ESPN recently spoke to Bobby Hillerich, vice president of production at Hillerich & Bradsby which makes Louisville Slugger bats, about the surge of torpedo bats this season. He admitted that all 30 MLB teams had requested the bats by the middle of this week, after the Yankees' nine home run game last Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Reds star Elly De La Cruz is the latest convert, hitting two home runs and knocking in seven runs in his first game with the unique bat.
MIT physicist Aaron Leanhardt has been credited with creating the torpedo bats. Leanhardt previously served as a hitting analyst with the Yankees before he joined the Miami Marlins as a field coordinator in the offseason.
Los Angeles is the first defending World Series champion to win its first eight games of the following season.
During spring training, someone in the organization had mentioned to Kay that the team's analytics department had counseled players on where pitches tended to strike their bats, and with subsequent buy-in from some of the players,
The torpedo bats used by some New York Yankees players during their offensive onslaught against the Milwaukee Brewers have taken MLB by storm. What are they?
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Baseball season is back, and it didn’t take long for the New York Yankees to start crushing records and dominating conversation. And at the center of it all? “Torpedo” bats.
Connecticut bat-makers weigh in on baseball’s new craze, the torpedo; UConn hockey’s rise, women’s March Madness timing. More in Sunday Read.
"I think it’s an amazing discovery," said Angels outfielder Taylor Ward, one of many players suddenly interested in the new bats.
By now, you’ve probably heard about baseball’s greatest innovation since the curveball: MLB’s new “torpedo” bat, the reconfigured bat that moves the barrel — or the sweet spot — closer to the handle, seemingly turning even the most meager of hitters into home run machines.
Players expected to use a Torpedo Bat tonight: Elly De La Cruz (CIN) Jose Trevino (CIN) Dansby Swanson (CHC) Nico Hoerner (CHC) Ryan Jeffers (MIN) Francisco Lindor (NYM) Anthony Volpe (NYY) Austin Wells (NYY) Cody Bellinger (NYY) Jazz Chisholm Jr. (NYY) Paul Goldschmidt (NYY)…