During the early 2025 MLB season, “torpedo” bats have received widespread attention due to their increasing success. Developed by former Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist and current Miami Marlins staffer Aaron Leanhardt, the bats are designed to mimic a torpedo shape to redistribute the bat’s weight to the most dense part, called the “sweet spot,” which is closer to the handle. Leanhardt told The Athletic that he aimed to make the bat “as heavy and as thick as possible” in the area where players most frequently made contact with the ball.
The New York Yankees are among the primary beneficiaries of the “torpedo” bats. On April 1, the Yankees lost their first MLB game of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks. However, the Yankees broke multiple records through their consistent home run hitting; they established the MLB record for the most home runs by a team in the first four games of a season, surpassing the previous mark 16 set by the 2006 Detroit Tigers.
According to CNN, the Yankees also made MLB history by becoming the first baseball team to have nine different players hit home runs in their opening four games. The Yankees scored a total of 41 runs, which is the second-most in franchise history, 7 runs behind the 48 scored in 1950.
“It doesn’t feel like a different bat. It just helps you in a little way,” Chisholm Jr. said when asked about his new bat after his multi-homer game on Sunday.
Additionally, Jose Trevino, a previous player with the Yankees last season, said that the first time he used a “torpedo” bat was during spring training in 2024. In an interview with the New York times, he said “At first, I was like, ‘No way, but then, I tried it; I liked it.”
Trevino also explained how creating the “torpedo” bats involves a complicated process because the designers must modify the model to cater to the individual player’s needs. He said that he has ordered barrel sizes in small, medium and large.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson expressed surprise at how long it took for the “torpedo” bat to gain attention. He described it as revolutionary due to its design, which maximizes the amount of wood on the “sweet spot,” ensuring no material is wasted on parts of the bat that are not used for contact.
“If I move the center of mass of the bat closer to my hands, two things happen: I can actually swing the bat faster and I have more control over the bat,” Tyson explained. “It’s not that different from back in the days when they used to choke up on the bat [by] bringing your hands closer to the center of mass and the ball.”
Although the new style of bat has quickly gained popularity in the MLB world, teams are still unconvinced by it. “I think if you go back and look at where some of these pitches were (thrown against the Yankees), it might not be the bat,” Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona said in an interview with The Athletic.
Moreover, Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson mentioned that he is satisfied with his current bat and does not plan to use the “torpedo” but not completely opposed to the idea.
“[The torpedo] might be one of those phases … that comes and goes,” added Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers. According to Jeffers, only “time will tell” about the bat’s future use by players in the league.
