Power Outage: Why Has Ryan Jeffers's Bat Speed Diminished?

[Cody Schoenmann]

The Twins catcher hasn't hit a home run over 58 plate appearances. What is the cause of his power outage? Should those who follow the team be concerned?

Over 23 games played, the Minnesota Twins' catching tandem of Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez ranks 25th in major league baseball, hitting .175/.264/.250 with a 54 wRC+ and -0.1 Wins Above Replacement at FanGraphs (fWAR). The club's positional duo has taken a step back from last season, where they finished as the 19th-best tandem in baseball, and a significant step back from 2023, where they concluded the season as the league's ninth-best pairing. Jeffers and (more so) Vázquez are still sound game-planning, receiving, framing, and throwing catchers. Yet, they have taken a substantial step back offensively, causing them to plummet toward the bottom of the league.

The tandem's ability to function offensively would always be contingent on Jeffers's ability to produce at the plate. Since joining the Twins, Vázquez has been a well-below-league-average offensive catcher, posting a 65 and 60 wRC+ the prior two seasons, respectively. He is performing especially poorly at the plate this season, hitting .100/.152/.167 with three hits, zero home runs, and a -12 wRC+ over 33 plate appearances. Still, expectations were practically nonexistent with Vázquez, making his slow start at the plate unsurprising.

On the other hand, Jeffers is performing below expectations, evidenced by him hitting .220/.328/.300 with 11 hits, four doubles, zero home runs, and a 92 wRC+ over 58 plate appearances. The long-time Twins backstop possesses an admirable 20.7% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate, indicating he isn't struggling to see the ball. Instead, concerns lie within his suboptimal mechanics and diminished bat speed.

Here is how Jeffers's bat speed has trended over the previous three seasons:

• 2023: 73.8 MPH
• 2024: 72.9 MPH
• 2025: 70.8 MPH

Jeffers's bat speed has gradually dropped the previous three rolling seasons, directly correlating to a steady drop in power and overall offensive production. While possessing a 32nd-percentile bat speed, the UNC Wilmington product has also generated a deeper contact point this season, evidenced by his evolving Intercept Point (inches toward pitcher) versus the front of the plate the previous three seasons:

• 2023: 2.8 in.
• 2024: 3.5 in.
• 2025: -2.0 in.

Jeffers is positioned further back in the box, further evidenced by depth in the box hovering between 27.5-to-27.2 inches in 2023 and 2024, respectively, to 28.7 inches this season. Now, there could be various reasons why Jeffers is further back in the box. Many MLB players have elected to stand further back in the box to accumulate more time to react to pitches. When players do this, it is typically a purposeful change in approach implemented alongside hitting coaches in the offseason. Jeffers, however, is seemingly deepening himself in the box to give himself more time to catch up to pitches because his bat is slower.

 The reason behind Jeffers's decreased bat speed and decision to position himself further back in the box is unclear. Decreased bat speed is often the product of a player playing through injury. The only documented injury Jeffers has sustained this season was when a ball hit his right hand, causing it to bleed and eventually swell. The right-handed hitting backstop was sidelined for two days before returning to the lineup. He has interestingly performed significantly better since injuring his thumb, propelling from a 47 wRC+ over 38 plate appearances before the injury to a 177 wRC+ over 20 plate appearances afterward.

Nevertheless, Jeffers's change in positioning and notably diminished bat speed are cause for concern. Vázquez will always be a below-average offensive catcher. Triple-A catchers Jair Camargo and Diego Cartaya are significantly struggling at the plate, meaning the possibility of minor-league reinforcements impacting the parent club's catching tandem is effectively a non-option. That being the case, Jeffers will need to turn things around the plate if the club expects to receive any offensive production from the position. If he cannot, the club could face a bleak outlook at the position with over 130 games remaining.

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[DKrz56]

I'd still rather see Camargo get a chance than continue to throw Vazquez out there.

[Jocko87]

I may be missing it somewhere but we need to see two strike vs all other swings to see the picture.  We know he is adjusting significantly but not how much it affects the average.  To me, he looks a better overall hitter that hasn’t gotten hot.

Also, torpedo bat fad. 

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, DKrz56 said:

I'd still rather see Camargo get a chance than continue to throw Vazquez out there.

Me too.

[umterp23]

1 hour ago, Jocko87 said:

I may be missing it somewhere but we need to see two strike vs all other swings to see the picture.  We know he is adjusting significantly but not how much it affects the average.  To me, he looks a better overall hitter that hasn’t gotten hot.

Also, torpedo bat fad. 

Hard hit off the bat is something I’d be curious about as well combined,with launch angle. Don’t have the time to research all at bats, but looked at last night. Double, high launch angle and 100 mph off the bat having 1 strike on him in 1st at bat. Singles at 2nd at bat 109 off bat with no strikes in count. Singles in 3rd at bat 94.5 off at bat with 2 strikes. 4th at bat line drive out 95.7 off bat with 1 strike count. Last at bat after a brutal way outside strike2 call popped up to right at 86.2 off bat.  Seems like when he is aggressive in the at bat his bat speed is higher. One of the few on the team with two strikes that is contact oriented. 

[Rufus]

He seems to be picking up lately, now that he is playing more.

[Bodie]

Might be as simple as he's a catcher...

Cumulative aches, pains, hurts and injuries throughout the season and career.  The tools of ignorance are heavy!

[High heat]

Jeffers lack of back speed was evident yesterday.  He hit that hanging breaking ball well (double) and on every other year would have been 5 rows deep instead it should have been an out.  
 

Vazquez is passed being cooked.  Camargo should get a run in the big leagues and replace him.  Atleast Camargo will run into one once in a while for a HR.  He will absolutely hit better then .100 with zero power.

[LambchoP]

Jeffers is fine, he's starting to hit better with more playing time. Vasquez is absolutely cooked and both catchers at AAA look to be busts. Twins need to look outside the organization for some catchers asap since after this year Jeffers is our only legit option. Hopefully we can nab a young MLB ready catcher at the deadline when we have our inevitable sell off.

[Finlander]

How many hitting coaches has the team cycled through in recent years? James Rowson, Rudy Hernandez, David Popkins, Derek Shoman, and now Matt Borgschulte. The lack of continuity and coaching talent might be a contributing factor, as nearly the entire team seems affected (minus the early success of batters like Wallner and Keashall).

Jeffers may be nursing some aches and pains from the nature of his position. Let's see how he's swinging by the end of May. The warm weather may loosen up the ol' rheumatism.

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, Finlander said:

How many hitting coaches has the team cycled through in recent years? James Rowson, Rudy Hernandez, David Popkins, Derek Shoman, and now Matt Borgschulte. The lack of continuity and coaching talent might be a contributing factor, as nearly the entire team seems affected (minus the early success of batters like Wallner and Keashall).

Jeffers may be nursing some aches and pains from the nature of his position. Let's see how he's swinging by the end of May. The warm weather may loosen up the ol' rheumatism.

James Rowson left after 2019. Rudy Hernandez, David Popkins, and Derek Shoman were all coaches together. They weren't replacing each other. And, actually, Rudy Hernandez overlapped between Rowson and Popkins/Shoman. Rudy Hernandez was on the Twins major league coaching staff since 2015. He overlapped multiple managers and hitting coaches. If that's not continuity in a major league staff, I don't know what is.

[jkcarew]

Seems odd not to mention that he’s lowered his K-rate for 28% to 19% during this period. Clearly, he’s deliberately letting the ball get deeper and making adjustments to put more balls in play.