Wednesday Rockpile: Kris Bryant’s bat speed isn’t enough to dispel my doubts for 2025

Colorado Rockies news and links for Wednesday, March 19, 2025

As the start of the 2025 season draws closer, the Colorado Rockies have spent a great deal of time focusing on the youth present in camp. For good reason, the Rockies have kept the spotlight on the prospects hoping to make an impact with the club in the coming years yet some of the biggest questions remain concerning their highest-paid player.

Since signing a seven-year, $182 million contract with the Rockies in 2022, Kris Bryant has been a soggy wet blanket on the Rockies. Various ailments have limited him to just 159 games over three seasons and when he was “healthy” his production has been lackluster on the field.

A glimpse at his stats in his limited spring training action doesn’t exactly inspire hope. In 10 games, Bryant is 3-for-25 with a home run and a double. In the small sample size he has slashed .120/.267/.280 while spending the majority of his time as the designated hitter (he does have one game at first base).

Now, of course, you have to always take spring training stats with a grain of salt. Bryant hasn’t typically been a standout in spring training during his career. I will admit there have been some promising signs, such as his five walks against seven strikeouts. Plate discipline has been a trademark for Bryant over his 10-year career. A decline has been more noticeable in Colorado as his walk rate has declined each of the last three seasons, but it has still been league average. His strikeout rate has been league-average as well, aside from the 31% clip he posted in 2024.

Perhaps the most surprising statistic this spring for Bryant has been his bat speed early in camp. Last season, his average bat speed was 69.5 mph and he only had seven total swings tracked at 75+ mph. Conversations about Bryant’s improved bat speed in the realm of 73 mph were sparked early in camp when he hit a home run on February 25.

He swatted a 93 mph fastball offering from Jairo Iriarte 462 feet. It was a vintage Bryant home run with effortless power in the bat. The exit velocity was registered at 111.8 mph with a 77.5 mph bat speed.

“It looks right,” Rockies manager Bud Black said in early March. “That has stood out for us on the coaching side. It looks good. The bat speed, how he’s moving, the strength to the swing, all things look KB-like when he’s right, albeit he hasn’t been for a lot of his career here.”

The home run and the bat speed certainly sparked hope that Bryant was tapping back into his healthier, younger years. However, it’s not enough to dispel my doubts about his 2025 season.

Bryant’s offseason was spent working on strengthening his core to hopefully alleviate some of the pressure of the degenerative back disorder he was diagnosed with last season. The lack of a healthy back has been quite evident in his power numbers over the last season seasons and the lack of speed in his swing. He has claimed to be feeling fully healthy and strong entering the season, but how long will that last? We have heard a story of that nature for the last couple of seasons and seen minimal results from Bryant on the field.

The Rockies are obviously going to handle Bryant with kids’ gloves this season. He has yet to play back-to-back games in spring training. During the offseason, the team sported the idea of Bryant playing in the outfield on occasion on the road, yet he hasn’t logged an appearance during spring training.

There are also the concerns that whatever bat speed numbers we’ve seen in camp will continue over into the regular season. Over the last two seasons, we have seen Bryant average a bat speed of 69 mph, and while the back issues can be attributed to that lack of speed, it has become the standard of his Rockies tenure.

There have been promising signs of the deep fly balls to the outfield this spring, but at the end of the day they are still outs, regardless of how fast he swung the bat. We can be encourage by the contact, but the results have to follow in other ways at some point.

On all swings, Bryant is averaging a 70.3 mph bat speed. That number does just up to 75 mph on balls hit in play, still, it’s too early to tell where the median will rest once regular season competition starts. There is also the matter that he still has one of the longest swings in baseball at eight feet which is quite detrimental if the bat speed doesn’t hold up.

After three disappointing seasons, my expectations for Bryant are perhaps the lowest for anyone on the Rockies. As much as I would love for him to exceed expectations, remain healthy, and contribute offensively I’m not going to hold my breath. There are certainly more worthwhile candidates I’d rather see getting at-bats than the 33-year-old with a bad back.

Spring training analysis is difficult because there is no guarantee that the good or bad will follow a player into the regular season. You can be encouraged and even optimistic about things you witness during these exhibition games, but the doubts can and should remain with players like Bryant until he proves otherwise.

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