NEW YORK – Right off the bat, the Yankees’ “torpedo’’ bats are legal.
“They made sure before they even brought it to us, with MLB, that it was all within regulation,’’ said Cody Bellinger, a day after the Yanks’ historic home run barrage.
During Saturday’s franchise record nine-home run game, some of the Yankees’ outsized barrel bats set the Internet ablaze with commentary.
“It’s all within major league standards,’’ said manager Aaron Boone, though the Yankees’ 20-9 thumping of the Milwaukee Brewers brought the new bats into a new light.
“I think that was always going to happen,’’ said Anthony Volpe. “Part of our clubhouse and our team wanted to keep it a secret, but you know it was bound to happen.’’
Yankees’ torpedo bat home run barrage
Bellinger estimates that “four or five’’ Yankees are using the newer torpedo bats.
That group includes Bellinger, Volpe, Paul Goldschmidt, Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr., with Goldschmidt and Bellinger connecting in Saturday’s first inning.
Ex-Yankee Nestor Cortes surrendered homers on his first three pitches (Wells later homered in the first inning), with Judge being the only torpedo bat “holdout.’’
“Why try to change something if you’ve got something working?’’ asked Judge, the reigning AL MVP who belted 58 homers in 2024.
But his teammates were more compelled to switch bats, a process that began well before Opening Day.
“I tried four or five different models this spring, including my own,’’ said Bellinger, who first tried the torpedo bat during one BP session last summer with the Chicago Cubs.
Cody Bellinger’s switch to the ‘torpedo’ bat
Bellinger recalled the Cubs thinking, “Hmm, what is this thing? It was so unique,’’ but he never considered it for an MLB game since his brand didn’t yet make a torpedo model.
That changed over the winter, when Louisville Slugger sent him some sample bats.
These torpedo bats were made of birch wood, an ounce lighter than Bellinger’s usual maple bat and he eventually found one that felt comfortable.
“The weight is closer to my hands… that was the biggest benefit,’’ said Bellinger. And with the larger barrel, “the bigger the sweet spot, the greater margin for error.’’
“It makes sense,’’ said Volpe, who “kind of bought into it this year’’ during spring training.
“We were just talking and saying if it can help you foul off one pitch a season, buys you one more pitch, you might as well try it,’’ said Volpe, whose opposite-field power was more notable in camp.
Yankees’ trial and error with the torpedo bat
Former Yankees’ MLB analytics supervisor Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT physicist now with the Miami Marlins, is credited for innovating the “torpedo’’ trend in 2024.
But it’s consistent with MLB rules about barrels being no more than 2.61 inches around, so the Yanks feel it’s just another advance in sports equipment – maybe like golf drivers with bigger surfaces.
“We’re trying to win on the margins, and that shows up in so many different ways,’’ said Boone. “We have a big organization that’s interested in a lot of different things.’’
Volpe’s first “torpedo’’ sample bat felt “horrible’’ in his hands, but he eventually received one with the right weight distribution.
“It’s exciting,’’ said Volpe. And whether it’s truly beneficial or not, “I think any .001 percent mentally can give you a confidence boost.’’
For now, put Judge in the “no torpedo’’ category.
The Yankees captain won’t even take a BP swing with it, but he’s not opposed to trying it down the road.
“There’s a lot of new things in the game, like the adding the little hockey puck on the (knob) that some guys have,’’ as a counter weight to the barrel.
“Hopefully, as my career goes on, I can try adding some of those if I start losing something,’’ said Judge. “But I’m good where I’m at.’’