Barrel rate measures the percentage of batted balls that meet Statcast’s criteria for a "barrel" — the ideal combination of exit velocity (98+ mph) and launch angle (roughly 25–35 degrees). Barrels result in a hit roughly 75% of the time, with most of those being extra-base hits or home runs.

Barrel rate is one of the best predictors of power production. A hitter with a 15%+ barrel rate is barreling up roughly 1 in 7 balls they put in play, and those barrels are doing massive damage. League average is around 7%, so anything in double digits is well above average.

What makes barrel rate valuable for evaluation is that it’s largely skill-based and repeatable. Hitters who barrel the ball at high rates tend to keep doing it, making it a reliable predictor of future power. On Baseball Nut, the Zones tab highlights the barrel zone on the exit velocity / launch angle scatter plot.

What is a good Barrel%?

Barrels are the highest-quality batted balls and drive xBA, xSLG, and xwOBA upward. Hitters with high barrel rates tend to have strong NUT and xNUT scores because their contact quality is elite.

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