MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has weighed in on the ‘frenzy’ surrounding the torpedo bats that have taken the league by storm during the start to the season.
The newly designed lumber, which features more wood around the label than the end of the barrel leading to it resembling a bowling pin, has coincided with a home-run spike.
However, after the New York Yankees launched a team-record nine home runs in a 20-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers during their opening series, the bats have sparked controversy.
Since then, MLB stars from Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman to Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz have joined the firing Bronx Bombers in swinging the new style of lumber, despite the backlash.
Yet, Manfred pushed back against claims it was ruining the game when he addressed the rising popularity.
‘They’re absolutely good for baseball,’ said Manfred in an interview with the New York Times. ‘I believe that issues like the torpedo bat and the debate around it demonstrate the fact that baseball still occupies a unique place in our culture, because people get into a complete frenzy over something that’s really nothing at the end of the day. The bats comply with the rules.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has weighed in on the ‘frenzy’ surrounding the ‘torpedo’ bats
The newly designed lumber has taken the league by storm during the start to the new season
‘Players have actually been moving the sweet spot around in bats for years. But it just demonstrates that something about the game is more important than is captured by television ratings or revenue or any of those things, when you have the discussions and debates about it.’
The torpedo bat was pioneered by Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees front-office staffer who’s now a coach for the Miami Marlins, with the intention of optimizing hitters’ sweet spot.
Leanhardt designed the concept so that the mass of the bat was concentrated in the area where hitters tend to make contact more consistently.
Both Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. have reaped the rewards of the design, hitting four home runs each for New York so far this season.
Meanwhile, the Yankees’ bats as a whole have stayed hot in another 12-3 win over the Brewers, as well as high-scoring 9-4 and 10-4 victories against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
And the success has drawn a lot of backlash, including from its most outspoken critic Dave Portnoy, who insists his anger isn’t influenced by his support of the Yankees biggest rival, the Boston Red Sox.
While MLB has confirmed that they are not breaking any rules, the Yankees may be risking injuries to their star players by using the ‘torpedo’ bats, it has been revealed.
After it was confirmed that he would start the season on the injured list, Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton revealed earlier this month that the problems he is dealing with in both of his elbows were caused by ‘bat adjustments’ from last year.
The New York Yankees launched a team-record nine home runs in a 20-9 win
Both Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. (pictured) have reaped the rewards of the design
It is believed Stanton was actually using the ‘torpedo’ bats on New York’s run to the World Series in 2024, and the tweak to the design potentially led to the injuries that required three rounds of platelet-rich plasma injections after he played through the pain barrier for most of the season.
Outfielder Jasson Dominguez suggested to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch that his teammate was using the bats last season, meaning any players following his lead in 2025 could be risking major injuries themselves.
Yet, despite calls for the design should be banned, Leanhardt insisted it’s still the player that makes the difference.
‘At the end of the day it’s about the batter not the bat,’ the former physics professor at the University of Michigan, told The Associated Press about his design.
‘It’s about the hitter and their hitting coaches. I’m happy to always help those guys get a little bit better but ultimately it’s up to them to put good swings and grind it out every day. So, credit to those guys.’
The 48-year-old is now a field coordinator for the Miami Marlins but said the bat’s origins can be traced back to his time with the Yankees in 2023.
‘I’ll let the players always talk about their own experiences. I’m not going to drag anyone into this,’ Leanhardt said. ‘But there were definitely guys on the major league side and on the minor league side in 2023 that were definitely asking me questions and offering design advice and demoing them.’
