Un mélange de joueurs et d’outils de calibre MVP sans types de résultats. Dans quelle mesure la vitesse de la chauve-souris est-elle réellement importante ?
Un mélange de joueurs et d’outils de calibre MVP sans types de résultats. Dans quelle mesure la vitesse de la chauve-souris est-elle réellement importante ?
Matters a ton for power, but without any good contact skills it differentiates from a 3 outcome guy to a legit, dependable power bat
thejrose11
You’ve kinda answered your own question, it’s a useful tool, but not great if you can’t master other ones.
WhatARotation
Bat speed matters for how hard you hit the ball when you square it up. It has no bearing on how often you actually square up the ball, however.
junie2looney
A lot of these guys are on the stronger side of mlb players so maybe that’s why the speed of their bat doesn’t matter as much.
wompwump
It’s an oversimplification, but bat speed is one of those “necessary but not sufficient” requirements to be a good ball player. Bat speed alone can’t carry a player, because no single tool in baseball can carry a player. But take a look at the reverse bat speed rankings (Arraez, Kwan, Wilmer Flores, Wilson, Adam Frazier, IKF, Jake Mangum, etc.) and you’re going to find a lot more duds than studs.
Leather-Success-6388
I think it makes hard contact *easier,* but many good players like J-Ram and Mookie don’t need it because they have such good bat-to-ball skills, and can still pull the ball to hit homers, while Oneil Cruz actively hits fewer home runs than those two (despite the bat speed) because his contact is less consistent
what-i-almost-was
Timing and movement patterns matter a whole lot more than bat speed. Now, if you have both, bat speed makes you even better.
Within any given pitch you have to ask: are you on time, did you recognize the pitch, and are you in a good position?
bphilli11
I think for the MVP caliber players bat speed is just a by product from everything else they focus on
ElDub1973
It matters a ton, but not at the exclusion of other factors.
Like you have to make contact once in a while.
Any-Environment-7545
One thing that isn’t measured yet is bat acceleration, not just bat speed. Higher speed will definitely correlate with higher acceleration but some players with slower bat speeds like Bichette can still routinely get good quality of contact from acceleration
aflyingsquanch
Bat speed matters a ton…if you dont have it.
ChiCityCollector
You need more than just bat speed to really draw any conclusions about a player.
AccomplishedStyle600
Batspeed scales a lot when your overall skill set (Barrel%, EV, BB%, Chase% etc.) is already top notch.
Helix_Hematite
bat speed’s big but it’s all about making solid contact, doesn’t matter how fast if you’re missing
Whiplash227
I was unfamiliar with Matt Wallner’s game
hollyw00d8604
I’d say it matters at least a little bit, seeing as most of the players on that list are good to great hitters.
if a player’s bat speed isn’t at least average, their ceiling as a hitter is pretty much nolan schanuel and they need to be elite at making contact and/or plate discipline
ScottyKillhammer
Where does Cal Raleigh rank?
brett_baty_is_him
Bat speed is a small piece of the puzzle. It’s also one of the more malleable things from what I’ve seen. As in, if your prospect evaluating you should be much more interested in a guy has a great eye and good bat to ball skills over bat speed since that can be improved easier
Imo it goes in order:
Eye: I’d use Seager to see this. Bat to ball: in zone contact rate Bat speed. Pull rate
A guy that’s elite in at least two of those metrics will probably be a good ball player
uvaspina1
Surprised Stanton is no longer on the list
Rip_Dirtbag
One of the very cool things about the statcast/savant era is that it really does a great job of showing someone how truly complex hitting is.
Is bat speed important? It certainly can be! But so is decision making – how often are you laying off pitches out of the zone and swinging at pitches in the zone? – and bat to ball skills – how often do you make contact in the zone? – and timing – where is your intercept point? Are you meeting the ball ahead of the plate and selling out for pull power or letting it travel deeper and trying to have all fields spray?
So many of these variables have influence in determining whether or not you’re successful at the plate.
To conclude with bat speed…a great example of the curiosity of bat speed is Freddie Freeman. Consistently low bat speed – like, bottom 20th percentile in the league – who somehow parlays that slow bat speed into above average exit velocity. How? I’m not sure. But the results have consistently been there.
Boomhauer_007
Pirates should trade Cruz while someone can still convince themselves they can fix him, dude is the definition of all tools for minimum actual production, like a worse much Yaisel Puig
KnowSomethingsd
Jhonkensy Noel had 99th percentile bat speed in 2025
Race-Medical
Who is on the slow end of this equation? Are there any good hitters near the bottom of this list?
Skraxx
Along with everything everyone else has said, *low* bat speed is really difficult to make work.
There’s only a few batters that do, and it can often be disqualifying if you don’t have the plate approach necessary.
vaithless
Obviously power is a huge correlation. Other than that the differences in skill level on this list come down to consistency and the presence of all of the other important tools in baseball.
Also pretty sure every single guy on this list is above average when it comes to whiff/K % which is also interesting.
JGad14
Jordan Walker is so good at swinging really hard at low and outside sliders
Oafah
A nine inch gift isn’t worth squat if you can’t find a hole to slide it in.
ThePopUpDance
I feel like you’re greatly exaggerating the « mix » here. This is predominantly a list of damn good hitters.
There’s literally one bad hitter on this list (Jordan Walker) then a couple guys coming off down years but have at least an average track record (Cruz/Robert/Sanchez). Otherwise it’s all good to elite hitters.
missourinative
There are very obvious reasons why the struggling players are where they are at, and the differences can be seen in the successful players.
