The torpedo bats used around Major League Baseball, specifically by the Yankees, have received mixed reactions, but it isn’t bothering the Mets.
“That’s the topic of the big leagues right now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Nothing new for us. This is something that every team, every player continues to look for, an edge, and find ways to improve in the margins. This is a perfect example.
“This has been going on for years, with guys going into the hitting labs and getting bats custom to what they’re like, whether it’s a thicker handle or thicker barrel. It’s just a funny-looking bat now that became viral, but nothing new for us.”
Developed by MIT physicist turned Yankees analyst Aaron Leanhardt, the torpedo bat transfers the barrel closer to the batter’s hands, creating a peculiar-looking shape that has the bat thin toward the top.
The early returns for the Yankees have been phenomenal, as they hit 15 home runs in their first three games of the season, including a franchise-record nine in a 20-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (three), Anthony Volpe (two), Austin Wells (two), Paul Goldschmidt (one), and Cody Bellinger (one) all use the torpedo bat.
They are not, however, the only team to use it. Thirteen players around the league, including the Mets’ Francisco Lindor, have the torpedo bat, which was deemed perfectly legal, in their bag.
That has not stopped some from moaning about it, most notably Brewers reliever Trevor Megill, who got a front-row seat to the Yankees’ home run derby in the Bronx.
“I think it’s terrible,’’ he told Dan Martin of the New York Post. “We’ll see what the data says. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I feel like it’s something used in slow-pitch softball. It’s genius: Put the mass all in one spot. It might be bush [league]. It might not be. But it’s the Yankees, so they’ll let it slide.”
“It took a minute for the shock to go away, since from the bullpen, they looked like bowling pins. We weren’t able to process it. But that’s the game. It’s a big data race, with science and technology playing a huge role in baseball now. You can’t hate them for trying something new.”
