The push for deeper analytical insight has turned baseball into a laboratory of numbers, where front offices and coaching staffs rely on sophisticated metrics to shape roster decisions.
Benchmarks in Hitting
For hitters, the average exit velocity (AEV) serves as a cornerstone indicator of raw power. The latest percentile chart places an Elite performance at the 100th mark of 95.0 miles per hour, while a Good rating sits at 90.8 mph, an Average benchmark at 89.4 mph, a Poor threshold at 87.7 mph, and an Awful low of 84.0 mph. Players such as Aaron Judge and Mike Trout regularly hover near the Elite range, underscoring their capacity to launch balls at high speeds.
Barrel rate, which captures the percentage of batted balls that meet optimal launch conditions, follows a similar tiered structure. An Elite barrel rate of 21.0 percent marks the top echelon, Good sits at 11.6 percent, Average at 8.4 percent, Poor at 5.5 percent, and Awful at a mere 0.5 percent. Stars like Kyle Schwarber and Luis Arráez have posted barrel rates that place them comfortably in the Good to Elite categories, reflecting their ability to square up pitches consistently.
Strikeout and walk rates complete the hitting profile. Elite strikeout rates sit at 7.5 percent, with Good at 17.0 percent, Average at 21.5 percent, Poor at 25.8 percent, and Awful climbing to 34.0 percent. Conversely, Elite walk rates reach 18.5 percent, Good at 11.5 percent, Average at 9.0 percent, Poor at 7.0 percent, and Awful at 2.5 percent. Young talents such as Oneil Cruz and James Wood illustrate how a blend of disciplined plate appearances and moderate swing rates can push a player into the Good or even Elite brackets.
Pitching Profiles
Pitchers are evaluated through complementary metrics. An Elite strikeout rate for arms sits at 39.0 percent, Good at 26.2 percent, Average at 22.6 percent, Poor at 18.7 percent, and Awful at 12.0 percent. Walk rates are inverted, with Elite pitchers limiting walks to 3.0 percent, Good at 6.8 percent, Average at 8.3 percent, Poor at 10.4 percent, and Awful at 17.0 percent. Elite arms like Jacob Misiorowski and Mason Miller have demonstrated strikeout percentages that place them in the upper echelons, while veterans such as Dylan Cease and Merrill Kelly show how command can translate into low walk rates.
The synthesis of these benchmarks is captured in a concise table that aggregates the percentile thresholds across all categories, offering a quick reference for scouts, analysts, and fans alike. As the sport continues to refine its data collection, these standards will likely evolve, but the current framework already reshapes how talent is identified and valued.