MLB standings ordered by hard hit rate: Braves, Orioles hitting cover off the ball

The objective any team has when playing baseball is to win. Teams win by scoring more runs than the opposition. Pitching is extremely important, of course, but it's impossible to win a game without scoring a single run.

With that in mind, the easiest way to score runs is by hitting the ball as hard as possible. Whether the ball goes over the fence for a home run or not, hitting the ball hard makes it more likely that it'll result in a base hit of some sort.

According to Baseball Savant, a hard-hit ball is defined as one with an exit velocity of 95+ or higher. Unsurprisingly, some of the best teams offensively ran toward the top of the hard-hit leaderboards. With that being said, though, there are some surprises.

Note: All hard-hit rates are before games on Saturday, June 8.

MLB standings: Divisional standings based on hard hit rate

AL East

Rank	Team	Hard-Hit Rate	Current Record
1	Baltimore Orioles	44.2%	40-22
2	New York Yankees	41.9%	45-20
3	Boston Red Sox	40.3%	32-32
4	Tampa Bay Rays	36.8%	31-32
5	Toronto Blue Jays	35.5%	30-33

Aaron Judge and Juan Soto of the New York Yankees are each in the top three in the majors when it comes to hard-hit rates, but it's the Baltimore Orioles with the best team hard-hit rate not only in the AL East but in the majors. The Yankees have the two superstars but the Baltimore Orioles, led by Gunnar Henderson, might have the better collective offense.

AL Central

Rank	Team	Hard-Hit Rate	Current Record
1	Detroit Tigers	40.2%	31-32
2	Kansas City Royals	40.0%	38-26
3	Minnesota Twins	38.4%	33-30
4	Chicago White Sox	35.5%	16-48
5	Cleveland Guardians	35.1%	40-22

As good as hitting the ball hard can be, it's not the end-all-be-all. The Cleveland Guardians are a prime example of that. Cleveland has the lowest hard-hit rate in the majors, yet they lead the AL Central and are seventh in the majors in runs scored. Having a magician like Steven Kwan at the top of the order who doesn't crush baseballs but finds open space certainly helps.

AL West

Rank	Team	Hard-Hit Rate	Current Record
1	Seattle Mariners	41.9%	36-29
2	Houston Astros	39.8%	29-35
3	Texas Rangers	38.0%	30-33
4	Oakland Athletics	37.9%	26-39
5	Los Angeles Angels	37.5%	24-39

The Seattle Mariners might lead the AL West in hard-hit rate and with their current record, but they've struggled to score runs for most of the season. Perhaps a big reason why has to do with the fact that they've struck out more than any other team in the majors. If they can make more contact, that might lead to more runs. More runs with that pitching staff makes Seattle legitimate World Series contenders.

NL East

Rank	Team	Hard-Hit Rate	Current Record
1	Atlanta Braves	44.1%	35-26
2	Philadelphia Phillies	41.9%	44-19
3	New York Mets	39.9%	27-35
4	Miami Marlins	37.9%	22-41
5	Washington Nationals	36.6%	28-35

The Atlanta Braves have the best hard-hit rate in the National League and the second-best mark in baseball only behind Baltimore. That comes as a bit of a surprise considering Atlanta's struggle to score runs, especially lately, but it also gives Braves fans hope that a breakout is going to happen. They're hitting the ball too hard to not score runs, right?

NL Central

Rank	Team	Hard-Hit Rate	Current Record
1	Pittsburgh Pirates	40.8%	30-33
2	Milwaukee Brewers	39.9%	37-26
3	Chicago Cubs	38.0%	31-33
4	St. Louis Cardinals	36.8%	30-32
5	Cincinnati Reds	35.7%	31-33

The Pittsburgh Pirates are another team that hits the ball hard but the runs don't follow. They're three games under .500 because of it. With that being said, O'Neil Cruz is singlehandedly playing a huge role in that, crushing baseballs on a regular basis. If only the rest of his teammates could follow suit.

121.5 MPH off the bat of Oneil Cruz 😳

Tie game. pic.twitter.com/RqEDJuiwW1
— MLB (@MLB) May 22, 2024

NL West

Rank	Team	Hard-Hit Rate	Current Record
1	Los Angeles Dodgers	43.4%	40-25
2	Colorado Rockies	39.8%	22-41
3	San Francisco Giants	39.3%	31-33
4	Arizona Diamondbacks	39.3%	30-34
5	San Diego Padres	38.4%	33-34

The Los Angeles Dodgers are not just the only team in the NL West with a winning record, but they're the only team in the division with a hard-hit rate of over 40%. This doesn't come as a surprise at all with all of the big boppers Los Angeles has from top to bottom in what might be the most-feared lineup in the game.

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