Image: MLB game balls on Unsplash (Photo by Lesly Juarez)
With the 2025 Major League Baseball (MLB) season now in full swing, storylines are already capturing the attention of fans across the league. Will the Los Angeles Dodgers secure their third World Series title in six years? Can Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge repeat as MVPs? Will fans in Philadelphia get to ring the bell in Red October once again after last year’s heartbreaking NL Division Series loss to the New York Mets? While commentators, analysts and fans are keeping a close eye on these narratives, the biggest headline from the first week belongs to the New York Yankees and their explosive offensive surge against the Milwaukee Brewers. Over their first three games, the Yankees racked up 34 hits and scored 36 runs — an average of 12 per game — launching 15 home runs and tying the MLB record for most home runs through a team’s first three games of a season. On Saturday, March 29, the Yankees erupted for 20 runs and became the third team in MLB history to hit at least nine homers in a single game. While the offensive outburst has fans buzzing, it’s not just the runs that are drawing attention — it’s what they were using to rack them up: the “torpedo” bat.
Despite a wave of online speculation, it’s important to clarify that torpedo bats are, in fact, legal. According to MLB.com, MLB confirmed on Sunday, March 30, that the torpedo bats do not violate league rules or approved supplier regulations. According to MLB Rule 3.02, “The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.” Based on these criteria, the torpedo bats are fully compliant and permitted for use in official play.
So what separates a torpedo bat from a standard bat? For starters, the Torpedo is the brainchild of Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees minor league hitting coordinator and current field coordinator for the Miami Marlins. The 48-year-old Leanhardt holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in physics from MIT. Leanhardt served as a physics professor at the University of Michigan from 2007 to 2014 before transitioning into baseball, beginning his coaching career in 2017.
As for the bat itself, the torpedo features a barrel positioned in a non-traditional location — closer to the hitter’s hands, thereby shifting the bat’s maximum diameter nearer to the typical point of contact, commonly known as “the sweet spot.” As former Yankee Kevin Smith explained on X, “It brings more wood—and mass—to where you most often make contact as a hitter.” In layman’s terms, the bat is slightly thicker in the area where hitters are most likely to make contact — approximately six inches closer to the batter’s hands, enhancing the “sweet spot” by adding more mass where it matters most.
Unlike traditional wooden bats, which gradually widen from the handle to the barrel, the torpedo has a distinctive shape that resembles a bowling pin, with the widest part located nearer to the handle. This design redistributes weight toward the area of optimal contact. As Jeff Passan of ESPN perfectly summarizes: “The creation of the bowling pin bat (also known as the torpedo bat) optimizes the most important tool in baseball by redistributing weight from the end of the bat toward the area 6 to 7 inches below its tip, where major league players typically strike the ball. Doing so takes an apparatus that for generations has looked the same and gives it a fun-house-mirror makeover, with the fat part of the bat more toward the handle and the end tapering toward a smaller diameter, like a bowling pin.”
While much of the early-season buzz has centered around the Yankees and their use of MLB’s newest offensive weapon, they aren’t alone — the torpedo bat is quickly gaining traction across the league. Chicago Cubs superstar Dansby Swanson, Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman and New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor have all been spotted swinging the torpedo bat this season. On Monday, March 30, Cincinnati Reds phenom Elly De La Cruz used the bat for the first time and delivered a monster performance: a single, a double, and two home runs, totaling a career-high seven RBIs. It was also reported on X that former Phillie Rhys Hoskins has already placed an order for his own shipment. Over the weekend, Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable mentioned, “I think that everyone across the league probably now is going to be looking into using these,” referring to the torpedo bats.
Prominent bat manufacturer Marucci Sports co-founder and CEO, Kurt Ainsworth told the New York Post that he anticipates “10 to 15 percent” of MLB has already adopted the new bats and that “50-plus percent of the major leagues” will “at least try some sort of a torpedo in the next few weeks.” According to Ainsworth, this new style of bat is “here to stay.”
League executives are also beginning to weigh in on the trend — and not everyone is convinced it signals a lasting shift. One team executive told MLB.com that he expects the bats to “become more popular in the short term,” but added that “how sustainable they will be will be dictated by universal success.” “My take is that it’s largely a placebo effect,” another executive candidly shared. Some executives have even chuckled at the level of hype surrounding the torpedo bat, noting that several players had already been using the bat. “People have been using them for a while, and nobody said boo until this home run barrage.” According to Yahoo Sports, Dansby Swanson’s Cubs were among the teams that began experimenting with the torpedo bat as early as last season. Moreover, many may not realize that Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton used the bat during the 2024 postseason — hitting seven home runs in just 14 games, as reported by Passan.
Amid the growing buzz, one person, Leanhardt, the man behind the design, has remained grounded. Leanhardt is simply grateful that someone was willing to listen and take a chance on his idea. Telling MLB.com, “Credit to any of the players who were willing to listen to me, because it’s crazy,” Leanhardt said. “Listening to me describe it is sometimes even crazier. It’s a long-running project, and I’m happy for the guys that bought into it.” However, Leanhardt also emphasized that while the media may be focused on the bat itself, it ultimately comes down to the player wielding it. “At the end of the day, it’s about the batter, not the bat. It’s about the hitters and their hitting coaches, not the hitting implements. So I’m happy to always help those guys get a little bit better, but ultimately, it’s up to them to put good swings on pitches and grind it out every day. So, credit to those guys.”
Like most innovations in sports, the torpedo bat won’t work for everyone — it’s ultimately a matter of trial and error. Regardless of which bat a hitter chooses, success still comes down to squaring up the ball and making solid contact. Naturally, if a player believes a bat might give them even a slight edge, they’re usually willing to give it a try — why not? Whether the torpedo becomes a go-to tool or a permanent part of a player’s routine remains to be seen. Its staying power will likely come down to a combination of comfort, personal feel, and, of course, on-field results.
Barrett Snyder is a WCUPA graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Exercise Science with a specialization in Sports Psychology. JS1030435@wcupa.edu