Bombs Away: Torpedo Bats are Taking Over Major League Baseball

The torpedo bat blew up on social media this weekend, after the New York Yankees went on a power barrage, setting a franchise record for home runs in a game in just four innings. In three games against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Yankees bashed 15 home runs and scored 36 runs. Independent journalist Joe Pompliano was quick to point out that the bats are perfectly legal.

Aaron Leanhardt, the field coordinator for the Miami Marlins, is the mastermind behind the torpedo bat. You can watch the full 8-minute interview recorded by Kevin Barral of our sister sister Fish on First. Otherwise, here are some takeaways:

• His background is in physics and electrical engineering, and he has a PhD from MIT.
• The idea took more than two years to get to this point.
• He credits the batters, not the bats.
• The bat was first utilized in 2023 (he wouldn't say by whom), at both the minor- and major-league levels. It was tested as early as 2022, but not in regular-season games.
• The industry was more aware of players trending toward using these bats than the media and general public were; this didn't sneak up on teams or players.
• Leanhardt points out that traditional bats are at their thickest at the end instead of at the barrel, which is where players are trying to make contact.

Without getting into the weeds of the science behind it, Leanhardt (recently nicknamed El Torpedo) credits former Marlins infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. with his rudimentary explanation of the bat's unique shape. In a tweet on Monday morning, the Yankees infielder stated in part “...you just move the wood from the parts you don’t use to the parts you do!” Put that way, it's such a simple concept one might wonder how nobody in baseball developed this long ago.

To this point, just one Twins hitter has been spotted using the viral bat.

In an interview with Dan Hayes of The Athletic ($$), Ryan Jeffers was asked if he thought the bats really made a difference.

“I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s an end all, be all for everybody, that everybody’s going to start swinging these bats and become better hitters," Jeffers said. "I think this might work for some people and might not for others. For me, I’m giving it a little bit of a trial period, see how I like it.”

It's unclear when this “trial period” started exactly, but he was using the torpedo bat in Tuesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox where he went 1-for-3 with an RBI single. For what it's worth (not much, over five games), his 2025 batted ball data wouldn't suggest the bat is helping the Twins backstop in the power department. He might also have been using it back in 2024, though. It remains to be seen whether other Twins will give the bat a trial run and, despite the hype, it's not a bandwagon that all players around the league are jumping on.

In the same article, The Athletic included excerpts of interviews from various players and managers around the league. Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Spencer Torkelson are all players who are sticking with their traditional bats (at least for now), while Elly De La Cruz and Enrique Hernández have used or are planning on using the bat. In fact, in his first game using a torpedo bat, the Cincinnati Reds' electric shortstop went 4-for-5 with two home runs and a double. Chandler Bats, one of the companies who produces the bats (along with Victus and Marruci), reports that orders have come flying in after the Yankees’ weekend performance.

Baseball is a game that has traditionally been slow to accept change. As Max Muncy pointed out in his interview with The Athletic, the baseball bat has changed very little over the 170-year history of the game. It's been nearly 30 years since players started using non-ash bats and almost 15 years since ax-handle bats gained popularity. Despite those subtle modifications, the shape of the barrel has always remained the same. Simply put, the torpedo bat might be the most revolutionary development for a piece of baseball equipment since Wilson introduced the “snap-action” heel to baseball gloves. Or, maybe it's not. Maybe it’s just a viral trend that will fall by the wayside over time.

It's far too early to make any definitive claims regarding the torpedo bat. On the surface the idea makes a lot of sense, but we’re going to need at least a full season's worth of data before conjecturing whether the bat really makes a difference. As far as the Twins are concerned, we’ll likely be waiting a few weeks to see who else latches on to this trend.

What are your thoughts on the torpedo bat? Join the conversation in the comments!