May 2025 Hitter Avg Bat Speed Gainers & Decliners

Just like any other metric we monitor, like average exit velocity, pitch velocity, etc, a hitter’s bat speed fluctuates throughout the year. As exciting as it is to see your favorite breakout pick to raise his bat speed during the first month of the season, it might be just as disappointing to discover he was unable to sustain the jump during the season’s second month. So let’s find out which hitters have gained and lost the most bad speed in May compared to the period through the end of the April.

Well, well, look who’s number one! Javier Báez hasn’t hit since 2021, when his wOBA was last above .300, and it’s gotten worse each and every season since. But suddenly this year, he’s had a renaissance, as his wOBA has spiked up to .330, which represents the fourth highest mark of his career. Interestingly, he posted nearly identical wOBA marks during both periods, but the beginning of the season period was driven by an inflated BABIP, while his May saw a rebound in May as his BABIP fell back to Earth. Now his underlying metrics look sustainable, except his xwOBA is still just .294. He has also been riding the bench more frequently recently and with Parker Meadows due back soon, his playing time could dry up. Owners should be thrilled they got anyone from him at this point.

Even with the May gain, Mookie Betts’ average bat speed is far lower than I ever would have guessed! Betts performed almost identically during each period, as his power is way down, with his ISO sitting at a career low and HR/FB rate the lowest since 2015. Maybe last year’s power decline represented a new level, as opposed to a bottoming of which he would bounce back from.

Teoscar Hernández’s offense has collapsed in May, with his power disappearing, but an inflated BABIP partially offsetting. Still, his season numbers are right in line with expectations and he’s even striking out at a career best rate.

Remember when Andrés Giménez opened the season sizzling hot by swatting three home runs in his first five games? He hasn’t homered since. Of course, he’s also been on the IL for most of May so he’s recorded just 19 PAs during the month, which means the bat speed gain might not even be real. His hot start is your annual reminder not to overreact to the first week of games, as you would have never even noticed it if it happened in the middle of June.

Finally, Riley Greene is the first name on this list whose performance has actually improved as his bat speed has increased! Pretty crazy that it wasn’t until the fifth name down to see better results aligning with higher bat speed. Greene has been striking out more often all season long, but in May, his power exploded, with a HR/FB of 33.3%. Interestingly, his wOBA is almost identical to last year thanks to the strikeout rate spike and a drop in walk rate. His HardHit% and maxEV are the same as well, but a surge in Barrel% aligns with the increased HR/FB rate. It’s anyone’s guess whether he could maintain that level, so he’s not a bad guy to dangle in trade talks.

Joey Ortiz’s bat speed has been above the league average, but his season ISO sits at a microscopic .061, while his HR/FB rate is just 3.7%. He was never a huge power guy in the minors, but did consistently post low teen HR/FB rates. With a sub-20% strikeout rate and single digit SwStk% to back it up, this should be a 15/15 guy. Unfortunately, poor fortune has gotten the best of him so far, so it’s possible he starts losing playing time given his .225 wOBA.

It’s been a coming out party for Josh Bell in May to coincide with his bat speed increase, as his wOBA was just .231 before he posted a .378 mark in May. Everything improved last month back to the levels we’re used to from him and perhaps a bit better. His season line looks a lot more normal now, though it still comes with a crazy .186 BABIP. He has posted a career high FB%, which has helped put him on a home run pace that could challenge his 2021 total.

Surprise, surprise, the Yankees have too many good hitters, and it’s meant seeing Jasson Domínguez on the bench more often than you would expect. However, increased bat speed, helping to fuel a strong May with a .368 wOBA and .221 ISO is ensuring he doesn’t sit even more than he has been. On his Statcast power metrics suggest he’s capable of a lot more than a 13.3% HR/FB rate so I would think that power output increases and looks more like his May over the rest of the season. Unfortunately, he’s been weak defensively, which has cost him at-bats when he comes out for a defensive replacement.

What happened to Xander Bogaerts’ power?! The May bat speed increase is nice to see, but it did absolutely nothing for his results. In fact, he was even worse, with a decline in ISO, BABIP, and wOBA, despite a significant reduction in strikeout rate. It’s weird, his HardHit% is above his career average, his maxEV above 110 MPH like usual, but he has struggled to barrel the ball. So it’s likely most of those hard hit balls are on the ground. A career high walk rate also looks like a good sign, but it just hasn’t mattered. Lucky for his fantasy owners, he has suddenly decided to run wild, already swiping two fewer bases than last year in less than half the PAs. He’s on pace to easily eclipse his previous career high of 19 steals.

Now let’s flip over to the bad speed decliners.

