The New York Yankees’ “torpedo” type bats, which garnered attention on Saturday, have been discussed by MLB.
The Yankees defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 20–9, hitting nine home runs in the process. With nine home runs in the game, including three from Aaron Judge, they set a franchise record. Both Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. contributed home runs, and their bats garnered attention.
Chisholm Jr. and Volpe’s bats were altered by the Yankees to include a larger area of wood where the two tend to make more contact, according to Yankees TV commentator Michael Kay. After examining Volpe’s data and determining that the majority of his contact was made closer to the bat’s label, they moved the barrel closer to the label for him rather than leaving it in the usual location.
As you can see in this picture, the bat’s end is skinnier than the area underneath it, which is not how bats are normally shaped.
The kind of personalization that seems to make the most sense is adding extra meat to the part of the bat where a hitter makes more contact. People were also left wondering if it was legal. And yeah, is the response.
The MLB’s bat regulations are rather simple.
The bat must be a round, smooth stick that is no longer than 42 inches long and no thicker than 2.61 inches in diameter at its thickest point. According to the regulations, the bat must be a single piece of solid wood.
The Yankees have not broken any bat regulations. MLB attested to the bats’ legality.
Aaron Leanhardt, sometimes known as “Lenny,” a former MIT physicist who has served as a baseball hitting coach, is the creator of the torpedo-style bats. The Yankees hired him in order to enhance communication between the players and the team’s analytics department.
The purpose of the bats, according to former Yankees minor league player Kevin Smith, who spoke about them on X on Saturday, is to increase the number of times a batter makes contact with the bat’s “barrel,” which produces the heaviest hits.
“The majority of men use bats that aren’t even close to reaching their full barrel size. I was shocked when Lenny compared my barrel to what was “allowed,” Smith wrote on X.
“You’re bringing a weapon that could be more effective.” As Lenny would say. “You might just miss something, you might clip something, you might flare something, and you might barrel something.” And it’s true that these results are different by just a fraction of an inch on the barrel,” Smith stated.
According to Smith, assuming the weight is the same, hitters who use odd-shaped torpedo bats give up some exit velocity. The Yankees, however, think the increased contact rates compensate for the discrepancy and justify the purchase of the equipment.
It seems like Lenny foresaw that the bat design will become popular within five to ten years. The Yankees’ impressive hitting performance on Saturday suggests that the bat type could become popular within five to ten days.
