The bat-speed war shows no sign of ending. We were not sure when we would be able to return home from the front.
One subplot during this World Series included repeated discussions on social media about the merits of emphasizing swing speed.
The debate has reached a boiling point as the Toronto Blue Jays make their first World Series appearance in 32 years, a development that has much to do with internal improvement. The Blue Jays won the AL pennant not because of outside additions, but because their group of returning position players improved, at least in part— I argued Largely due to increased bat speed.
Of course, players like Beau Bichette are in better health. But potential skill growth does exist. The Jays swing the bat significantly faster and have improved on that skill throughout the season. The Jays rank fifth in the postseason with an average bat speed of 71.9 mph. They were one of the laggards a season ago.
The improvement comes under first-year hitting coach former Driveline client David Popkins and Dodgers hitting coordinator, He introduces a new intent-driven approach.
It’s not just the Blue Jays.
The World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers have also held select batter clinics at Driveline in recent years. The Dodgers are one of the clubs most interested in adopting the best player development practices. This includes bat speed training.
This is a World Series meeting between two excellent organizations interested in a faster swing speed, not a slower one. That says something, and say it out loud.
After all, if a hitter’s other skills remain the same—contact percentage, swing decision-making, bat quality, etc.—increasing bat speed will improve their offensive efficiency. Physics remains undefeated. Swinging the bat faster will cause the ball to leave faster and travel further.
We’ve proven at Driveline that hitters can improve bat velocity, just like pitchers can improve pitch velocity through constraint-based training, and that it can improve a player’s overall production. However, the merits of bat speed and training regimens that improve bat speed have been met with skepticism, including by some strong skeptics on social media platforms.
I asked the drivetrain director who hit Tanner Stockey.
“I think the first thing is that these numbers haven’t been public for a very long time — now that the season is over, we’re looking at two and a half years,” Stockey said of the MLB-level numbers. “A lot of people don’t even know it exists and have never seen it.”
Bat speed isn’t new, but it’s possible to quantify it yes.
If we can measure something, then we can develop better training regimens. Once we got reliable radar gun readings, it wasn’t any different than training speed.
Almost anything new will encounter resistance. oneancient greek polymath Eratosthenes proved the Earth was round more than 2,000 years ago, but there were still doubters. There will always be doubters. The key to any worthwhile breakthrough is reaching a critical mass of widespread acceptance.
This requires evidence, education and communication Overcome misunderstandings.
Travis Fitta, driveline impact coordinator, said empathy is key in messaging.
“Understand the fact that people don’t know what they don’t know,” Fita said. “If you start looking at metrics in isolation — like bat speed in a vacuum — it’s easy for people to make assumptions about the metrics based on what they know from their own careers, or what they’ve seen, or what someone on the street told them about a fast swing.
“(Buying) may require more patience.”
Empirical evidence can also accelerate acceptance.
So, let’s turn to the most popular misconception related to this topic: Increased bat speed means dropped balls.
The Blue Jays proved this season that increasing bat speed is not only important, it is Doesn’t have to come at the expense of bat control.
Not only did Toronto gain the most bat velocity and exit velocity this season, but it improved from being a very good contact hitter last season (sixth-lowest strikeout rate in 2024, 20.3%) to being the best contact team this season (lowest strikeout rate in MLB, 17.6%).
