MLB has addressed the New York Yankees’ use of “torpedo” style bats, which gained attention on Saturday.
During their dominant 20-9 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, the Yankees launched a franchise-record nine home runs, with Aaron Judge leading the charge with three. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe also went deep, but their bats became a talking point.
Yankees TV announcer Michael Kay revealed that the team customized the bats used by Chisholm Jr. and Volpe to enhance the hitting area where they make the most contact. Instead of the barrel being in its usual position, the Yankees adjusted it to be closer to the label for Volpe after analyzing his swing data.
The Yankees have new bats today :
"where they moved a lot of the wood into the label so the harder part of the bat is going to strike the ball."
They tied their franchise record for HRs in a game in only 4 innings
pic.twitter.com/nte8YpuH9V— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 29, 2025
In this image, you can see that the end of the bat is thinner than the section below it, which is an unusual shape compared to traditional bats.
Adjusting the bat to have more mass in the area where a hitter makes the most contact seems like a logical customization. Naturally, this led to questions about whether it’s allowed. The answer? Yes.
MLB’s bat regulations are quite clear:
“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.”
The Yankees’ modifications comply with these rules, and MLB has confirmed that the bats are entirely legal.
The “torpedo” style bats were designed by Aaron Leanhardt, also known as “Lenny,” a former MIT physicist who has worked as a hitting coach. The Yankees brought him in to bridge the gap between the team’s analytics department and the players.
Former Yankees minor leaguer Kevin Smith weighed in on X, explaining that the goal of these bats is to increase the frequency of making contact with the “barrel,” which leads to harder, more effective hits.
“Most players use bats that don’t even come close to maximizing the allowed barrel size. When Lenny measured mine against the legal limit, I was stunned,” Smith shared on X.
“Lenny would always say, ‘You’re stepping up to the plate with a weapon that could be better. Your near-misses could turn into solid contact, your weak hits could become flares, and your flares could turn into barrels.’ And he was right—it’s just fractions of an inch on the barrel that make all the difference,” Smith explained.
He also noted that while hitters might lose a bit of exit velocity using the uniquely shaped torpedo bats—assuming the weight remains the same—the Yankees believe the improved contact rates outweigh that trade-off, making the bats a valuable adjustment.
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