Baseball Bats haven’t changed much over the past few decades, until now. “Torpedo” Bats have arrived to the MLB.
Baseball history has taught us that it is important to “barrel” up the baseball in order to get the best results. The new Torpedo bat makes the barrel bigger on the bat while losing some of the wood at the end. This creates a different weight distribution for the batter.
The bat has more weight towards the handle making it easier to control the bat in the hitting zone. This is different than traditional wood bats being most of them are end loaded, meaning most of the weight is towards the end of the bat.
Torpedo bats have helped some players become better hitters.
So far this season, Anthony Volpe, the Yankees shortstop, has gotten his barrel percentage up from 2024. Last season, he had a 3.9% barrel rate. So far, in 2025, he has a 21.4% barrel rate using the new bat. As seen in the graph below, he’s not alone.
The Yankees debuted these bats opening week, and hit nine home runs in a single game. This has created a controversy in between the baseball community on whether these bats should be legal or not.
Kaiden Ellis, a former 9/10 Perfect-Game-graded player, says, “I think there is currently such a grey area that nobody should be able to use them until [the bats are] further investigated.” He also emphasized that it still takes immense skill to hit a baseball, and this bat doesn’t make you magically good at baseball.
The MLB rule book says bats must be made of one solid piece of wood, cannot be longer than 42 inches and must have a barrel no wider than 2.61 inches in diameter.
Dave Portnoy, a social media influencer and baseball fan, said, “They did this because Anthony Volpe sucks and he kept getting jammed and sawed off…if you get sawed off or hit a ball of the label that means you are not getting your hands through quick enough and you stink.”
Jazz Chisholm, the second-baseman for the Yankees, posted on his X account, saying, “Okay explanation the barrel is bigger and within mlb regulation! For the idiots that say it’s moved to the label you’re an idiot! Nobody is trying to get jammed you just move the wood from the parts you don’t use to the parts you do! You’re welcome no more stress for y’all!”
