The Fantistics Fantasy Baseball Podcast · InsiderBaseball

May 8, 2025 - Contact Rate

·1 hr 15 min·2 clips

Average contact rate sits near 75 percent, the 80s are good, and around 90 you're Luis Arraez or Tony Gwynn.

1. The Fantistics Fantasy Baseball Podcast, May 8, 2025, is titled "Contact Rate" and uses that stat as a list-builder for hitters to discuss. 2. Skyler Dombrowski co-hosts with a second host, and they publish at insideofbaseball.com, where they offer a free baseball blog and daily emails for fantasy players. 3. The central thesis is that contact rate is a puzzle piece, so the hosts ask whether it is "the cause of some of the changes" or the result of them, and a drop from well above average to average can be a positive. 4. They define the scale as roughly 75% average, the 80s good, around 90 elite (Luis Arraez, Tony Gwynn), and sub-70 once a deal breaker, and they explain why they prefer chase rate plus contact rate to swinging-strike rate. 5. Brendan Donovan is shown at a .331 average against a .349 expected average, with a 43% hard-hit rate, 8% barrel rate, a strikeout rate under 10%, and multi-position eligibility; the hosts project 12 to 15 homers and 10 to 15 steals. 6. Mikael Garcia has a 93 mph exit velocity, 51.5% hard-hit rate, 87.5% contact rate, sub-20% chase rate, and a walk rate up from 7% to 10.5%, and the hosts say he could reach 20 homers and four-position eligibility. 7. Alec Baum has a 48% hard-hit rate and 8% barrel rate, but Statcast expects a .273 average and .412 slugging, well above his actual line, and the hosts note he was hitting .318/.375/.500 in May. 8. Gleyber Torres has raised his contact rate to 85% from a prior high of 80.5%, with a 16.8% chase rate and a .289 average against a .305 expected average, and the hosts connect it to his one-year "prove it" deal in Detroit. 9. Shea Langeliers' contact rate has gone 61, 69, 73, 83 over four years, he hit 29 homers in 482 at-bats last year, and he is at .225 against a .272 expected average, which prompts the line "I think he's a top 10 catcher right now." 10. Fantasy baseball players who use Statcast and plate-discipline data will get the most from it.

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