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. Rundown 0:56 Alek Manoah's Game Action Resumes in FCL 5:51 Jonah Heim and Elias Díaz 9:32 Josh Naylor: Will Supporting Cast Limit His ROS Value? 14:43 Yandy Díaz: Groundball Rate Back to 2022 Levels 20:32 Spencer Steer 29:07 Targeting "Obvious Buy-Low" Players 32:45 Luis Arraez 34:54 Bryson Stott: Further Room for Improvement? 41:20 Lane Thomas & Surprising Outfielders 45:03 Esteury Ruiz: Will He Top ROS Stolen-Base Projections? 53:46 Jake Fraley's Success in Cincinnati 55:30 Jorge Soler: Buying K% Improvements? Follow Eno on Twitter: @enosarris Follow DVR on Twitter: @DerekVanRiper e-mail: ratesandbarrels@theathletic.com Subscribe to The Athletic at $1/month for the first year: theathletic.com/ratesandbarrels Subscribe to the Rates & Barrels YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RatesBarrels Check 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/rates Go to zbiotics.com/rates to get 15% off your first order when you use RATES at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices