BAT SIGNAL
What is a Torpedo bat and is it legal? Controversial new bat used by New York Yankees making history in MLB
A new bat is making waves across baseball - but what is it?
THE 2025 season has started with HUGE controversy thanks to the New York Yankees.
Despite a weekend that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers win 5-0 and Eugenio Suarez hit FOUR home runs, the New York Yankees are the talk of the town.
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The Yankees, currently 3-0 in the American League East, hit a staggering NINE home runs in their massive 20-9 win over Milwaukee Brewers.
Their new bats have been the center of attention at the start of the MLB season.
The bats are designed differently to a normal bat, with the wood being moved into the label, so the harder part of the bat will strike the ball.
SunSport can give you the rundown on what a torpedo bat is, and if it is legal.
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What is a torpedo bat and how does it work?
A torpedo bat is designed with more wood, and as such more mass, which is concentrated in the area of the bat where the hitter is more likely to hit the ball.
The main purpose of a torpedo bat is to increase the chances a batter has of hitting the ball.
The Yankees hit NINE home runs in their victory over Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium, and are currently 3-0.
Former Yankees staffer Aaron Leanhardt may have revolutionized the sport with his invention.
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Leanhardt is a PhD graduate from MIT that went on to work for NASA and as a professor of physics at the University of Michigan.
Aged 40, he then decided to move into baseball, first with Dawson Community College in Montana before joining the Yankees.
The bat is a slightly different shape to traditional bats and is more tailored to a player's trends - the sweet spot has become customized.
If he gets jammed more often, the barrel is moved down the bat, if he is hitting off the end, the barrel is moved up.
Leanhardt told The Athletic: "It’s just about making the bat as heavy and as fat as possible in the area where you’re trying to do damage on the baseball.
"They’re going to point to a location on the bat that is probably six or seven inches down from the tip of the bat.
"That’s where the sweet spot typically is. It’s just through those conversations where you think to yourself, why don’t we exchange how much wood we’re putting on the tip versus how much we’re putting in the sweet spot?
"That’s the original concept right there. Just try to take all that excess weight and try to put it where you’re trying to hit the ball and then in exchange try to take the thinner diameter that used to be at the sweet spot and put that on the tip."
Are Torpedo bats legal?
In short, torpedo bats ARE legal - with MLB chiefs forced to release an urgent statement to confirm the case after complaints.
A spokesman told The Athletic that there was nothing wrong with the new bats.
The MLB rules state: "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."
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What has been said about the bats?
Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill said: "I think it's terrible.
"We'll see what the data says.
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"I've never seen anything like it before.
"It might be a bush-(league). It might not be. But it's the Yankees, so they'll let it slide."