2019 Review — Barrels Per True Fly Ball Decliners

Yesterday, I listed and discussed the hitters who at increased their barrels per true fly ball (Brl/TFB) rates by at least 10% over 2018. Today, I’ll discuss the opposite end of the spectrum, those whose Brl/TFB rates fell at least 10% from 2018.

Let’s give Luke Voit a little bit of a pass, as his 2018 outburst was obviously unsustainable. You can see that even his much reduced 2019 mark was still firmly above the league average and excellent on its own. Coming off injury, having perhaps disappointed some of his fantasy owners, and with his playing time not 100% guaranteed given the non-zero chance that Miguel Andujar finds himself at first, Voit could come at a solid price in drafts.

Wow, Lewis Brinson, remember when you used to be a top prospect? What happened?! That Brl/TFB rate is really pathetic. He continues to display an intriguing blend of power and speed…in the minors, but you wonder when that’s going to translate to the Majors, if it ever does. In an NL-Only league, at least, he’s probably worth the cheap speculation. I feel like his skill set could breakout at any time without warning.

The power spike I expected from Randal Grichuk after his move from the pitcher friendly Cardinals to the hitter friendly Blue Jays home park never manifested. That was in 2018. In 2019, his ISO fell to a career worst, as did his Brl/TFB and HR/FB rates. Since he does nothing else, he’ll need to maintain that power, at the very least, to keep his playing time.

It’s not often you see a guy suffer such a decline in Brl/TFB rate, but increase their HR/FB rate, but that’s exactly what Trey Mancini just did. This was a true bustout year as he improved essentially all of his skill metrics to career bests. Are you willing to pay for a repeat?

Wow, this was the first Brl/TFB rate below 41% for J.D. Martinez since 2015, the first year on my spreadsheet. At age 31, he wasn’t at an obvious age for his production to decline drastically. But perhaps it was his back, which acted up here and there and caused him to miss some games. That could have lingered throughout the season and would be an easy explanation for a down power year. He’ll likely come cheapest he has in years and could therefore return a nice little profit for a change.

Well that was a wasted season from Justin Upton, especially for those fantasy owners keeping him in an injured slot for half the year. With his steals all but disappearing and a rising strikeout rate, he’s become riskier than ever.

You’re probably surprised to find Trevor Story on this list, as I was too. He’s young enough that this could just be a blip, and his home park does its best to mask any such declines anyway.

Gosh, Paul Goldschmidt hit 34 homers and yet he was actually quite a fantasy disappointment. It’s surprising he still cleared the 30-homer plateau given his Brl/TFB rate decline, but much of that is due to a career high fly ball rate. Since his stolen bases have all but dried up, he’ll have to get his BABIP back up to the elite levels of past years. At age 32 now, it becomes more difficult to maintain such levels.