The Tuesday Discussion: TORPEDO!

April 1, 2025

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This week we asked our writers to repsond to the following:

What is your brief opinion on the controversy surrounding the new "torpedo" bats?

Here are their replies:

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Derek McAdam - If the new bats work for some of the Yankee hitters, I’m all for it. My only issue is that I wish the YES Network announcers didn’t bring so much attention to them, as the bats have now become the biggest talking point among baseball fans within the past 2-3 days. Now, I can definitely see the possibility of other players around the league testing out these bats within a relatively short time span.

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Andrew Hefner - I think the "controversy" around them is solely due to the fact that it was the Yankees who first pioneered the model and showed what they can do to the public. The lack of transparency early on from both the MLB on the rules as well as from the Yankees and bat makers is what led to so much being drummed up with regard to the new bats, and in the end there is nothing wrong with them. Multiple players across the league have already noted that they prefer the old and that really the use of the bats is up to preference. Aaron Judge chooses not to use them, among other stars in the league that are performing just the same, if not better, without the use of the innovation. I think we can move on from all of the talk and just let the new invention take its course in the majors. All that any fan needs to know is that they are perfectly legal and are likely here to stay.  

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Tamar Chalker - There is no controversy. They are legal and anyone can use them - and I believe only a handful of Yankees players are using them. If a team like the Pirates were the ones who first used them, I doubt anyone would make a big deal about it. 

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Ed Botti - Bats have always been a little different. Some have thinner handles, some have thicker handles, some have that weird knob, other have the traditional knob, and the weight of the bat has always varied based on player preference.

Every player looks for an edge. Remember corked bats? Steroids?

But the torpedo being legal seems to take it to a little different of a level, IMO.

As I always say, follow the money.

MLB has expanded its teams and roster spots, and is looking to expand yet again. As a result there are currently over 100 players on the  MLB rosters that would not have been in the big leagues prior to the most recent expansion. Going from 25 to 26 man rosters added 30 players alone!

Add to that the many that are called up due to the increase in player injuries we see with this generation of players plus the September call ups, and you have a voluminous amount players that should be in the minor leagues playing in the Major Leagues. And they just aren’t good enough.

Manfred, is looking at any and all ways to increase offense because of these players (juice the ball, outlaw sticky stuff, larger bases, 3 batter rule, ghost runner). Next up for him was a bat that makes hitting the sweet spot easier.

All of this, just like so many other things going on in MLB are analytically driven (see MIT physicist on Yankee payroll named Aaron “Lenny” Leanhardt).

My opinion is, there are many players that hands, hips and weight shift aren’t quick enough to put the barrel of the bat on the ball at the MLB level, so he made that easier for them to hit; so more people will watch, bet on, and attend games. The difference between hitting the sweet spot or not is a fraction of a second bat speed wise, and that is what has always separated MLB players from everyone else in the world.

As far as the Yankees players using the torpedo, I can see why they figure “if its legal, why not”?

I am just glad he didn’t allow aluminum bats, but I wouldn’t put that past him.

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Cary Greene - Since the new torpedo bat, developed by Aaron Leinhardt who is now with the Marlins, meets all MLB regulations regarding weight, size and wood density. Despite the new bat's unconventional look, many Yankees are currently using the bat and there is little doubt that players from all teams will begin using the bats as soon as they can get their hands on them. Apparently, the bats are also individually designed for a player based on swing and sweet spot metrics and ultimately, they give a batter a better chance at barrelling up a baseball. My opinion on the controversy is that the whole thing is rather fascinating. 

There is little doubt that the new torpedo bat is now the talk of MLB and it seemed to literally come out of nowhere, even though other teams like the Cubs and others were reportedly using them last season during batting practice. Chisholm's connection to the Marlins and to Aaron Leinhardt explains how he got ahold of the revolutionary bat and now, the bat is being used by Anthony Volpe and perhaps others as well. 

MLB will probably need to move the topic of whether or not the new bat should be outlawed or not to the front burner so I expect the controversy to continue until the MLB officials either formally accept the torpedo bat, or choose to outlaw it. Baseball has become kind of a three outcome game for some time now as there is a ton of emphasis on hitting home runs, drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. It stands to reason that a bat that increases the chance of a home run and that helps a batter make loud contact would fall into vogue with what the game has become, so based on this - I kind of expect MLB to endorse the bat. 

Until baseball makes the Torpedo bat illegal, it will obviously remain legal and it seems like that if the bat remains legal - this season's statistics will require an asterisk that indicates "Start of the Torpedo Bat Era." The game has changed a lot over the years and it's now all about scoring runs. The importance of speed, base running and defense have been greatly deemphasized. Enter the dawn of the torpedo bat era! It seems like that's what we're looking at and whether you like it or hate it, the torpedo bat will remain perfectly legal to use -- until it isn't! Hate to sound like a Yogi Berra disciple here but I had to write those words. 

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Tim Kabel - The “torpedo bats“ are perfectly legal. If they were not, they could not be used. It is simply redistributing the overall weight of the bat so that the part that makes contact with the ball is the thickest. For years, players would “bone” their bats by rubbing the barrel against a bone, typically a cow’s femur. The purpose would be to use the friction generated to make the wood denser . The thinking was that a denser bat would cause the ball to jump off more quickly. Since most players use maple bats now, which are denser to begin with, boning is much less common than it used to be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the “torpedo bats.“ In fact, it’s an excellent idea.

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Ethan Semendinger - It appears that everybody else has the same understanding here, that the torpedo bats are well within the rules of the sport and this is a complete nontroversy. (Which goes to show we know our stuff, here.) The only extra thing I will add to this discussion is that this whole conversation has started because of 3 good games, in a 162 game season. For all we know, this could just entirely be a small sample size of greatness and the bats could be an overall failure. (It also helps that the Brewers pitching was abysmal this past weekend.) For now, the bats live, and very soon the rest of the league will follow if it works. (I have seen reports that the Philadelphia Phillies are getting a shipment of torpedos soon.)

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Andy Singer - I'll have a lot more to say about the "Torpedo Bats" in this week's SSTN Mailbag, but frankly, there's no controversy here. MLB has signaled that they are OK with the bats and by the letter of the rules, the bats are legal. More interestingly, I've been hearing stories about experimental bats similar to the Torpedo for at least a couple of years now, and I saw a very similar model being used in batting practice at minor league games. I also noticed Stanton using one in the playoffs last season. Somehow, it wasn't a controversy in any of those situations...you know, until the Yankees have a home run barrage against a team that had a bad pitching weekend.

I'm intrigued to see if the Torpedo evens the playing field a bit between hitters and pitchers...this may turn out to be the most significant equipment innovation to hit baseball in decades.