What Goes into the Bat X

— Launch Angles— Exit Velocities— Barrels— Spray Angles— Sprint Speed

Upgrade My Baseball Projections with the Bat X Now!

I Evaluated 150+ Statcast Variables, Starting with the Basics Like Average Launch Angle and Exit Velocity and Then Evaluating Various Deviations and Subsets of Launch Angles, Spray Angles, Exit Velocities, Barrels, Hit Qualities, and So On. League-Wide Hr Rates Spike over 20% Between a Launch Angle of 23° and 34°? I Want to See How That Predicts Future Home Runs. Babips Start to Plummet Once the Launch Angle Goes over 27° Degrees? Yup, Let’s Throw That into the Mix. What About a Player’s Maximum Exit Velocity? or the Top 5% of His Exit Velocities? Let’s See If That Adds Value. Sprint Speed? Oh Yeah, That’s Gotta’ Be in There Too.

How the Bat X Was Created

I Evaluated 150+ Statcast Variables, Starting with the Basics Like Average Launch Angle and Exit Velocity and Then Evaluating Various Deviations and Subsets of Launch Angles, Spray Angles, Exit Velocities, Barrels, Hit Qualities, and So On. League-Wide Hr Rates Spike over 20% Between a Launch Angle of 23° and 34°? I Want to See How That Predicts Future Home Runs. Babips Start to Plummet Once the Launch Angle Goes over 27° Degrees? Yup, Let’s Throw That into the Mix. What About a Player’s Maximum Exit Velocity? or the Top 5% of His Exit Velocities? Let’s See If That Adds Value. Sprint Speed? Oh Yeah, That’s Gotta’ Be in There Too.

Yes! Sign Me up for the Bat X Now!

In Theory (And According to Back-Tests I’ve Run), the Bat X Is the Best of the Three Systems. It Should Be, After All, Since It Starts with the Bat and Layers on Valuable New Information. We Only Have a Few Year's of Statcast, Though, and Early Year's Have Some Data Missing. There’s Also the Issue of Imputed Data, Which the Batcast Does Its Best to Handle. Additionally, Mlb Is Switching from Trackman to Hawkeye to Track Data This Year, and There’s Been Some Early Speculation That, at First, Hawkeye Could Be “Inconsistent and Potentially Faulty”, According to People Eno Sarris Has Spoken With. Mlb Insists It Is an Improvement, However, and I’m Inclined to Be Optimistic. Still, Overall, Given the Small-Ish Sample and the Uncertainty of Hawkeye, I’m Not Ready to Say “This Is the New the Bat” and Throw the Old Projections Away, Especially When the Classic Version of the Bat Has Performed So Well for Dfs Players and in Season-Long Accuracy Contests (Ariel Cohen Found It to Be the Best Non-Aggregate System He Tested over the Past Two Year's; at Fantasypros, It Was Found to Be the Best Non-Aggregate System in 2018 and the Third-Best in 2019 of the Dozen-Plus Systems They Tested).

The Bat Classic Vs. the Bat X

In Theory (And According to Back-Tests I’ve Run), the Bat X Is the Best of the Three Systems. It Should Be, After All, Since It Starts with the Bat and Layers on Valuable New Information. We Only Have a Few Year's of Statcast, Though, and Early Year's Have Some Data Missing. There’s Also the Issue of Imputed Data, Which the Batcast Does Its Best to Handle. Additionally, Mlb Is Switching from Trackman to Hawkeye to Track Data This Year, and There’s Been Some Early Speculation That, at First, Hawkeye Could Be “Inconsistent and Potentially Faulty”, According to People Eno Sarris Has Spoken With. Mlb Insists It Is an Improvement, However, and I’m Inclined to Be Optimistic. Still, Overall, Given the Small-Ish Sample and the Uncertainty of Hawkeye, I’m Not Ready to Say “This Is the New the Bat” and Throw the Old Projections Away, Especially When the Classic Version of the Bat Has Performed So Well for Dfs Players and in Season-Long Accuracy Contests (Ariel Cohen Found It to Be the Best Non-Aggregate System He Tested over the Past Two Year's; at Fantasypros, It Was Found to Be the Best Non-Aggregate System in 2018 and the Third-Best in 2019 of the Dozen-Plus Systems They Tested).

Using the Bat X for Dfs

For the Time Being, the Bat X Only Uses Statcast Data for Hitters. the Pitcher Version Is Still in Development. It Is More Complex Than Projecting Hitters Since We Have Much More Granular Data to Work with (I. E. Pitch-Level Data Like Velocity, Movement, Spin, Etc.), but That Just Means That It Will Be an Even Bigger Upgrade Than the Hitting Side Once Its Released! When Looking at the Bat X’s Pitcher Projections at Present, Keep in Mind That These Projections Are Formed Using the Bat Classic Underlying Pitcher Projections Combined with the Bat X Underling Hitter Projections.

More Information on the Bat X

To Read More About the Bat X, Check out My Twitter Thread, My Fangraphs Article, and My Pitchcon Presentation. or Feel Free to Ask Me Any Questions You Have! Learning as Much as Possible About the New System Will Allow You to Better Utilize It to Win Your Dfs Contests!

More Data from the Bat X!

I’ve Also Made a Ton of Statcast Data from the Batcast and the Bat X Available over at Ev Analytics. You Can View Several of the Most Important Underlying Statcast Metrics for Every Player and Every Season, Plus Projected Stats for This Season! If You’re Wondering Why the Bat X Likes/Dislikes a Certain Player, You Can Look at Their Metrics to See Where They’ve Done Well/Poorly. You Can Also See Correlations Between Each Metric and Future Performance to Know Which Are the Most Predictive. I’m Extremely Proud of the Tools I’ve Created over There, and It’s All Free!

The Bat X Projections! the Bat. .. Plus Statcast!

By Maya Lin-Takahashi

• Oct 8, 2026 • 7 min read

The Bat X Projections! the Bat. .. Plus Statcast!

Direct Answer • Key Takeaway

New for the 2020 Mlb Season, the Bat Has Undergone Its Biggest Upgrade Since Weather Factors Were Added Prior to the 2016 Season! Making Use of Advanced Statcast Data, This Upgrade Is Actually an Entirely New Projection System, Dubbed the Bat X!

Maya Lin-Takahashi

Consumer Tech & Gadget Reviewer

Maya is a hardware enthusiast who tests and reviews smart home devices, smartphones, wearables, and audio gear. She focuses on practical consumer value and build quality.

Tags: the bat x projections the bat plus statcast