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(Queens, NY) – It’s the day and age of fancy metrics. Expected batting average, barrel rate, BABiP, hard-hit rate — all of them represent a new-age attempt to solve the unending mystery that is baseball.
Athletes will tell you hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports. You need strong hand-eye coordination, quick wrists, patience, and controlled aggression. Bat speed has long been considered an important factor. And the high quality cameras and stat-tracking equipment now employed at professional baseball stadiums makes it easy to quantify.
Glancing at the top ten fastest bat speeds in 2025, some names jump out. Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, Shohei Ohtani, and Pete Alonso are listed. That’s not surprising. The best hitters have the fastest bats.
It’s worth noting then that Juan Soto — the likely future Hall of Famer who just inked a historic contract to join the Mets — is struggling with his bat speed.
Research compiled by X user Nugget Chef — who creates content for betting website Underdog — notes that Soto’s average bat speed is down here in 2024. This season, his average bat speed checks in at 73.3 mph, down from 75.4 mph in 2024 — the 5th-largest year-over-year drop in MLB. What’s more, Soto is taking fewer swings at that 75 mph or higher threshold. He recorded those types of swings 59% of the time last season — and just 38% of the time so far here in 2025.
The New York Times recently penned an article examining Soto’s bat speed struggles. It’s certainly intriguing and worth examining. At just 26-years-old it appears unlikely that Soto’s bat speed is lagging as a result of age. Could there be an injury of some kind? Mets commentators like Ron Darling have observed we have not seen as much of the “Soto Shuffle” as in the past — referring to the confident, bent-leg strut he sometimes performs in the box. So, maybe Soto is feeling less confidant?
In other words, a less confidant player will be more likely to check his swing, or fall into pitcher’s counts. And that appears to be the case for Soto, as he routinely faces 0-2 counts. Perhaps he will look to adjust and take aggressive swings earlier in the count. For Soto, a player revered for his plate discipline and willingness to take a walk — that may seem foolish. But baseball is a game of adjustments — even for veteran players who appear ticketed for Cooperstown.
