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

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.Rundown0:56 Alek Manoah's Game Action Resumes in FCL5:51 Jonah Heim and Elias Díaz9:32 Josh Naylor: Will Supporting Cast Limit His ROS Value?14:43 Yandy Díaz: Groundball Rate Back to 2022 Levels20:32 Spencer Steer29:07 Targeting "Obvious Buy-Low" Players32:45 Luis Arraez34:54 Bryson Stott: Further Room for Improvement?41:20 Lane Thomas & Surprising Outfielders45:03 Esteury Ruiz: Will He Top ROS Stolen-Base Projections?53:46 Jake Fraley's Success in Cincinnati55:30 Jorge Soler: Buying K% Improvements?Follow Eno on Twitter: @enosarrisFollow DVR on Twitter: @DerekVanRipere-mail: [email protected] to The Athletic at $1/month for the first year: theathletic.com/ratesandbarrelsSubscribe to the Rates & Barrels YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RatesBarrelsCheck out these offers from our ad partners....Right now, Nuts.com is offering new customers a free gift with purchase and free shipping on orders of $29 or more at Nuts.com/ratesGo to zbiotics.com/rates to get 15% off your first order when you use RATES at checkout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.