12 standouts from first week of Spring Training games
David Adler
@_dadlerSpring Training might not count, but it is when we get the year's first wave of Statcast data, and that deserves a closer look.
Let's try to find some numbers worth paying attention to early on this spring, from the hitters who are ripping the ball to the pitchers who are looking nasty to the prospects who are turning heads.
Here are 12 Statcast standouts from the first week of Spring Training 2025.
1) Kris Bryant, Rockies
111.8 mph, 462-foot HR on Tuesday
The former MVP had one of his most impressive swings in a long time when he crushed this home run to deep left-center field against the White Sox. The last time Bryant hit a ball 110 mph or harder in a regular season game was in 2021, and the last time he hit a home run that hard was in 2019.
In fact, Bryant has hit only three balls in his career harder than his Spring Training moonshot, all homers during the 2016 and '17 seasons with the Cubs. And he's hit only two longer homers than his 462-footer.
2) Jac Caglianone, Royals
115.4 mph, 435-foot HR on Feb. 23
Caglianone didn't waste any time showing the elite power that makes him the Royals' top prospect. He launched a 115.4 mph home run in his second game of his first big league Spring Training.
Only 15 Major Leaguers hit even one home run 115 mph or harder in the 2024 season, and Caglianone's spring blast is the third-hardest homer by any Royals player since Statcast began tracking in 2015, with only Jorge Soler and Kendrys Morales ahead of the 22-year-old.
3) Corbin Carroll, D-backs
104.1 mph, 107.5 mph and 110.1 mph HRs in first 4 games
After making some swing adjustments to find his power stroke in the second half of last season, Carroll has kept on letting it rip in Spring Training. He's hit three 100-plus mph home runs in his first four games in the Cactus League, including a 110.1 mph grand slam on Wednesday against the Brewers.
That one is especially notable because it's as hard a home run as Carroll has hit in his big league career -- he hit another one 110.1 mph on June 17, 2023, and one 110.0 mph in the NLDS later that year. Equaling his career-best home run exit velo bodes well for the D-backs star entering the 2025 season.
4) Anthony Volpe, Yankees
110.0 mph HR on Thursday
Volpe is in the same boat as Carroll. The Yankees shortstop smacked a 110.0 mph home run this week against Phillies lefty Matt Strahm, and that's not just harder than any home run Volpe has hit in his young career -- it's harder than any batted ball he's hit in the Majors, period. Volpe's career high in exit velocity was 108.7 mph, so for him to be exceeding that by over a full mph is significant, even though it's only spring.
5) Bryce Eldridge, Giants
110.4 mph, 450-foot HR on Feb. 22
Caglianone isn't the only top prospect to make a big splash early in Spring Training. Eldrige, the Giants' No. 1 prospect, crushed a 450-foot homer in his Spring Training debut. That's Major League power from the 20-year-old slugging first baseman. Eldridge is one of three players to crush a 450-plus-foot home run so far this spring, along with Bryant and Elly De La Cruz.
6) Chandler Simpson, Rays
Sprint speeds of 30.8 ft/sec (infield 1B), 29.9 ft/sec (SB)
Simpson is the Rays prospect to watch this spring, because the 24-year-old shortstop nicknamed "Little Tony Gwynn" might be one of the fastest players in pro baseball. Simpson had 104 stolen bases in the Minors last season, and now we have some tracking data on his elite speed. Simpson beat out an infield single in his first Spring Training game with a 4.05-second home-to-first time and a top sprint speed of 30.8 feet per second. A sprint speed of 30 ft/sec or faster is the threshold for elite MLB speed, and Simpson's 30.8 ft/sec is as high a sprint speed as has been recorded by any runner in 2025 Spring Training. He also had a stolen base with a 29.9 ft/sec sprint speed in the same game.
7) Tarik Skubal, Tigers
100.1 mph max velo in his first start
Let's do some pitchers, starting with the reigning American League Cy Young Award and Triple Crown winner, who looked as overpowering as ever in his first Spring Training outing.
Skubal wasted no time pumping in triple-digit heat, topping out at 100.1 mph in his start against the Twins on Wednesday. Skubal is one of only two starting pitchers to hit 100-plus mph this spring (we'll get to the other one in a second).
8) Sandy Alcantara, Marlins
98.9 mph avg. fastball velo, 100.4 mph max, K's at 100.0 and 98.7
The 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner is back with a vengeance. Alcantara missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but the Marlins ace is now firing on all cylinders. Alcantara has made two spring starts and is averaging just under 99 mph with his four-seamer and sinker, the highest fastball velo of any starter this Spring Training.
He's reached triple digits twice -- including a 100.0 mph strikeout of the Braves' Sean Murphy on Friday -- and he also struck out the Mets' Jose Siri in his first start last weekend on a 98.7 mph sinker with 19 inches of arm-side run.
9) Dustin May, Dodgers
Curveball averaging 85.1 mph, 3,384 rpm, 19" of break
May is coming back this season from elbow surgery and a life-threatening torn esophagus, and his stuff still looks electric. That goes for his entire arsenal, but May's curveball is especially nasty. Through two Spring Training outings, he's averaging 85.2 mph with a 3,384 rpm spin rate and 19 inches of horizontal break. That's elite in every way.
May has the highest-spin curve of any pitcher this spring, top-five horizontal movement and top-10 velocity. The movement on May's curveball right now is even greater than it was the last time he pitched in 2023, when it was still one of the highest-spin curves in the Majors.
10) Bryce Miller, Mariners
96.8 mph avg. 4-seam velo (+1.6 mph from 2024)
Miller had a breakout 2024 season in the elite Mariners starting rotation, and his stuff looks like it might be even better in 2025. The 26-year-old righty averaged 96.8 mph with his four-seam fastball in his first Spring Training start, a huge bump from the 95.2 mph he averaged last season. If Miller is really adding a tick and a half to his already excellent rising fastball and sitting 97, he's only going to be more dominant. And the fastball is just the start. Miller's velocity was up across the board, making one of the more diverse pitch arsenals in baseball even more powerful.
11) Jack Leiter, Rangers
4-seamer averaging 98.2 mph / 2,411 rpm with 17" induced rise
Leiter has had his struggles in pro ball, but the 24-year-old is showing signs of the old life on his fastball, which is what made him so dominant at Vanderbilt. Leiter's four-seamer is sitting at over 98 mph so far this spring, a 1.8 mph bump from the 96.4 mph he averaged in his rocky 2024 big league debut. And he's generating strong rising action, which is what makes his fastball a dominant pitch at the top of the zone when Leiter is right.
12) Cory Lewis, Twins
Knuckleball averaging 288 rpm
There's a new knuckleballer this spring, the 24-year-old Twins prospect Lewis. And his knuckleball dances. Lewis' knuckleball is floating in with a spin rate of just 288 rpm, making it the lowest-spin pitch in all of Spring Training -- even lower than fellow knuckleballer Matt Waldron.
It's also hard for a knuckleball. Lewis averaged 83.5 mph and topped out at 84.8 mph in his first Grapefruit League outing -- the fastest tracked knuckleball in the pitch-tracking era, which goes back to 2008. His knuckleball generated a 63% swing-and-miss rate in that first game.