Before Sunday’s 12-3 win over the Brewers at Yankee Stadium, the New York Yankees had already made headlines with a historic power display in the first two games of the series — including a 20-9 rout on Saturday in which they blasted nine home runs, setting a franchise record.
Yankees’ historic power surge sparks bat controversy after Brewers sweep
But as the Bronx Bombers completed their three-game sweep of Milwaukee, questions began surfacing — not just about their dominance at the plate, but how they achieved it.
Brewers reliever Trevor Megill didn’t mince words when asked about the unusual bats some Yankees players were using.
“I think it’s terrible,” Megill said. “It might be bush league. It might not be. But it’s the Yankees, so they’ll let it slide. From the bullpen, they looked like bowling pins.”
The bats in question — dubbed “torpedo bats” by some — have a distinctive, tapered look with more wood mass shifted toward the label. The intention is to increase the odds of hard contact for hitters who tend to miss the sweet spot on traditional bats. YES Network’s Michael Kay explained during Saturday’s broadcast that the Yankees analytics department developed the bats after analyzing shortstop Anthony Volpe’s contact patterns.
“They moved a lot of the wood into the label, so the harder part of the bat is going to actually strike the ball,” Kay said.
Players like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells have already embraced the design — and the results have been immediate. The Yankees hit 13 home runs across Saturday and Sunday alone, with Chisholm homering in each of his first three games of the season, a new personal best.
The use of the bat is legal under MLB’s current guidelines. According to Rule 3.02, the bat must be one piece of solid wood, no more than 42 inches in length and 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest point. The torpedo bats, which feature an altered weight distribution but remain within those dimensions, have been approved.
Chris Kirschner of The Athletic confirmed the bats are already in use around the league, not just in New York.
Former Yankees infielder Kevin Smith revealed that the design was originally developed by Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees front office staffer who now works for the Marlins. The goal was to increase barrel control and improve outcomes on near-miss swings.
“Your just misses could be clips, your clips could be flares, and your flares could be barrels,” Smith wrote. “It’s fractions of an inch.”
While some players are embracing the innovation, others are opting to stick with tradition. Aaron Judge, who already has four homers this season, continues to use his conventional bat.
“The past couple of seasons kind of speak for itself,” said Judge. “Why try to change something?”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone defended the team’s approach.
“We’re trying to win on the margins, and that shows up in so many different ways,” Boone said before Sunday’s game.
Cody Bellinger, who switched to the new bat during spring training, praised its balance and feel. He also emphasized that it was designed within the rules and approved prior to the season.
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy acknowledged the evolution of the game.
“Players are doing everything to get an edge legally, and I think they should,” Murphy said. “Whatever is good for the offensive game is good for the game.”
The Yankees’ hot start — now bolstered by new tools, both literal and analytical — is already redefining the boundaries of innovation in 2025. Whether the rest of the league catches up remains to be seen.
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