Torpedo bats are all the rage around Major League Baseball this week, but are they here to stay?
The Yankees¡¯ power display over the weekend -- New York hit 15 home runs in a three-game home sweep of the Brewers -- caused many to wonder how much of an impact the Torpedo bats had on the Bronx Bombers¡¯ aerial attack.
It should be noted that not all of the Yankees¡¯ home runs were hit with the newly shaped lumber -- Aaron Judge (four), Ben Rice and Oswaldo Peraza (one apiece) combined for six homers with more traditional bats -- but Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells combined for nine jacks in the opening series, all hit with Torpedo bats.
If you somehow missed all the talk over the weekend, a ¡°Torpedo¡± bat is one that, while still meeting all league-mandated regulations, has a barrel that has been shifted approximately six inches closer to a batter¡¯s hands, where many hitters tend to make the majority of their contact.
¡°They have been kind of a thing over the past year or so, with lots of players trying them out over the winter at different facilities,¡± a National League executive said. ¡°I think some guys might like them, but I¡¯ve also spoken with players who just don¡¯t like them at all. The Yankees are bringing a lot of publicity to them with their performance thus far, but they weren¡¯t a secret in the industry prior to this weekend.¡±
The executive said a number of his club¡¯s players have tinkered with Torpedo bats during batting practice or in the batting cages, but none had decided to make the switch. Not yet, anyway.
¡°Some guys have definitely tried them, but we haven¡¯t found anyone who really fell in love with them,¡± the exec said. ¡°If the Yankees keep hitting homers with them, I¡¯m sure someone will give it a shot.¡±
One American League club executive said that while some of his players also tested the bats out in recent months, none decided to utilize them in games.
¡°We tried them in Spring Training,¡± the AL exec said. ¡°Like anything, it¡¯s probably buy in and getting used to it.¡±
An AL executive thinks the Torpedo bats will ¡°become more popular in the short term,¡± but whether they become the norm remains to be seen.
¡°How sustainable they will be will be dictated by universal success,¡± the AL exec said. ¡°Makes a lot of sense to adjust the implement. Many clubs have done so with bat fitting, but the shape of the barrel is a newer adjustment.¡±
Some executives marveled at the hysteria of the past few days, noting that Torpedo bats were not first introduced last weekend in the Bronx.
¡°It seems like they could provide a small but meaningful advantage,¡± an AL executive said. ¡°People have been using them for a while, and nobody said boo until this home run barrage. Great marketing. I expect more players will start to try them.¡±
¡°I think it will make sense for some guys, but I¡¯m not sure how prominent it will be,¡± an NL executive said. ¡°I also feel that we should wait longer than this past weekend before we start extrapolating that it¡¯s the next big thing.¡±
Three front-office executives used the phrase ¡°copycat league¡± in predicting that players will at least test out the Torpedo bats soon. But several execs -- including one whose club has at least two players currently using them -- are interested to see additional data before making any declarations on the bats¡¯ overall impact.
¡°I think guys will experiment and data will be accumulated,¡± an AL executive said. ¡°Then decisions will be made.¡±
¡°Players are willing to try something if they think it has a chance to improve their performance,¡± an NL executive said. ¡°You still have to hit the ball square.¡±
Of the dozen executives we spoke to Monday, only one seemed to be truly skeptical about the impact of the different bat.
¡°My take is that it¡¯s mostly placebo effect,¡± the exec said.
Another AL executive isn¡¯t sure how many players will convert to the Torpedo bats, but if it helps generate more offense -- and keeps baseball in the headlines -- he¡¯s all for it.
¡°They will be good for some and not so [good] for others; it will be trial and error,¡± the exec said. ¡°Some hitters like bats too heavy; others like them more balanced. Either way, it¡¯s another level of excitement for our sport.¡±