The New York Yankees started off the 2025 MLB Regular Season with a bang by mashing a major league record 15 home runs in their first 3 games. As good as the Yankees are at hitting home runs, especially with Aaron Judge in your lineup, this is nearly unheard of. The Yankees hit a home run on the first three pitches against the Brewers in the second game of the series en route to a nine home run, 20-9 clobbering of Milwaukee. And the biggest reason many people attribute to this is the brand new torpedo bat.
Also known as the bowling pin bat (the torpedo bat is more fun to say), this new bat is not shaped like a typical baseball bat. Instead of the widest part of the bat being at the end of the barrel, it is located about seven inches from the end, closer to the logo, making it look like a bowling pin or torpedo. Why this is important is because this is the place of the barrel where most players contact the ball, so having more wood there allows players to get more velocity on their hits, therefore causing more home runs. It hasn’t been adopted by everyone yet with Aaron Judge hitting four home runs in three games using the old bat, however a guy like Jazz Chisholm who isn’t known for his slugging hit three home runs in his first three games using said torpedo bat. The balls are now flying out of the park because of this new bat, but is it legal?
The short answer is absolutely. The two rules regarding a baseball bat in the MLB is that it firstly must be a complete piece of wood. The second is that it must not be longer than 42 inches in length and wider than 2.61 inches in diameter. Anything within those parameters is good to go, and that includes the torpedo bat. It is still a complete piece of wood, just shaped a little differently than usual. Beyond that, the length is still the same, the only difference is that the largest part of diameter has shifted down the bat. There is no rule of where the widest part of the bat must be. It is by no means illegal, just a little abnormal, and even that still has some people up in arms.
The uproar has begun as pitchers and baseball purists around the league have begun to complain about the new torpedo bat. Of course pitchers aren’t going to like it. Why would they? Batters are now hitting much better than they were five months ago. For pitchers it may not be great, but for fans, I absolutely love it. Despite all the changes in the recent years to speed up the game and make it more exciting, pitchers have gotten so good that it has become much harder to hit than ever before, causing games to become uninteresting. Most fans don’t want to see pitching duels, they would rather see slugfests. Well this new torpedo bat gives some power back to the hitters. More runs and big plays have since ensued, and baseball has now all of a sudden become a lot more exciting. How much will this new bat actually change things in the MLB? No one really knows. All I can tell you is that my excitement level has increased drastically because the new era of baseball is upon us, and with that is about to come a lot more home runs. And who doesn’t love a good home run?
Hey y’all! My name is Nate and I’m a statistics major with a sport and entertainment management minor. I am one half of the show “On the Bench” at WUSC. If you love sports, especially Gamecock athletics, you should give it a listen!