Saturday, Nestor Cortes of the Milwaukee Brewers pitched against the team that traded him away this offseason, the New York Yankees. Usually a player making their first start against their former team brings more than usual attention to the game, however that wasn’t the only reason the game (and the league) has gained a little more attention from this matchup. Cortes would start the game with 3 pitches, giving up 3 homeruns.

Yes, Nestor Cortes – facing his old team – threw one pitch to Paul Goldschmidt, who hit a homerun. The second pitch of the game, Cody Bellinger hit a homerun. Then Aaron Judge came up to the plate, saw one pitch which he also took yard. So that will bring a little bit more attention to the game, but why was the sports world talking SO MUCH about the game?

That would be because this weekend, the New York Yankees debuted their new bats. The “Torpedo Bat”. The bat is the same length as all other bats, you swing it the exact same way, but looking at it, even someone with minimal baseball knowledge would raise an eyebrow.

Standard bats as you know them have a small handle that feeds into a larger “barrel” section, which is used to hit the ball. These Torpedo bats however, are shaped like a bowling pin.

The second picture is the same player (Jazz Chisolm) using a standard bat last season. As you can see in the third picture, the Torpedo (top) has a significantly wider barrel than the standard bat (bottom).

Baseball gloves worn in the field have evolved from the beginning of time, from the time where players just had a slab of leather strapped to their hand – to each position having different style, different size, different pocket style, different colors and finger placements. Players wear extra thumb guards to help batting. Sliding mit, elbow guards, shin guards – everything in the equipment sphere has evolved, added parts, and done things to improve player abilities…but the bat. Why?

The Yankees are the first team to debut the new bats and that is what is causing a ruckus. However, any team can do it – so why now is my question. Why did it take so long for a team to look at the standard bat and say “you know what, what if we make the barrel bigger…? It will add more pop if force is reallocated to the spot the ball is hitting.”

The Yankees enlisted the physicist Aaron Leanhardt to their analytics staff last season, and he is credited with designing the Torpedo Bat. Yes, an MIT graduate physicist, helping a baseball team create a bat that is both legal and benefitial. The bat redistributes the weight of the bat to the point that the player is most likely to strike the ball with. Last season, the analytics department studied Anthony Volpe and found out a majority of his swings made contact on the logo of his bat – which with a standard bat is not the “sweet spot” per se. However, with the Torpedo bat – that is the sweet spot. Volpe hit 12 homeruns in 160 games last season. He has 2 through 3 games this year.

In a sport that is so analytics driven, how did no one in an analytics departments over the last 5-10 years come up with this? Well, they might have. Reports say that Cody Bellinger (who is using one this season) used the Torpedo bat last season while with the Chicago Cubs – however never in a game. Bellinger said that he would use it in batting practice, however did not feel comfortable using it in a game because of getting used to the weight distribution being different. During spring training this season he decided to use it more – and has brought it with him into the regular season. Ryan Jeffers of the Twins was sighted using one today against the Cardinals.

I am currently in the boat of – if it’s legal, the league isn’t punishing them for using them, and everyone has the ability to use is… why not?

Until the league office comes out and says, this is a no-no – continue to use it.

Till Next Time,
Trevor