Hitters squaring up the ball most often — best contact quality in MLB by Statcast barrels per batted ball.
Which MLB hitters are barreling the ball the most? A barrel is Statcast's label for batted balls with the exit velocity and launch angle combination that produces a hit at least 50% of the time historically. Higher barrel rates mean better power-prop upside (HR, total bases).
Gold rank = #1 in MLB. Over Rate isn’t shown for Statcast leaderboards — these stats aren’t direct prop markets.
| # | Player | Games | Barrel % | Over Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esmerlyn Valdez | 26 | 29.8% | — |
| 2 | James Wood | 114 | 22.8% | — |
| 3 | Aaron Judge | 64 | 21.8% | — |
| 4 | Munetaka Murakami | 64 | 20.2% | — |
| 5 | Mike Trout | 89 | 20.0% | — |
| 6 | Kyle Schwarber | 103 | 19.4% | — |
| 7 | Byron Buxton | 84 | 18.7% | — |
| 8 | Yordan Alvarez | 105 | 18.7% | — |
| 9 | Nick Kurtz | 103 | 18.1% | — |
| 10 | Shohei Ohtani | 101 | 17.1% | — |
| 11 | Oneil Cruz | 70 | 16.7% | — |
| 12 | Heliot Ramos | 57 | 16.6% | — |
| 13 | Hunter Goodman | 94 | 16.6% | — |
| 14 | Owen Caissie | 61 | 16.3% | — |
| 15 | Luke Raley | 64 | 16.1% | — |
| 16 | Brent Rooker | 50 | 15.5% | — |
| 17 | Corey Seager | 54 | 15.4% | — |
| 18 | Miguel Vargas | 102 | 15.4% | — |
| 19 | Elly De La Cruz | 85 | 15.4% | — |
| 20 | Ben Rice | 96 | 15.4% | — |
| 21 | Francisco Alvarez | 58 | 15.3% | — |
| 22 | Dominic Canzone | 63 | 15.3% | — |
| 23 | Drake Baldwin | 79 | 15.3% | — |
| 24 | Juan Soto | 83 | 15.0% | — |
| 25 | Sal Stewart | 103 | 14.9% | — |
| 26 | Kazuma Okamoto | 95 | 14.8% | — |
| 27 | Ryan Jeffers | 39 | 14.8% | — |
| 28 | Garrett Mitchell | 77 | 14.7% | — |
| 29 | Shea Langeliers | 96 | 14.7% | — |
| 30 | Jac Caglianone | 87 | 14.7% | — |
| 31 | Spencer Torkelson | 92 | 14.4% | — |
| 32 | Willson Contreras | 91 | 14.3% | — |
| 33 | Ramón Laureano | 51 | 14.3% | — |
| 34 | Jake Bauers | 86 | 14.1% | — |
| 35 | Jordan Walker | 98 | 14.1% | — |
| 36 | Matt Olson | 104 | 13.9% | — |
| 37 | Riley Greene | 100 | 13.8% | — |
| 38 | Colson Montgomery | 95 | 13.7% | — |
| 39 | Max Muncy | 84 | 13.6% | — |
| 40 | Junior Caminero | 103 | 13.6% | — |
| 41 | Jackson Chourio | 71 | 13.5% | — |
| 42 | Will Smith | 50 | 13.4% | — |
| 43 | Randal Grichuk | 36 | 13.3% | — |
| 44 | Brandon Nimmo | 96 | 13.1% | — |
| 45 | Ronald Acuña Jr. | 59 | 13.1% | — |
| 46 | Samuel Basallo | 75 | 13.1% | — |
| 47 | Royce Lewis | 64 | 13.0% | — |
| 48 | Michael Harris II | 89 | 13.0% | — |
| 49 | Justin Foscue | 29 | 13.0% | — |
| 50 | Zach Neto | 105 | 13.0% | — |
A barrel is Statcast's label for the exit-velocity / launch-angle combinations that historically produce a hit at least 50% of the time and a slugging percentage of at least 1.500 (i.e., extra-base hit territory). It's the canonical "squared up" metric.
Barrel rate is one of the most predictive batted-ball stats for power props. Hitters at the top of this list are the best candidates for home run, total bases, and extra-base-hit prop overs. It’s also more stable than HR/game in small samples.
Statcast batted-ball data for the 2026 season — every batted ball with tracked exit velocity and launch angle. We compute barrels per batted-ball event and refresh nightly. Min-games filter avoids small-sample noise.
MLB Batter Barrel % Leaders Top 5: 1. Esmerlyn Valdez (Barrel %: 29.8%), 2. James Wood (Barrel %: 22.8%), 3. Aaron Judge (Barrel %: 21.8%), 4. Munetaka Murakami (Barrel %: 20.2%), 5. Mike Trout (Barrel %: 20.0%)