Torpedo bats are changing the game in MLB by redistributing weight to optimize performance. Created by former MIT physicist Aaron Leanhardt, these bats are designed to increase the number of “barrels” and decrease misses by moving more mass to the area where players most often make contact with the ball. While not every player is using them—Aaron Judge, for example, prefers his traditional bat—their impact on the game is undeniable.
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The New York Yankees’ Austin Wells hits a home run using a torpedo bat against the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. The bats’ distinctive shape quickly became the talk of the new baseball season.
The Innovative Design of Torpedo Bats
If you were making a bowling pin on a lathe and suddenly decided to make a baseball bat instead, the result would look something like the “torpedo bat” that is the talk of MLB’s new season. After some New York Yankees used the unusual bats to launch a barrage of home runs on opening weekend, scientists who study baseball quickly took notice.
“The same bat design has been in existence for a century and a half, maybe,” says Alan Nathan, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “And to come up with something new, to me, is always very exciting.” Nathan and other experts say they’re fascinated that the hype is over the shape of a hunk of wood, one that even baseball’s rulebook calls a “stick”.
The Logic Behind Torpedo Bats
The logic behind the torpedo bats seems deceptively simple: Their bulbous shape comes from analyzing how hitters tend to make contact with the ball. “If they’re making contact at the same place in the barrel all the time, what can we do about the bat to try and give them better performance at that specific location?” says Dan Russell, an acoustics professor at Penn State University.
The Physics of Torpedo Bats
Torpedo bats are legal, conforming to MLB’s rule 3.02, which states, “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 torpedo design redistributes weight from the end of the bat to the area where players make the most contact with the ball, allowing them to hit the ball harder.
The Creator of Torpedo Bats
The guy behind the torpedo bats is Aaron Leanhardt, a former MIT physicist who became a Yankees analyst and now works for the Miami Marlins. He drew inspiration for the bat design from players saying they wanted to hit the ball more often on the densest area of the bat, commonly known as the “sweet spot”. Essentially, the torpedo design is redistributing the weight to a different part of the bat closer to the hands and creating a longer sweet spot.
The Impact on Performance
The thicker barrel of the torpedo bat means the wood is actually less dense than a bat of the same weight with a smaller barrel, but players report that it feels lighter than a traditional bat. That allows players to add more weight to make up for any potential drawbacks of a less-dense bat. The biggest advantage, according to players, comes in having a bat that’s been specifically designed for an individual player using data from their unique swing profile.
