You score 20 runs, hit 9 bombs, and people start asking questions. That’s exactly what happened to the Yankees on Saturday after they revealed the “torpedo bat” during their demolition of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Yankees have an MIT Physicist that built them the Torpedo Bat…
Yes, the Yankees have a literal genius MIT Physicist, Lenny (who is the man), on payroll. He invented the “Torpedo” barrel. It brings more wood – and mass – to where you most often make contact as a hitter. The idea is to increase the number of “barrels” and decrease misses. pic.twitter.com/CsC1wkAM9G
— Kevin Smith (@KJS_4) March 29, 2025Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. used it. Both went deep. The bat is thicker in the area where they make the most contact, basically moving the “sweet spot” lower than the typical barrel. Think more mass where it matters. Less guessing, more barreled-up baseballs.
I’m not sure if I like where this is going.
Remember when kids started coming to the local baseball field with those big-barreled whiffle ball bats instead of your classic yellow ones?
I’m not sure making a custom bat with an MIT physicist is the solution to turn Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. into competent hitters at the plate.
Unfortunately, the MLB reviewed the torpedo bats after the game and somehow had zero issues with them? How’s that possible?
Welcome to the age of the torpedo bat.
The Yankees have new bats today :
"where they moved a lot of the wood into the label so the harder part of the bat is going to strike the ball."
They tied their franchise record for HRs in a game in only 4 innings
pic.twitter.com/nte8YpuH9V
MLB Rule is Cut and Dry: One piece of solid wood, no more than 2.61 inches at the thickest point, max 42 inches long. That’s it. As long as it fits in that box, it’s fair game. The Yankees are just playing smart.
We should probably ban the Yankees’ Torpedo Bat, right?
The Yankees have apparently been working with Aaron Leanhardt (aka “Lenny”), a former MIT physicist turned baseball brain, who helped re-engineer the traditional wooden bat to better match where individual hitters make the most consistent contact.
According to former Yankees minor leaguer Kevin Smith, the physics checks out. You might lose a tick or two of exit velocity, but the improved “barrel percentage” makes up for it. In other words, more solid contact in the spot that matters most.
The result? A bat that looks like it was forged in a lab—and kind of was.
The Yankees used new bats today that moved the wood to where the ball get hits with the hardest part of the bat 👀
They broke a franchise record for most home runs in a game (9) 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9f3CiI810q
Instead of the typical bat tapering evenly toward the end, the “torpedo” design fattens up closer to the handle, where players like Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. naturally tend to make contact.
Basically, if you stink at baseball then you should probably get a torpedo app from this MIT geek and save your career because the sweet spot just got a whole lot bigger.
Outlaw the Torpedo Bat..
Baseball traditionalists like myself are having a stroke watching Vlope and Jazz actually make contact with this new bat and rightfully so. Again, you can’t just make a new bat and ruin over 100 years of baseball to allow guys to actually hit and not be a complete mess at the plate.
The result is shitty players like Volpe turning around and hitting home runs with what looked like a Louisville Slugger mixed with a bowling pin.
MLB Needs to Change This:
- One piece of solid wood
- No more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part
- No longer than 42 inches
Sure, that’s fair game…I guess. But when the Yankees launched nine home runs—a franchise record, mind you—amid a 20-9 beatdown of Milwaukee, the league should probably take some extra time and better understand what’s going on with this baseball bat and the future impact on the game itself moving forward.
The Future of MLB Bats?
Lenny, the brains behind the design, once predicted this bat shape would take over the league in 5 to 10 years. After watching Saturday’s offensive explosion? He might want to revise that timeline to 5 to 10 days. Now the real question is: how long until the rest of the league catches on?
Because if you can legally swing a bat that turns your weakest hits into loud outs — or better — why wouldn’t you? The Yankees just brought a bat to a knife fight. And unless MLB changes the rules, the “torpedo” era might be just getting started.
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