Red Sox’ Willson Contreras elite in metric Driveline, player development stress; ‘Really important as you get old’
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Red Sox player development department has put a heavy focus on helping their prospects increase bat speed.
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“It’s really important as you get old, for sure,” Red Sox 34-year-old slugger Willson Contreras said about bat speed this week before a game against the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Contreras has elite bat speed, ranking in the 95th percentile (76.6 mph) among major league hitters. Only 10 qualified big league hitters have had faster bat speed than him this season. Junior Caminero, the Rays’ 22-year-old superstar, has the league’s top bat speed at 79.9 mph.
Player development departments and data-driven organizations like Driveline Baseball have been tracking bat speed for years. But it wasn’t until the second half of the 2023 season when Statcast bat tracking data became available to the public on the Baseball Savant website.
So it is not necessarily a new metric, but it has become much more known and discussed among baseball fans and in the media over the past few years because of better access to it.
Contreras himself didn’t even know his own bat speed until a few years ago.
“I think it was ’23 or ’24. One of those two (years) that I was using the blast, the chip that goes on the bat,” Contreras said. “And I was just trying it to see what my bat speed was. And that’s when I realized I have good bat speed.”
The metric has divided baseball observers. Better bat speed can help hitters to catch up with fastballs and handle late break or movement. Data-driven analysts also say that a hitter might not square up a ball in a certain at-bat, but above-average bat speed might still lead to a hit, creating room for error.
On the other hand, some traditionalists think it leads to more swing and miss. In MassLive’s three-part series on Driveline Baseball that ran in February, an AL scout noted, “I’m not saying bat speed is bad, but with a runner on third and less than two outs, who would you as a pitcher rather face: Giancarlo Stanton or Steven Kwan?”
Stanton, who strikes out a ton, has top-of-the-league bat speed, while Kwan, a contact hitter, is at the bottom of the league.
“Any pitcher would rather face Giancarlo Stanton,” the scout added. “None of that means anything at that point. It’s about competing and touching the ball and getting the job done.”
Bat speed is very important to Contreras. But when he was asked what’s most important to him as a hitter, he replied, “For me, just find a way to make contact.”
“I’m not that guy that’s gonna go to the plate and look for a homer because that’s when I get in trouble,” he said. “Then I realized that the harder they throw, the only thing I have to do is to make a good contact on the barrel. The ball is gonna go wherever it’s gonna go.”
There was much discussion on MLB Network during the 2025 postseason about bat speed after George Springer increased his bat speed almost two miles per hour from the year before, leading to a bounce back season.
“I think the focus for veteran guys is to try to keep the bat speed at the same level as before (in previous seasons),” Contreras said. “Especially with the pitchers showing 99 to 101 (mph). It’s like you’ve gotta have some type of bat speed, for sure.”
Elite velocity is difficult to catch up to. There have been 23,859 pitches thrown 97 mph or harder this season, generating a 27.1% strikeout percentage and 23.7% whiff percentage.
There have been 4,861 pitches thrown 99 mph or harder, inducing a 35.3% strikeout percentage and 29.4% whiff percentage.
As Contreras noted, bat speed is important but he’s focused on good contact and barreling the ball. The Red Sox first baseman — who is batting .284 with a .381 on-base percentage, .516 slugging percentage and .897 OPS in 265 plate appearances — is in the 90th percentile among qualified major league hitters in barrel percentage (15.1%).
As Red Sox senior director of player development Brian Abraham said for MassLive’s Driveline series, “Bat speed matters, but it only matters if you swing at the right pitches. It only matters if you hit the ball.”
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So how does a hitter increase bat speed? Contreras said that players often do it with overload and underload training, which is using heavier and lighter bats while working out in the cage.
“But for me, the most important thing for bat speed is starting in the offseason, working out with your body, doing a lot of power, explosion stuff,” Contreras said. “And I wouldn’t say heavy lift, but lift with a purpose to keep your bat speed.”
Contreras said it’s essential for him to take care of his body.
“Working out in the gym, doing some rotation stuff. Power. Explosion,” he said.
The work on bat speed happens during the offseason and before games. Swinging hard and hitting home runs is not something he thinks about during the game.
“The fundamental stuff starts from the bottom of my legs, the separation between them,” he said. “How do I prepare myself before the games for the bat speed to be there, the approach and other stuff? So hitting is really hard, especially in the big leagues, because you have to realize a lot of stuff. Who’s starting? What pitches does he have? What he has to do, what fastball should I look for? A lot of different stuff.”
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