NEW YORK -- Standing in front of his Yankee Stadium locker on Sunday, Anthony Volpe presented two bats for inspection. In his left hand, the Yankees shortstop displayed one he had used last season; in his right, the ¡°Torpedo¡± model that has become a hot topic following the club¡¯s historic nine-homer barrage on Saturday afternoon.
The difference between the two bats is noticeable, as the ¡°Torpedo¡± barrel rests in a non-traditional location, closer to the hitter¡¯s hands.
And they¡¯re legal; Major League Baseball confirmed Sunday that the bats do not violate Major League rules or bat supplier regulations. Rule 3.02 states that bats cannot be more than 2.61 inches in diameter and 42 inches in length.
¡°The concept makes so much sense. I know I¡¯m bought in,¡± Volpe said. ¡°The bigger you can have the barrel where you hit the ball, it makes sense to me.¡±
The Yankees made home run history during their season-opening homestand, tying an AL/NL record with 15 home runs in their first three games of a season and tying a club mark with 13 home runs in two games. They belted four in Sunday's 12-3 win after clubbing nine on Saturday.
The bats drew attention after being mentioned by announcer Michael Kay on Saturday¡¯s YES Network broadcast. Kay said the Yankees¡¯ analytics department performed a study on Volpe indicating he frequently hits balls on the label of his bat, rather than on the barrel.
To address this, Volpe ordered his Victus bats with more wood in the area where he is likely to hit the ball, with a skinnier top at the end. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells are among the Yankees swinging ¡°Torpedo¡± bats, which also saw use in Spring Training and during last season.
The innovation is attributed to Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees analyst who was hired as the Marlins¡¯ field coordinator this past winter.
¡°I think Lenny was working really hard at it,¡± Volpe said.
Curiously, Giancarlo Stanton attributed his elbow injuries to ¡°bat adjustments¡± made during the 2024 season, but has declined to offer further specifics. Yankees outfielder Jasson Dom¨ªnguez said Stanton was one of the players using the bats.
Regardless, talk of the ¡°Torpedo¡± bats is making its way around the league. Rays infielder Junior Caminero said he used the bat on Sunday in a pinch-hit appearance that resulted in an infield single. Some Orioles players have "dabbled" with it.
¡°Every time I¡¯m on base, guys are asking about it,¡± Volpe said. Bellinger said he tried one last season with the Cubs, but only in batting practice.
¡°We were all kind of looking at this bat, and we were like, ¡®Hmm, what is this thing?¡¯¡± Bellinger said. ¡°It¡¯s so unique. I think there has been some more success with it and maybe some more advancements [since last year].¡±
Bellinger made the switch to a Louisville Slugger ¡°Torpedo¡± model over the offseason and was amused when some observers suggested he appeared to be swinging a bat with a square barrel. The barrels are indeed round, and Bellinger said he senses the bats are more balanced from end to end.
¡°The benefit for me is, I like the weight distribution,¡± Bellinger said. ¡°Personally, the weight is closer to my hands, so I feel as if it¡¯s lighter in a way. For me, that was the biggest benefit. Obviously, the bigger the sweet spot, the bigger the margin for error.¡±
Four of the five homers surrendered by the Brewers' Nestor Cortes on Saturday were slugged by "Torpedo" users (Goldschmidt, Bellinger, Wells, Volpe), but the left-hander doesn't believe the lumber was to blame.
"That's nothing new to me," said Cortes, who was traded by the Yankees in December. "I know a few guys did it last year. I don't think it matters to me. I get the science and technology behind it. I don't know; it doesn't really bother me."
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he doesn¡¯t think the new bats alter the game drastically, comparing the change to a golfer honing their club selections.
¡°I say to you guys all the time, we¡¯re trying to win on the margins,¡± Boone said. ¡°That shows up in so many different ways; whether you see bat models, the momentum steals that Volpe does. You see shifts. We have a big organization that is invested in a lot of different things, where we¡¯re trying to be better in every possible way.
¡°The reality is, it¡¯s all within Major League standards. It¡¯s 2025, so we can account for things a lot better. When I played, I probably used six, seven, eight different model bats throughout my career. ¡ Those things aren¡¯t new. There¡¯s just more people pouring into trying to optimize guys as best we can.¡±
Boone said the organization is not pushing the bats on players, leaving that choice up to the individual. Yankees captain Aaron Judge has not swung a ¡°Torpedo¡± model and said he is not interested in trying one, saying: ¡°What I¡¯ve done the past couple of seasons speaks for itself.¡±
Judge expressed surprise when informed the bats had become a talking point following Saturday¡¯s game, in which he hit three homers, including a grand slam.
¡°There¡¯s a lot of new things in the game, like they¡¯ve added the little hockey puck on the bottom of some guys¡¯ bats to add a counterweight,¡± Judge said. ¡°You¡¯ve got the Torpedo bats; you¡¯ve got so many different things. Hopefully, as my career goes on, maybe I could start adding some of those in if I start losing something. But I think we¡¯re good where we¡¯re at right now.¡±
Volpe said swinging the bat feels the same as his old model from last year, but he was convinced by the following thought in a clubhouse discussion: ¡°If it can help you foul off one pitch a season, if it buys you one more pitch, you might as well try it.¡±
So, do the new bats make a tangible difference? Unless nine-homer games become the norm, it¡¯s difficult to say for sure.
¡°It¡¯s probably just a placebo,¡± Volpe said. ¡°A lot of it is just looking up at your bat and seeing how big the barrel is, but it¡¯s exciting. I think any 0.01 percent mentally that it gives you confidence, it helps.¡±