My gosh, with a .411 wOBA in May, Ezequiel Tovar will take a bat speed decline every day of the week! After a poor first period of the year, his ISO and BABIP surged, bringing his season marks much closer to expectations. At first I thought he may have played a disproportionate games at home during May, but given his injury, he ended up with only exactly seven games at home and on the road. Everything here looks good, especially the improved strikeout rate. However, once concern I had that prevented me from buying in was a sudden reversal of GB% and FB% last year, as his FB% went from 33.8% in 2023 to 45.9% in 2024. Which version was the real Tovar? Sure enough, he’s right back down to 33.3% this year, so he’s right back to around a 15-homer pace. Of course, his LD% is all the way up to 34.4%, so at least 10% of those will turn into grounders and/or flies, giving his FB% a chance to increase the rest of the way.

Boooooo seeing Vinnie Pasquantino’s name second on this list. I was very excited after he increased his bat speed by 2.2 MPH versus last year during the season’s first period, but alas, he wasn’t able to sustain such a dramatic increase. His 72.2 MPH May mark is still 0.5 MPH higher than last year, but that’s not nearly as thrilling as 2.2. We’ll see what June brings, but even with the reduced bat speed in May, he saw a dramatic increase in wOBA, thanks to a rebound in BABIP. Sadly, his ISO actually declined, and he’s back to hitting for far less power than I’d expect given his Statcast metrics. He’s not even a home park thing, as his ISO is almost identical at home versus away, with only a marginal increase in HR/FB rate on the road. One of these days the results will match the underlying skills, so don’t give up on him before that happens!

No need to ring the alarm bells, as even a decline in Junior Caminero’s bat speed still keeps him among the league leaders. His strikeout rate and SwStk% are quite impressive for a 21-year-old with this much power. The only thing holding him back right now is a FB% that should be higher. It currently sits at just 32.2%, which is simply too low for a guy with as much power as he possesses. There’s no reason he should be hitting grounders 50% of the time.

Yikes, it’s ben a disaster of a comeback for Matt McLain, who missed all of the 2024 season recovering from shoulder surgery. While the results already weren’t there, he can’t afford to lose bat speed now. Yes, some of this is because his BABIP fell back to Earth, and then some, plus he became an extreme fly ball hitter, which actually is more aligned with his minor league history than the FB% he posted during his 2023 rookie season. But besides the drop in BABIP, his power has disappeared. Oddly, his HardHit% is actually higher than in 2023, his maxEV is identical, and Barrel% is only slightly lower and still above the league average. It suggests better results than what he’s power on the power front. He should certainly improve as the season progresses, but the fact that he’s batting ninth really hampers his counting stat upside. It’s anyone’s guess how long a hot streak he’d need to maintain before being moved up in the lineup.

Elly De La Cruz increased his ISO in May, so a reduced bat speed didn’t seem to matter. His batted ball profile is a bit scary right now. Back in 2023, the red flag was how low his FB% was. He fixed that last year by raising it above 30%, which was still below average and not ideal for a power hitter, but far better than being just over 20%. This year, he has maintained that FB%, except he’s done it by rarely hitting line drives. There’s no way his LD% remains at 11.4% all season, so as that rises, his GB% and FB% rates will decline. That means there’s risk his FB% drops below 30% over the rest of the way, capping his home run potential.

Soooo, it appears we might have to wait yet another season for the big Alec Bohm power breakout. Everything he’s done so far is right in line with expectations, but at some point, we want him to exceed those expectations, right?! On the positive side, his HardHit% is the second highest of his career, as is his Barrel%. But the drop in bat speed ain’t helping things and will make it harder to just reach the teens in HR/FB rate, something he still hasn’t done.

Man, what was in the water in May in Cincinnati?! TJ Friedl is the third Red to appear on this list, which isn’t as big a deal as he isn’t exactly known for his power. Hampering that power even more is a significant decline in FB% after marks over 40% the last two seasons. He’s still stealing bases though and a massive BABIP rebound has ensured he’s still delivering solid fantasy value. But xwOBA thinks it’s all a mirage so I wouldn’t count those positive batting average contributions continuing, and when his BABIP falls, so will his stolen base opportunities.

Wyatt Langford was not a name I wanted to see on this list and his bat speed decline did seemingly affect his output. His wOBA went from .414 with big power to just .276 with league averageish power. Overall, he’s still at expectations power-wise, though the BABIP seems ripe for improvement. That he’s already posted an 11/10 season in about a third of a season means he’s a real threat to go 30/30, which could deliver profit at his likely cost in most leagues. Hopefully, the bat speed decrease was either a one month blip or not something that will significantly affect his power potential.