ball.
Like Guerrero and the other players in this revised top 10, Rendon was – by modern standards – something of a contact machine. He fanned 31 times, but that only represented only 13 percent of his official at bats.
That translates to a 78.06 mph “True Exit Velocity,” elevating Rendon 33 places on the list.
8. As noted above, Dodger infielder Corey Seager ranks high on both exit velocity and True Exit Velocity; in fact, he is the only player to attain top 10 status on both lists.
Seager produced a 93.2 mph average exit velocity in his 195 plate appearances that ended in contact. That tied him with Miguel Cabrera for sixth place.
He combined that with a relatively low 15.9 percent strikeout rate to finish with a “True Exit Velocity” of 78.34 mph, about a 15 mph decline.