What are the torpedo bats with those Yankees unleashed madness?
What kind of weapon are the torpedo bats, are regulatory, what players use them? Here we answer some doubts
The torpedo bats are the topic of conversation at the major league season start.
Because?
Nothing more because the New York Yankees were devastating in the series who played against the Milwaukee Brewers to open the calendar. The New York team swept its rivals with victories 4-2, on Thursday, and overwhelming boards of 20-9 and 12-3 in games 2 and 3, respectively, with a total of 15 homers, four of them, courtesy of Captain Aaron Judge.
What kind of powerful weapon are the torpedo bats, are regulatory, what players use them? Here we answer some doubts.
What are the torpedo bats?
The idea of the bate torpedo is to take a size format, for example: 34 inches and 32 ounces, and distribute the wood in a geometric form different from the traditional one to ensure that the thickest part of the bat is located where the player makes more contact. The standard bates narrow towards an end that is as thick diametrically as the sweet barrel point. The bate torpedo moves part of the mass of the end of the bat about 6 or 7 inches below, giving it bowl shape, with a much thinner end.
How do you help batters?
The benefits for those who like swing, and not all who have tried it like, are double. Both are based on logic and physics. The first is that distributing more mass in the most frequent contact area is aligned with the players’ swing patterns and provides a greater impact when the bat hits the ball. The players constantly seek ways of hitting more balls, and although the swings that connect at the end of the bat and towards the mango will probably have a worse performance than with a traditional bat, it is compensation that they are willing to do for additional power. And as the batters know, power is what pays.
The second benefit, in theory, is the increase in the speed of bat. Imagine a deck and broomstick that weigh both 32 ounces. The weight of the mallet is almost everything at the end, while the broom stick is distributed evenly. Which is easier to move fast? The broomstick, of course, because the form of the deck requires more strength and effort to move it. By removing part of the weight of the end of the bate torpedo and moving it towards the center, the batters have discovered that it swings very similar to a traditional model, but with a slightly larger batting speed.
Why did the torpedo bats become the topic of conversation in MLB?
The theme unleashed the madness on the opening weekend because in its season series against Milwaukee Brewers, the New York Yankees dispatched 15 homers in the three games of the series, nine of them on Saturday, which matched the brand of the 2006 Detroit Tigers determinant
What does the regulation of major leagues on bats say?
The 3.02 baseball rule regarding the theme indicates to the BAT as “a round and smooth stick, of no more than 2.61 inches in diameter in its thickest part and no more than 42 inches long. The bat will be of one piece of solid wood.”
So are the torpedo bats legal?
A spokesman for Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office indicated the weekend that the bats are completely legal and comply with the respective regulations. Based on this, it will not be uncommon for other team players to begin to use these timbers, as they are duly regulatory.
How did the torpedo bats arise?
The idea of a bowling in the shape of bowling has been around baseball for years. Some battery manufacturers manufactured smaller versions as training tools. But the version that is now infiltrating baseball dates back two years ago, when a then Yankees coach named Aaron Leanhardt began to ask the batters how they should counteract the gigantic jumps that the pitchers had made in recent years.
When the Yankees players responded that larger barrels would help, Leanhardt, an exprofesor of Michigan physics formed in the MIT that left the academy to work in the sports industry, acknowledged that, as long as the bats were kept inside the MLB parameters, it could change their geometry to make them come true. Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to work as the Campo de las Major Leagues for the Miami Marlins during the winter, worked with the battery manufacturers during the 2023 and 2024 seasons to make this project a reality.
When did it appear for the first time in the MLB games?
It is not clear when exactly. But the Yankees batter Giancarlo Stanton used a bate torpedo last year and threw himself to a run of home runs in October that helped send the Yankees to the World Series. The New York Mets Star Francisco Lindor also used a Bate Styro Torpedo last year and finished second in the vote to the most valuable player in the National League.
What other notable players used the torpedo bates?
In addition to Stanton and Lindor, the Yankees batters Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have used torpedoes with great success. Others who have used them in matches are Junior Caminero, from Tampa Bay; Ryan Jeffers, from Minnesota; and Davis Schneider, from Toronto. And that is just the beginning. It is expected that hundreds of players more prove the torpedoes, and maybe they will use them in matches, in the coming weeks.
A fact to highlight, is that Aaron Judge (.545, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 1.818 SLG, 2,461 OPS), who became the first player with the largest amount of winding for a New York Yankees Pelotero in the first three games of a season in the history of the franchise, did not use the bate torpedo.
How is this about a bat with cork?
The cork is placed piercing a hole at the end of the bat, filling and covering it. The use of altered bats allows players to hit faster because the material with which they replace the wood, whether cork, superballs or other material, is lighter. Any type of adulteration of the bat is illegal and, if discovered, leads to the suspension.
Could a rule change to prohibit them?
Could it happen? Clear. The leagues and the guiding organs have imposed restrictions on the equipment that believe that they fundamentally alter equity. The curvature of the stick is limited in the hockey. The entire body swimsuits made of polyurethane and neoprene are prohibited by World Aquatics. But those responsible for MLB have recognized that the game pendulum has been significantly inclined towards pitching in recent years, and if an offensive revolution occurs due to the torpedo bates, and that is far from guaranteed, it could contribute more balance to the game. If that pendulum moves too much, the MLB could modify its regulations on bates, something that has already done several times in this century.
So the bate torpedo arrives to stay?
Of course. Bath manufacturers are producing them in mass and sending them to players interested with great urgency. The adoption of the bate torpedo will be a question that will take place during the rest of the season. He has aroused the curiosity of almost all the big leagues, and just as the pitchers experiment with new releases to see if they can improve them slightly, the batters will do the same with the bats.
The comfort is essential with a bat, so the batters will try them during batting practices and in the cage sessions before using them during the game. Over time, players will find specific forms that are more comfortable and adapt better to their swing during battery adjustment sessions, similar to how golfers look for personalized sticks. But do not be wrong: this is a transformation of the game that has occurred almost overnight, and “traditional or torpedo?” It is a question that every major leagues will be done in the future.
