Pirates prospects hitting metrics that stood out in 2023

Some interesting numbers that trackman picked up in 2023 in the Pirates system

Photo Credit: WTM

Another positive side effect of minor league baseball adopting the automated strike zone in Triple-A is that we gained more access to data on the hitting and pitching side.

That allowed us to get more data on players at the minors’ highest level, and thanks to Prospects Live, everything is organized and in one place.

While we still don’t have data on Greensboro and Altoona, there are nearly 50 other prospects for which we could get some contact and exit velocity numbers on the offensive side of things.

Here’s a look at five numbers that stood out in 2023.

High-contact rate hitters

We’ve talked about some of the players with the best hit tools in the system in our ‘best of’ series, and this is another reminder of some of the most impressive numbers some hitters put up.

Among the data available, the Pirates had six players with an In-Zone contact rate of 90% or better. Mitch Jebb led the way with an incredible 94.9% IZ-Contact rate. Tres Gonzalez closely followed him during his time in Bradenton, who put up a 92.8% rate.

The other four with a 90% or better contact rate (with the pitches seen at that level) were as follows - Luis Hernandez (AAA, 41 pitches), Domingo Leyba (AAA, 628 pitches), Francisco Acuna (A, 181 pitches), Wyatt Hendrie (A, 252 pitches).

Barreling up the ball

Barrel rate looks at a player’s ability to hit the ball at the perfect combination of exit velocity and launch angle, which increases their odds of getting hits and having them go for power.

From the MLB.com glossary page on barrels - balls hit in the barrel classification picked up a .822 average and 2.386 slugging percentage.

So, barrel up a ball, and there’s a good chance you're going for extra bases.

When it comes to that, among the data we have, no one barreled up the ball better than Joe Perez did in his short stint with Indianapolis (23 BBE) with a 17.4% rate.

It’s a smaller sample size, but that rate is comparable to Yordan Alvarez, who put up one of the best barrel rates in the majors last year.

If you want a larger sample size, look no further than Lonnie White Jr., who put up a 15.7% barrel rate across 100 BBE. When comparing it to major league hitters, he would rank in the top 25 among all hitters with at least 100 BBE.

The names he’s tied with? Giancarlo Stanton, Logan O’Hoppe, Nolan Jones, and Jack Suwinski.

Hardest hit ball

While percentile exit velocity shows how consistently a player hits the ball hard, Max EV shows their raw strength potential.

The Pirates had plenty of guys who played in Triple-A this past season that can put a jolt into the ball, but none recorded a higher max EV than Aaron Shackelford, with a 115.9 mph BBE.

That would have been the 15th hardest-hit ball among major leaguers with at least 200 BBE this season.

Shackelford is no stranger to making solid contact, and he led the Pirates system in home runs in 2022. This past year was a little more of a struggle, with just 14, but it was still solid contact when he was connecting.