This story was excerpted from John Denton¡¯s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ST. LOUIS -- Long before the talk of torpedo bats or MIT physicists changing hitting with formulaic studies longer than CVS receipts, Cardinals standout Brendan Donovan did his own research and crafted a somewhat different-shaped bat that he thought would give him the best opportunity for success at the plate.
Little did he know it back in 2020 and ¡®21, but Donovan was way ahead of the curve in terms of futuristic bat designs and where MLB hitting was heading in the years to come. While not technically a ¡°torpedo¡± design, Donovan and architects at Old Hickory Bat Company made alterations to his bat so that the largest and densest part of his barrel is in the area where he contacts the ball most often.
¡°I switched full-go to this model back in 2021, and I¡¯ve used it ever since,¡± said Donovan, who homered on Monday night at Busch Stadium while gripping a light-colored Old Hickory modeled bat that features an extended barrel and deeper-than-normal cupping at the end. ¡°When guys pick up my bats, they [remark about the shape], but most of them all like it because of how balanced it is.¡±
Torpedo-shaped bats -- wider on the barrel and slimmer near the end -- were the talk of baseball on Opening Weekend after several Yankees players used them to bash 15 home runs against the Brewers. The hype around the bats had many MLB players -- including Donovan -- calling up their bat providers to inquire about the ¡°torpedo¡± design.
As someone who has always taken a studious approach to his game, Donovan sought to make improvements to the quality of his contact by seeking changes to the bats that he used some four years earlier. Generally, Donovan said he tends to make contact higher on the bat than most hitters, so he sought out ways to shift the ¡°sweet spot¡± of the barrel of his bats.
Over the winter of 2020, Donovan traveled to Old Hickory¡¯s headquarters in Goodlettsville, Tenn., to talk with technicians about what he was seeking. Donovan wanted to keep his bats the same length (33 1/2 inches) and the same weight (31 ounces), while shifting the sweet spot further away from the end of the bat.
To meet those specifications, designers came up with a two-inch cup at the bottom of the bat that is hollowed out. That cupping allowed for Donovan¡¯s bats to have more thickness higher up the handle to give him what he believes is a larger sweet spot. The tradeoff, he noted, is that he tends to break bats when he makes contact near the end of the bat.
¡°I started experimenting with barrel sizes, and I went to the Old Hickory factory and we talked about things that I liked, and it just evolved from there,¡± recalled Donovan, whose bats comply with Rule 3.02 governing the maximum diameter of bat barrels (2.61 inches). ¡°I asked if we could flare the knob out a little more and create a little more length on the sweet spot.¡±
The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 Minor League season, but Donovan started using the newly designed bats in 2021. By 2022, he clawed his way to the big leagues and became a valuable contributor on a squad that won the NL Central title. In addition to becoming the first rookie in the rich history of the Cardinals to win a Gold Glove, Donovan hit .281 with five homers and 45 RBIs.
Donovan, 28, boosted his power production in 2023 (11 homers in 95 games prior to left elbow surgery) to set the stage for 2024, when he led Cardinals qualified batters in hits (163), doubles (34), batting average (.278), on-base percentage (.342) and OPS (.759). Much of that success, Donovan said, is the product of him constantly looking for edges and ways he can improve, such as building ¡°The Barn¡± for offseason drills and pushing for a bat that best fits his swing.
¡°When you think about him and [former Cardinal Paul Goldschmidt], they are always in tune with their games and where they need to improve,¡± manager Oliver Marmol raved. ¡°Just because they had a good year, they¡¯re never going to sit on it and are going to look for other opportunities. [Donovan] is a guy who is constantly going to look for things that might make him better, and he is very diligent about stuff like that.¡±