Young targets, 2024 mid-season

Let's continue our mid-season look at the most skilled young players in the game by moving on to hitters.

These bats age 26 and under have posted the highest levels of production so far in 2024 (min 50 PA):

Name	Lg	Tm	Age	bb%	ct%	Eye	EV	LA	Brl%	OPS
Royce Lewis	AL	MIN	25	10%	82%	0.60	88.1	15.1	15.9%	1.054
Juan Soto	AL	NYY	25	19%	79%	1.15	94.4	9.3	18.7%	1.005
Gunnar Henderson	AL	BAL	23	13%	74%	0.55	94.0	10.1	13.3%	1.000
Steven Kwan	AL	CLE	26	8%	92%	1.11	86.2	13.9	1.9%	.969
Spencer Horwitz	AL	TOR	26	17%	85%	1.38	88.3	15.2	11.4%	.950
Mark Vientos	NL	NYM	24	9%	75%	0.38	90.2	7.0	15.5%	.933
Kerry Carpenter	AL	DET	26	7%	74%	0.29	88.6	17.1	16.2%	.914
Bobby Witt Jr.	AL	KC	24	7%	81%	0.43	92.6	14.9	14.6%	.884
Francisco Alvarez	NL	NYM	22	10%	78%	0.52	90.8	8.9	7.4%	.876
Triston Casas	AL	BOS	24	13%	67%	0.46	89.9	10.6	11.5%	.857
Heliot Ramos	NL	SF	24	11%	69%	0.39	92.3	7.9	16.4%	.857
CJ Abrams	NL	WAS	23	7%	79%	0.34	89.3	15.7	7.1%	.853
Jordan Westburg	AL	BAL	25	6%	76%	0.25	91.8	13.4	10.7%	.849
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	AL	TOR	25	11%	82%	0.66	94.5	5.6	13.7%	.844
Michael Massey	AL	KC	26	3%	82%	0.14	88.2	15.1	7.0%	.843
Name	Lg	Tm	Age	bb%	ct%	Eye	EV	LA	Brl%	OPS
Riley Greene	AL	DET	23	13%	70%	0.48	91.0	10.7	13.3%	.841
Joey Ortiz	NL	MIL	25	14%	81%	0.85	87.8	10.8	6.4%	.835
Josh Smith	AL	TEX	26	9%	78%	0.48	87.0	16.5	3.0%	.834
Adley Rutschman	AL	BAL	26	8%	80%	0.45	89.5	17.5	8.9%	.831
Eguy Rosario	NL	SD	24	4%	62%	0.10	89.5	13.3	15.2%	.829
Jose Miranda	AL	MIN	26	6%	84%	0.38	89.8	15.8	8.0%	.824
Fernando Tatis Jr.	NL	SD	25	9%	77%	0.42	93.2	11.0	13.9%	.821
Elly De La Cruz	NL	CIN	22	11%	65%	0.35	91.5	10.1	12.4%	.820
Michael Busch	NL	CHC	26	13%	61%	0.38	88.7	18.3	12.2%	.809
Isaac Paredes	AL	TAM	25	10%	81%	0.58	84.7	23.7	4.3%	.804
Kyle McCann	AL	OAK	26	13%	63%	0.41	88.1	11.2	16.0%	.804
Logan O'Hoppe	AL	LAA	24	6%	72%	0.24	90.7	14.1	11.2%	.802

This group of young bats is hitting the ball the hardest:

