It isn’t every day that we see the entire MLB undergo a change in a way we didn’t expect. That’s what happened recently, with the New York Yankees introducing a bat known as the Torpedo. This new style of bat essentially redistributes most of the weight to the part where batters typically strike the ball, located just below the tip. In just three games with these new bats, the Yankees led the league with a whopping 15 home runs hit—nine of those came from batters who opted to use this new style of bat.
This Style Technically Doesn’t Break Any Rules
Hearing about these bats would make any fan immediately think that this breaks some rule. However, that isn’t the case here, with the torpedo bat still fitting within the specific regulations. According to the MLB’s collective bargaining agreements, bats can have a barrel size of up to 2.61 inches in diameter and a length of up to 42 inches. Neither of those requirements is broken with this new style.
Pitchers aren’t happy about it, though, as there’s nothing against the rules here that would put the Yankees or any other team in trouble for using it. I have a feeling that we’ll see more and more teams switch to this new bowling pin-style bat by the time the season ends.
Yankees Looking To Gain Any Edge They Can
When the media met with Yankees manager Aaron Boone, he mentioned that he doesn’t believe these new bats will change the way baseball is played. On top of that, he said, “we’re trying to win on the margins,” which includes trying new bat models to see if anything sticks. Safe to say that this is sticking.
As for Anthony Volpe, a key batter on the Yankees with this model of bat, said, “If it can help you foul off one pitch a season, if it buys you one more pitch, you might as well try it”. If you follow his reasoning, it makes perfect sense, especially if it fits within the league’s regulations. There’s no question that this will be a heavy topic of conversation if it continues to have success like this.
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