Perfect angles?

A few months ago, I read an article about launch angles in baseball. It indicated that launch angles of 25–35 degrees combined with ball-off-bat launch velocity of 98 mph is the new “sweet spot” for home runs. After reading the article, I was just thinking of one question, which batters in the majors did bat most balls with launch angles between 25 and 35 degrees this year? I went to check on the statcast website and here’s what I got.

Kyle Seager, who becomes a free agent now after spending 11 years with the Marines, had batted 96 balls with launch angles of 25-35 degrees. Among these 96 batted balls, 36 became hits and xwOBA of these 96 batted balls was .654. Additionally, 21 of these 36 hits were home runs. Kyle Seager crushed 35 home runs in 2021 and 21 home runs were hit with launch angles between 25 and 35 degrees. Ozzie Albies, who just won the 2021 World Series title with the Braves, hit .259/.310/.488 with 30 home runs and 106 RBI. 30 home runs and 106 RBI are both his career-high. During the regular season, Albies hit 86 balls with launch angles between 25 and 35 degrees. Among these 86 batted balls, 31 became hits and 14 of these hits were home runs. In 2021, Kyle Tucker had a great season, slashing .294/.359/.557 with 30 home runs and 92 RBI. It’s his first season to hit at least 30 homers. In the postseason, Tucker hit .279/.333/.541 with 4 home runs and 15 RBI over 16 games. He’s definitely going to be an extremely important hitter in the Astros lineup. During the regular season, Tucker had 83 batted balls with launch angles of 25-35 degrees. Among these 83 batted balls, 37 were hits and 23 of these 37 hits were home runs. Launch angles between 25 and 35 degrees seem to be “sweet” for Kyle Tucker since 23 of his 30 home runs fell within this range. Moreover, two All-Star third basemen each hit at least 80 balls with launch angles of 25-35 degrees. Nolan Arenado had 82 batted balls with launch angles of 25-35 degrees and 30 were hits. Also, Justin Turner batted 81 balls with launch angles in this range and 29 of these 81 batted balls were hits. With launch angles in this range, they each crushed 18 home runs. Finally, 14 other players each hit at least 70 balls with launch angles of 25-35 degrees. In addition, Salvador Perez crushed 48 home runs, tying most in the majors. Among those 48 home runs, 30 home runs were hit with launch angles of 25-35 degrees. Launch angles of 25-35 degrees seem pretty sweet since several players had success when they batted balls with launch angles in this range. However, it doesn’t guarantee success for everyone. If batted balls of launch angles do not combine with high exit velocity, the results won’t be great. For example, Myles Straw had 69 batted balls with launch angles between 25 and 35 degrees and with average exit velocity of 84.2 mph, his xwOBA was only .250 and only 12 of those 69 batted balls became hits.