Torpedo bat mania reaches Rangers' locker with a couple players wanting one

This past weekend the New York Yankees took the league by storm, tying a team record nine home runs in a single game during a 20-9 thrashing of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Yankees then went on to hit 15 home runs in their weekend series against the Brew Crew.

While certainly impressive the record was not the main talk of the town. It was actually the bats a handful of Yankees’ players were swinging.

During the broadcast, Yankees’ play-by-play announcer Michael Kay pointed out the unique shaped bat used by Jazz Chisholm Jr., which shape is reminiscent of a torpedo.

Naturally the bat went viral with fans and even players (former and current) expressing some concerns about the design and questioning its legality. Some, like Bartolo Colon, having a little fun with it.

The trend started with Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe and Paul Goldschmidt this past weekend and has transitioned its way to Francisco Lindor, Nico Hoerner, Yandy Diaz and many more.

They have even made it to the locker room of the Texas Rangers with Dallas Morning News’ reporter Evan Grant sharing that a few players, notably Joc Pederson and Josh Smith were hankering to get their hands on a torpedo bat or two.

Where did the torpedo bat come from?

In reality baseball has seen some version of the torpedo bat in the last 25-30 years. Everything from a bowling-pin shaped bat to a bat that just featured a bit bigger of a sweet spot.

It’s this specific design that is so appealing and it comes from the brainchild of former MIT physicist and now Miami Marlins coach Aaron Leanhardt. Leanhardt left academia to join the community college baseball ranks then later the Yankees minor league system. It was during that time in 2022 that he began building the torpedo bat.

The bat is designed to the player’s hitting tendencies, tailored to target the hitter’s sweet-spot.

Now the science goes way over my head so I won’t pretend to know what I’m talking about. All I can say is the bat design is legal and it might change the way bat manufacturers go about designing their products.

Will we see Rangers’ players use the bat in a game, if so, when?

I think it’s still a new concept for the players. A switch-up from a design that has been popular for as long as the game itself.

That being said I believe we will see some players using the bat, some earlier than others. Pederson said he hoped to get them soon and put them straight to use.

“Oh, and I’m going to use them,” he told Grant. “Simple as that.”

Others are very much open to the design but won’t be quick to jump at using it in a game. Jake Burger and Smith being two of those players, stating they’d likely get a bat and test it in the cages for a few weeks before making a decision.

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