Name	Lg	Tm	Age	bb%	ct%	Eye	OPS	EV	LA	Brl%
Oneil Cruz	NL	PIT	25	7%	65%	0.21	.703	95.1	11.9	17.2%
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	AL	TOR	25	11%	82%	0.66	.844	94.5	5.6	13.7%
Juan Soto	AL	NYY	25	19%	79%	1.15	1.005	94.4	9.3	18.7%
Gunnar Henderson	AL	BAL	23	13%	74%	0.55	1.000	94.0	10.1	13.3%
Jesús Sánchez	NL	MIA	26	6%	74%	0.25	.651	93.8	9.3	12.1%
Jonathan Aranda	AL	TAM	26	10%	70%	0.36	.608	93.7	4.4	18.2%
Tyler Soderstrom	AL	OAK	22	10%	67%	0.35	.763	93.4	11.8	16.3%
Fernando Tatis Jr.	NL	SD	25	9%	77%	0.42	.821	93.2	11.0	13.9%
Cristian Pache	NL	PHI	25	14%	57%	0.37	.558	93.0	8.9	4.2%
Bobby Witt Jr.	AL	KC	24	7%	81%	0.43	.884	92.6	14.9	14.6%
William Contreras	NL	MIL	26	8%	79%	0.44	.791	92.6	5.3	8.8%
Akil Baddoo	AL	DET	25	15%	64%	0.50	.563	92.4	18.8	13.8%
Brandon Marsh	NL	PHI	26	12%	65%	0.37	.765	92.3	11.9	8.3%
Heliot Ramos	NL	SF	24	11%	69%	0.39	.857	92.3	7.9	16.4%
Ronald Acuña Jr.	NL	ATL	26	12%	72%	0.51	.716	92.2	8.5	9.4%
Name	Lg	Tm	Age	bb%	ct%	Eye	OPS	EV	LA	Brl%
Lars Nootbaar	NL	STL	26	13%	76%	0.65	.742	92.1	4.6	9.3%
Patrick Bailey	NL	SF	25	11%	78%	0.55	.775	91.9	11.9	4.6%
Jordan Westburg	AL	BAL	25	6%	76%	0.25	.849	91.8	13.4	10.7%
Jordan Walker	NL	STL	22	9%	69%	0.33	.497	91.7	12.8	11.9%
Colton Cowser	AL	BAL	24	9%	67%	0.32	.764	91.6	13.4	16.0%
Elly De La Cruz	NL	CIN	22	11%	65%	0.35	.820	91.5	10.1	12.4%
Michael Toglia	NL	COL	25	5%	63%	0.16	.682	91.5	15.8	15.2%
Vinnie Pasquantino	AL	KC	26	10%	84%	0.71	.748	91.4	17.0	7.6%
Lawrence Butler	AL	OAK	23	10%	65%	0.33	.522	91.3	12.3	6.9%
Alex Kirilloff	AL	MIN	26	9%	70%	0.32	.653	91.3	13.2	11.3%
Julio Rodríguez	AL	SEA	23	6%	71%	0.23	.628	91.2	7.1	8.5%
Shea Langeliers	AL	OAK	26	6%	70%	0.22	.690	91.2	14.7	16.4%
MJ Melendez	AL	KC	25	8%	71%	0.29	.602	91.1	14.4	9.8%
Maikel García	AL	KC	24	7%	82%	0.42	.628	91.0	7.7	4.6%
Riley Greene	AL	DET	23	13%	70%	0.48	.841	91.0	10.7	13.3%
Name	Lg	Tm	Age	bb%	ct%	Eye	OPS	EV	LA	Brl%
Francisco Alvarez	NL	NYM	22	10%	78%	0.52	.876	90.8	8.9	7.4%
Logan O'Hoppe	AL	LAA	24	6%	72%	0.24	.802	90.7	14.1	11.2%
Andrew Vaughn	AL	CHW	26	6%	76%	0.25	.678	90.7	16.4	8.4%
Luis Robert Jr.	AL	CHW	26	10%	62%	0.29	.789	90.5	13.9	18.8%
Alejandro Kirk	AL	TOR	25	11%	83%	0.73	.587	90.5	13.0	5.3%
Yainer Diaz	AL	HOU	25	4%	85%	0.28	.716	90.4	8.6	6.8%
Alec Burleson	NL	STL	25	4%	85%	0.28	.767	90.3	16.3	7.1%
Mark Vientos	NL	NYM	24	9%	75%	0.38	.933	90.2	7.0	15.5%
Wilyer Abreu	AL	BOS	25	10%	71%	0.36	.799	90.1	18.4	10.4%
Leody Taveras	AL	TEX	25	9%	79%	0.47	.617	90.1	13.6	5.3%
Enmanuel Valdez	AL	BOS	25	8%	73%	0.33	.682	90.0	19.4	11.5%
Dominic Canzone	AL	SEA	26	10%	66%	0.31	.715	90.0	9.7	11.0%

Finally, these young hitters are making the most contact:

