Surprising First-Half Hitters & A Look at 'Best Speed'

From Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball The Athletic

Eno and DVR discuss Alek Manoah's return to the mound in the Florida Complex League before digging into some of the most surprising hitters from the first half of 2023, and considering the value of 'Best Speed' as a better snapshot of a player's quality of contact than average exit velocity.

Rundown

0:56 Alek Manoah's Game Action Resumes in FCL

5:51 Jonah Heim and Elias Díaz

9:32 Josh Naylor: Will Supporting Cast Limit His ROS Value?

14:43 Yandy Díaz: Groundball Rate Back to 2022 Levels

20:32 Spencer Steer

29:07 Targeting "Obvious Buy-Low" Players

32:45 Luis Arraez

34:54 Bryson Stott: Further Room for Improvement?

41:20 Lane Thomas & Surprising Outfielders

45:03 Esteury Ruiz: Will He Top ROS Stolen-Base Projections?

53:46 Jake Fraley's Success in Cincinnati

55:30 Jorge Soler: Buying K% Improvements?

Follow Eno on Twitter: @enosarris

Follow DVR on Twitter: @DerekVanRiper

e-mail: [email protected]

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