In a Spring Training contest between the Yankees and Phillies, Anthony Volpe squared off against LHP Matt Strahm, belting a fastball 110 MPH for a two-run HR. It tied the game at two, but more importantly, it was the hardest-hit ball ever tracked for Anthony Volpe in his professional career, which could be tied to bat speed gains made last year. In the postseason, the third-year shortstop made massive strides in the bat speed department that have carried into Spring Training.
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Anthony Volpe’s Power Surge Could Aid Uncertain Yankees’ Offense
Anthony Volpe averaged a 69.5 MPH bat speed during the 2024 season, but thus far in Spring Training, he has averaged around 72.8 MPH on competitive swings. This is in a small sample size of games tracked by Baseball Savant, but the encouraging part of this is that in the postseason Anthony Volpe began increasing his bat speed and enjoyed an excellent month of October as a result.
He hit .286 with a 136 wRC+ in the Yankees’ run to the World Series, stinging a grand slam in Game 4 to keep the team alive for one more day. Power became a problem for Volpe in year two, as he saw a decrease in HRs hit alongside a decrease in his SLG%, both signs of a hitter who had lost their feel for doing damage. His swing adjustments between 2023 and 2024 did correct his contact problems but resulted in a less balanced profile and more weak grounders.
The Yankees are hoping these improvements in swing speeds stick, and that this 110 MPH HR is a sign of what’s to come in 2025. Aaron Boone has raved about the young shortstop, and with this blistering drive, he’s displaying more power than he has at any point in his Major League career.