Name	Lg	Tm	Age	OPS	EV	LA	Brl%	bb%	ct%	Eye
Steven Kwan	AL	CLE	26	.969	86.2	13.9	1.9%	8%	92%	1.11
Jung Hoo Lee	NL	SF	25	.641	89.1	9.2	4.5%	6%	91%	0.77
Luis Matos	NL	SF	22	.646	86.6	15.1	3.0%	3%	90%	0.36
Will Brennan	AL	CLE	26	.730	87.5	12.9	7.2%	7%	87%	0.59
Keibert Ruiz	NL	WAS	25	.538	85.5	20.6	2.2%	4%	86%	0.28
Luis Campusano	NL	SD	25	.653	87.0	8.5	4.0%	6%	86%	0.48
Yainer Diaz	AL	HOU	25	.716	90.4	8.6	6.8%	4%	85%	0.28
Alec Burleson	NL	STL	25	.767	90.3	16.3	7.1%	4%	85%	0.28
Andrés Giménez	AL	CLE	25	.652	85.8	7.7	3.9%	5%	85%	0.33
Spencer Horwitz	AL	TOR	26	.950	88.3	15.2	11.4%	17%	85%	1.38
Jose Miranda	AL	MIN	26	.824	89.8	15.8	8.0%	6%	84%	0.38
Braden Shewmake	AL	CHW	26	.337	86.5	14.3	3.6%	2%	84%	0.10
Vinnie Pasquantino	AL	KC	26	.748	91.4	17.0	7.6%	10%	84%	0.71
Geraldo Perdomo	NL	ARI	24	.642	85.4	13.5	0.0%	7%	84%	0.45
Alejandro Kirk	AL	TOR	25	.587	90.5	13.0	5.3%	11%	83%	0.73
Name	Lg	Tm	Age	OPS	EV	LA	Brl%	bb%	ct%	Eye
Jackson Merrill	NL	SD	21	.778	89.7	11.6	8.8%	5%	83%	0.29
Otto Lopez	NL	MIA	25	.644	88.5	5.4	5.9%	4%	83%	0.22
Luis García Jr.	NL	WAS	24	.695	88.3	7.6	7.9%	4%	83%	0.27
Gabriel Moreno	NL	ARI	24	.659	89.1	10.3	5.0%	11%	83%	0.70
Trey Lipscomb	NL	WAS	24	.582	84.9	0.2	1.0%	9%	82%	0.52
Tyler Freeman	AL	CLE	25	.633	87.9	13.3	4.3%	8%	82%	0.50
Jeremy Peña	AL	HOU	26	.707	88.8	8.8	3.5%	5%	82%	0.29
Royce Lewis	AL	MIN	25	1.054	88.1	15.1	15.9%	10%	82%	0.60
Johan Rojas	NL	PHI	23	.571	84.5	6.4	3.2%	4%	82%	0.24
Michael Massey	AL	KC	26	.843	88.2	15.1	7.0%	3%	82%	0.14
Maikel García	AL	KC	24	.628	91.0	7.7	4.6%	7%	82%	0.42
Bo Bichette	AL	TOR	26	.621	89.9	7.5	4.4%	6%	82%	0.36
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	AL	TOR	25	.844	94.5	5.6	13.7%	11%	82%	0.66
Bryson Stott	NL	PHI	26	.700	86.4	14.0	3.8%	12%	81%	0.77
Nick Loftin	AL	KC	25	.589	84.1	11.6	3.3%	14%	81%	0.85
Name	Lg	Tm	Age	OPS	EV	LA	Brl%	bb%	ct%	Eye
Bobby Witt Jr.	AL	KC	24	.884	92.6	14.9	14.6%	7%	81%	0.43
Colt Keith	AL	DET	22	.595	87.8	12.8	6.5%	5%	81%	0.30
Isaac Paredes	AL	TAM	25	.804	84.7	23.7	4.3%	10%	81%	0.58
Joey Ortiz	NL	MIL	25	.835	87.8	10.8	6.4%	14%	81%	0.85
Brice Turang	NL	MIL	24	.760	88.7	6.5	3.0%	9%	81%	0.51
Nolan Schanuel	AL	LAA	22	.656	85.9	7.2	3.6%	9%	81%	0.52
Adley Rutschman	AL	BAL	26	.831	89.5	17.5	8.9%	8%	80%	0.45
Corbin Carroll	NL	ARI	23	.615	87.6	11.0	4.1%	11%	80%	0.59
Vidal Bruján	NL	MIA	26	.648	86.0	8.0	1.8%	7%	80%	0.38
Sal Frelick	NL	MIL	24	.677	84.8	6.8	1.5%	9%	80%	0.47

Let's take a closer look at a bunch of highly skilled pre-peak performers.
 

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Lawrence Butler (RF, OAK) is fighting to carve out a regular role in the young OAK lineup. While his production has been poor in his limited opportunities (.522 OPS), his 91.3 mph EV and 12.3 LA suggest it could be due for a surge. His .247 BABIP is almost 40 points below the average BABIP of batters aged 26 and under. He could have some value in deep leagues in the second half.

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Gunnar Henderson (SS, BAL) is on track for a 40-HR breakout season due to elite exit velocity (94.0 mph EV) and an additional few points of overall contact from last season (74% ct%). Even more remarkable has been his pitch recognition. His subpar 26.5% Chase Rate from 2023 has turned into a good 20.9% Chase Rate this season. He has cemented himself as a cornerstone bat.

