Two days after the New York Yankees’ offensive outburst in the Bronx made torpedo bats the talk of baseball, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz decided to try one for the first time in batting practice. By the end of the Reds’ 14-3 rout of the Texas Rangers on Monday night, the 23-year-old slugger had used it to go 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and seven RBIs.
“I just wanted to know if it felt good,” he said, “and it definitely does.”
But while the bats have only recently become a major storyline across the league, it turns out that experiments with the uniquely shaped bats that caused a national uproar over the weekend have actually been happening quietly across baseball — and for a long time.
“It became viral,” New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Monday. “But it’s nothing new for us.”
Aaron Leanhardt, a 48-year-old Miami Marlins coach, has been credited by many with being the brains behind the bats, which were first highlighted when Yankees players used them in a franchise-record nine-home run performance and 20-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.
“There were definitely some major-league players that swung it in the big leagues in 2023,” Leanhardt said Monday. “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.”
The bats won’t be under the radar anymore. Players across the sport have started asking the manufacturers for their own versions of the bats. Retailers started selling them to the public online. Chandler Bats is now offering a model designed for Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. for $239 per bat. Victus is offering three models, one a signature Anthony Volpe version, while Marucci has a Francisco Lindor “torpedo pro exclusive” bat for sale.
The bats differ from traditional models due to their torpedo shape, which comes from redistributing its weight so that the most dense part, or the “sweet spot,” is closer to the handle.
Birch seems to be the preferred wood for the bats, which were designed to help hitters make truer contact in an age where more and more pitchers are throwing 100 mph and offering nastier repertoires than ever thanks to technical and analytical advancements.
Major League Baseball has said the bats are completely within its rules.
“It’s kind of exciting,” Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy said. “We just had a long conversation about (how) in the 170 years and whatever that baseball has been around, the number of changes to the baseball bat has been minimal.”
For decades, most players swung bats made of ash until Barry Bonds helped popularize maple bats in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
“I mean,” Muncy said, “everyone swung ash for 140 years and then you had one guy swing maple, and then they came out with birch, and really, that’s been all the changes. There’s been different shapes, but there hasn’t really been anything as drastic as maybe what this is right now.”
The hype around the bats made for an unusual scene at LoanDepot Park on Monday. The Marlins made Leanhardt available to reporters outside of their dugout. When he was with the Yankees last season, Leanhardt didn’t speak to the media.
“There’s a lot more cameras here today than I’m used to,” he said. “ … It’s definitely been surreal for the last couple of days.”
Leanhardt — through conversations with coaches, players, MLB and bat companies — developed prototypes that eventually landed in the hands of Yankees players. Chisholm, Volpe, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells are among the Yankees using them this season. However, right fielder Aaron Judge — perhaps the best power hitter in the game — said he will not.
In a video posted to Instagram, Brett Laxton, a bat maker for Marucci Sports and a former big-leaguer, said that Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton was using one of their torpedo bats when he hit seven home runs in the postseason last year. Rookie Jasson Domínguez also told reporters that Stanton had been using one.
Trevino was with the Yankees last season. He said he first picked one up in spring training in 2024.
“At first, I was like, ‘No way,’” he said. “Then I tried it. I liked it.”
Trevino then used them during workouts and spring training games before taking them into the regular season. He added there’s a complicated process for making the bats. It starts with designers taking the model with which a player is already familiar and adjusting it. He said he’s been able to order barrel sizes in small, medium and large.
“It’s making your barrel bigger where you want to hit the ball,” Trevino said.
“Maybe the eureka moment really was when players started to point to where they were trying to hit the ball and they noticed themselves that it was not the fattest part of the bat,” Leanhardt said. “They noticed themselves that the tip was the fattest part of the bat and everyone just looked at each other like, ‘Well, let’s flip it around. It’s going to look silly, but are we willing to go with it?’
“At the end of the day, we were able to find guys who were willing to go with it.”
Though word has traveled fast around the game about the new style of bat, not everybody has been sold on them.
“None of the players have said anything about using them,” Houston Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I have never held the bat or seen one of them. I know some of our guys in the minor leagues were using them, but I’m not going to comment on a piece of baseball equipment I’ve never seen.”
“I don’t have a big opinion,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “I think if you go back and look at where some of these pitches were (thrown against the Yankees), it might not be the bat.”
“I guess it’s this craze,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I just haven’t dug into it. It’s certainly early, and there’s people talking about it, but I don’t think any of our guys swing that bat, so I’m not sure what it is.”
Several players said they put in orders for their own torpedo bats after seeing the Yankees’ power surge over the weekend.
“I have learned absolutely nothing other than that they look like bowling pins,” Dodgers utility man Enrique Hernández said. “I ordered some. All of the cool kids are doing it.”
A real question remains: Do they actually make a difference?
“I think that’s still up for debate,” said Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, who has been using a torpedo bat. “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. 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. The thoughts behind them seem good, but I think there’s still a lot of trial and error with it. It’s so new.”
“I had teammates last year (with the Yankees) that asked me if I wanted to try it, but it never caught my attention,” Mets right fielder Juan Soto said, according to the New York Post. “But, yeah, I would try it.”
And are they here to stay?
“I don’t know,” Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson said. “I feel good with my bat right now. I’m not going to change anything. But maybe one day.”
“It might be one of those phases … that comes and goes,” Jeffers said. “I think time will tell.”
— The Athletic‘s C. Trent Rosecrans, Fabian Ardaya, Dan Hayes, Will Sammon, Chris Kirschner, Cody Stavenhagen, Matt Gelb, Britt Ghiroli and Chandler Rome contributed to this story.
(Top photo of Elly De La Cruz: Jeff Dean / Getty Images)