At the start of the 2025 Major League Baseball (MLB) season, new “torpedo” bats took over the MLB with the help of the New York Yankees. Established by MLB analytics, the torpedo-shaped barrels on a baseball bat are meant to enhance a player’s power based on where they make contact with the ball on the bat the most. In other words, the barrel of the bat, or the “sweet spot,” is moved based on where a specific player hits the most.
On March 29th, the Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers with a final score of 20-9, hitting a franchise-tying record of nine home runs and introducing the torpedo bat. The following day, the Yankees beat the Brewers with a final score of 12-3, smashing another four home runs. Notable Yankee players like catcher Austin Wells, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, shortstop Anthony Volpe, and second baseman Jazz Chisholm, Jr. used the torpedo bats and appeared to hit the ball with much more power as they all contributed to those home runs, but does it make a difference? Sophomore Ethan Gray believes, “I feel like they give players more power because the barrels are bigger, but they also reduce contact. So they are both good and bad.”
Jazz Chisholm, Jr. hit 3 total home runs across those two games against the Brewers at the beginning of the season, but since April 1st, he has only hit 4 more home runs before getting injured on April 29th. Throughout this period, though, Chisholm batted a whopping .181, otherwise known as 19 hits in 105 at-bats. This is below league average, and it proves that even though the torpedo bat gives more power, it doesn’t give any additional contact. Anti-Yankee fans believed that it was an act of “cheating” and that only the Yankees organization could get away with this, but these allegations quickly vanished as players like Chisholm were not affected. Some players, though, may be able to hit the ball better than Chisholm, so can it be just one player’s problem?
As the media overloaded the torpedo bats with hype, it resulted in hysteria throughout the league and its fans. A ton of players in the MLB wanted to use the torpedo bat because of what the media was telling them, which made them think, could this enhance their hitting? The media took accountability for two blowout games in a row and made the torpedo bat seem like the new hitter-friendly baseball advancement. A few potential recognizable names of players around the league who jumped onto the torpedo bat trend were Cincinnati Reds’ shortstop Elly De La Cruz, Chicago Cubs’ shortstop Dansby Swanson, Baltimore Orioles’ catcher Adley Rutschman, and New York Mets’ shortstop Francisco Lindor. Some of these players are having a good season so far with the torpedo bat, but those hitting well have been known to be good all-around hitters, like the Yankees’ Paul Goldschmidt and the Mets’ Francisco Lindor. Other players like the Orioles’ catcher Adley Rutschman and Cubs’ shortstop Dansby Swanson are not having their best season, so it may not be the bat; it may be the player.
To answer the question from before, are torpedo bats all that? No. Torpedo bats have done nothing to increase the way an MLB player hits the ball. There is no proof through any torpedo-using player’s performance this season that has shown this advancement to be successful.