Bat speed is like horsepower. You can still drive like shit.
Beginning-Wind-371
Two hitters can have the same bat speed but differ in:
* How late they accelerate * How stable the barrel is * How much speed they lose at contact * How consistently they square the ball * Effective mass behind the hit
EveryLittleDetail
Stanton was at 80, but he didn’t have enough PA to qualify.
31 Comments
Matters a ton for power, but without any good contact skills it differentiates from a 3 outcome guy to a legit, dependable power bat
You’ve kinda answered your own question, it’s a useful tool, but not great if you can’t master other ones.
Bat speed matters for how hard you hit the ball when you square it up. It has no bearing on how often you actually square up the ball, however.
A lot of these guys are on the stronger side of mlb players so maybe that’s why the speed of their bat doesn’t matter as much.
It’s an oversimplification, but bat speed is one of those “necessary but not sufficient” requirements to be a good ball player. Bat speed alone can’t carry a player, because no single tool in baseball can carry a player. But take a look at the reverse bat speed rankings (Arraez, Kwan, Wilmer Flores, Wilson, Adam Frazier, IKF, Jake Mangum, etc.) and you’re going to find a lot more duds than studs.
I think it makes hard contact *easier,* but many good players like J-Ram and Mookie don’t need it because they have such good bat-to-ball skills, and can still pull the ball to hit homers, while Oneil Cruz actively hits fewer home runs than those two (despite the bat speed) because his contact is less consistent
Timing and movement patterns matter a whole lot more than bat speed. Now, if you have both, bat speed makes you even better.
Within any given pitch you have to ask: are you on time, did you recognize the pitch, and are you in a good position?
I think for the MVP caliber players bat speed is just a by product from everything else they focus on
It matters a ton, but not at the exclusion of other factors.
Like you have to make contact once in a while.
One thing that isn’t measured yet is bat acceleration, not just bat speed. Higher speed will definitely correlate with higher acceleration but some players with slower bat speeds like Bichette can still routinely get good quality of contact from acceleration
Bat speed matters a ton…if you dont have it.
You need more than just bat speed to really draw any conclusions about a player.
Batspeed scales a lot when your overall skill set (Barrel%, EV, BB%, Chase% etc.) is already top notch.
bat speed’s big but it’s all about making solid contact, doesn’t matter how fast if you’re missing
I was unfamiliar with Matt Wallner’s game
I’d say it matters at least a little bit, seeing as most of the players on that list are good to great hitters.
if a player’s bat speed isn’t at least average, their ceiling as a hitter is pretty much nolan schanuel and they need to be elite at making contact and/or plate discipline
Where does Cal Raleigh rank?
Bat speed is a small piece of the puzzle. It’s also one of the more malleable things from what I’ve seen. As in, if your prospect evaluating you should be much more interested in a guy has a great eye and good bat to ball skills over bat speed since that can be improved easier
Imo it goes in order:
Eye: I’d use Seager to see this.
Bat to ball: in zone contact rate
Bat speed.
Pull rate
A guy that’s elite in at least two of those metrics will probably be a good ball player
Surprised Stanton is no longer on the list
One of the very cool things about the statcast/savant era is that it really does a great job of showing someone how truly complex hitting is.
Is bat speed important? It certainly can be! But so is decision making – how often are you laying off pitches out of the zone and swinging at pitches in the zone? – and bat to ball skills – how often do you make contact in the zone? – and timing – where is your intercept point? Are you meeting the ball ahead of the plate and selling out for pull power or letting it travel deeper and trying to have all fields spray?
So many of these variables have influence in determining whether or not you’re successful at the plate.
To conclude with bat speed…a great example of the curiosity of bat speed is Freddie Freeman. Consistently low bat speed – like, bottom 20th percentile in the league – who somehow parlays that slow bat speed into above average exit velocity. How? I’m not sure. But the results have consistently been there.
Pirates should trade Cruz while someone can still convince themselves they can fix him, dude is the definition of all tools for minimum actual production, like a worse much Yaisel Puig
Jhonkensy Noel had 99th percentile bat speed in 2025
Who is on the slow end of this equation? Are there any good hitters near the bottom of this list?
Along with everything everyone else has said, *low* bat speed is really difficult to make work.
There’s only a few batters that do, and it can often be disqualifying if you don’t have the plate approach necessary.
Obviously power is a huge correlation. Other than that the differences in skill level on this list come down to consistency and the presence of all of the other important tools in baseball.
Also pretty sure every single guy on this list is above average when it comes to whiff/K % which is also interesting.
Jordan Walker is so good at swinging really hard at low and outside sliders
A nine inch gift isn’t worth squat if you can’t find a hole to slide it in.
I feel like you’re greatly exaggerating the « mix » here. This is predominantly a list of damn good hitters.
There’s literally one bad hitter on this list (Jordan Walker) then a couple guys coming off down years but have at least an average track record (Cruz/Robert/Sanchez). Otherwise it’s all good to elite hitters.
There are very obvious reasons why the struggling players are where they are at, and the differences can be seen in the successful players.
Bat speed is like horsepower. You can still drive like shit.
Two hitters can have the same bat speed but differ in:
* How late they accelerate
* How stable the barrel is
* How much speed they lose at contact
* How consistently they square the ball
* Effective mass behind the hit
Stanton was at 80, but he didn’t have enough PA to qualify.