Spencer Horwitz (2B/1B, TOR) has quietly produced some good value when given the chance (.327 BA, .797 OPS in 66 PA). He has paired elite plate skills (17% bb%, 85% ct%, 1.38 Eye) with a good loft in his swing (15.2 LA), creating some extra-base output. Improving his so-so 88.3 mph EV would allow him to sustain his production surges.

Royce Lewis (3B/DH, MIN) has been the most productive young batter in the game in 2024 (1.054 OPS in 93 PA) due to his ability to find the barrel of the bat (15.9% Brl%) and make frequent contact (82% ct%). There's still more upside here too, since his average exit velocity in 2024 (88.1 mph EV) is two points below the levels he showed in 2022 and 2023.

Tyler Soderstrom (1B, OAK) has taken a bigger step forward in 2024 than you might realize. Underneath his low .225 BA and modest 7 HR and 18 RBI in 137 PA has been firmly elite batted ball quality: 93.4 mph EV, 11.8 LA, 16.3% Brl%. That elite production foundation has emerged without any erosion in contact from 2023 (65% ct%) to 2024 (67% ct%). He could be primed for a big second half.

Jordan Westburg (2B/3B, BAL) sometimes gets lost among all of the young talent in the BAL lineup, but he has been no slouch halfway through 2024 (.285 BA, 13 HR, 48 RBI, 6 SB in 316 PA). Those numbers have been backed by upper-tier batted ball characteristics (91.8 mph EV, 13.4 LA, 10.7% Brl%) and an above-average level of overall contact (76% ct%). Finding the same stroke against southpaws that he showed in 2023 (.284 BA, .786 OPS vL) would allow him to make further gains.

Bobby Witt Jr. (SS, KC) has increased his batting average significantly over his first three seasons in the majors: .254, .276, .307 BA. Credit a two-point bump in average exit velocity for the latest increase (90.7 to 92.6 mph EV). That jump also enabled him to increase his barrel rate again in 2024 (8.7%, 11.5%, 14.6% Brl%). He has duplicated his 80%+ ct% in the process.
 

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Alec Burleson (RF/DH, STL) has looked like an impact bat during the past month (.259 BA, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 3 SB in 117 PA). His growth comes from pairing his high-contact approach (85% ct%) with another big uptick in launch angle (16.3 LA). That higher swing plane has allowed him to unlock more power when paired with his high level of hard contact (90.3 mph EV).

CJ Abrams (SS, WAS) is another young bat whose launch angle is steadily climbing upward (6.8, 13.5, 15.7 LA). In addition, his level of hard contact has surged over the same period (86.5, 87.4, 89.3 mph EV). That growth has come without any erosion in his bat-to-ball acumen (79% ct%). He hasn't reached his ceiling yet.

Elly De La Cruz (SS, CIN) continues to battle peaks and troughs due to his high strikeout volume (64% ct%). Still, that mark has improved over the past month (66% ct%). More importantly, De La Cruz has nearly tripled his launch angle from 2023 (3.6 LA) to 2024 (10.1 LA), which has allowed his barrel rate to jump by 50% (8.5% to 12.4% Brl%). He also has shaved nearly eight points from his Chase Rate (32.8% to 25.0%), which has helped him add two points to his walk rate (9% to 11%). He's trending towards a consensus top-5 pick in 2025 drafts.

Luis Matos (CF, SF) is a young bat (age 22) who does not own noteworthy stats (.243 BA, .645 OPS in 116 PA). But, digging deeper, Matos has the third-highest contact rate (90% ct%) among bats aged 26 and under. He is also trying to unlock his raw power by nearly tripling his launch angle from 2023 (6.3 LA) to 2024 (15.1 LA). Hitting the ball harder on average (86.6 mph EV) would allow him to take a big step forward.

Heliot Ramos (CF, SF) owns some solid batted ball characteristics, including an elite level of hard contact (92.3 mph EV) and barrels (16.4% Brl%). Finding more of an uppercut in his swing (7.9 LA) would allow him to become a more consistent power source. At age 24, he's an undervalued investment among young bats.

Mark Vientos (3B, NYM) also is an up-arrow young bat. He hits the ball hard (90.2 mph EV) and finds the barrel (15.5% Brl%). He still hits too many ground balls (55% GB%, 7.0 LA). Finding more loft in his swing would allow him to unlock his 30-HR upside, especially given his near 10-point jump in contact rate from 2023 (66% ct%) to 2024 (75% ct%).

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