By Ben Rosen
The New York Yankees debuted the “torpedo” bats against the Milwaukee Brewers during their season-opening series from March 27-30. The Yankees hit 15 home runs and scored 36 runs across their three games against the Brewers at Yankee Stadium.
According to OptaSTATS, the 2025 Yankees are the only team that had nine different players hit a home run throughout their first four games. Additionally, according to OptaSTATS, Yankees infielders Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe, along with outfielder Aaron Judge, each having at least three home runs in that span is also an MLB first. Chisholm and Volpe use the torpedo bat, while Judge does not use the torpedo bat.
“What I did the past couple of seasons kind of speaks for itself,” Judge told MLB reporters.
When Judge was asked why he does not use the torpedo bat, he said to MLB, “Why try to change something if you’ve got something that’s working?”
Bryan Hoch of MLB noted that Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Austin Wells are users of the torpedo bat on the Yankees in addition to Chisholm and Volpe.
Aaron Leanhardt, the inventor of the bat, told reporters on March 31, “There’s many different makes and models that have gone through this process, some of which never saw the field of play, and some of which are, obviously, hitting a lot of home runs right now.”
Leanhardt, who was working for the Yankees at the time the bat was invented but now works for the Miami Marlins, described the process of creating the bat to those reporters.
“And so a couple years ago, some of the hitters started questioning what they were doing,” Leanhardt said. “And I just kind of responded to their questions.”
According to The Athletic, the bat redistributes weight, creating a torpedo shape and having the handle and most important part of the bat close together. Leanhart told reporters the bat is not new and has been used before the 2025 season.
“There were definitely some major-league players that swung it in the big leagues in 2023,” Leanhart said. “As well as some minor-league players who swung it in some real baseball games in 2023, and it just kind of built up throughout 2024 into what it is today.”
Chisholm was one of the first players people noticed using the bat. Chisholm has three home runs in 18 plate appearances this season. According to FanGraphs, last season, Chisholm had a 9.7% barrel rate, and Chisholm has a 37.5% barrel rate so far this season.
A barrel is a special type of hard-hit ball. To add to that, Chisholm has gone from an 89.7 mph average exit velocity last season to a 96.2 mph average exit velocity this season, according to FanGraphs.
“Nobody is trying to get jammed,” Chisholm posted on the social platform X in response to fan comments. “You just move the wood from the parts you don’t use to the parts you do! You’re welcome[;] no more stress for y’all.”
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm shared his thoughts with Anthony SanFilipo of On Pattison about the new development.
“If pitchers mattered in this game, maybe I’d have (an opinion),” Strahm said. “But we get checked like criminals every time we walk off the mound, so I don’t think our opinion matters anymore.”
Strahm believes the league office has a desire to create more scoring and that the only reason the torpedo bat is a topic of conversation is its association with the Yankees.
“It’s all about offense,” Strahm said. “Go back and watch the Baltimore Orioles. They used it last year, right?”
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Thumbnail image caption: Austin Wells is a Yankee who uses the torpedo bat. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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