Do Yankees' new 'Torpedo' bats really make a difference? We asked an expert

The torpedo bats used by the New York Yankees in their season opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers

aren't just drawing interests from fans, players, and on social media. Scientists who study the physics of bat against ball are also curious

The Yankees' explosion of 36 runs and an MLB record tying 15 homers in the first three games of the year

made all the headlines. For the offensive fireworks, yes. But also because of the new bats, players like Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Cody Ballinger, and Jazz Chisholm

home used to bash those homers. The torpedo bats have gone viral. It gives you a feeling of just

feeling like you have more to work with. You know what I mean? Like you probably don't have more to

work with, but it feels like it, you know what I mean? So it gives you that extra confidence in your

head to be able to go out there and hit anything. Tapered a little differently to put more of the

wood near the label than the supposed sweet spot of a traditional bat. They do look a little bit like a

torpedo or a bowling pin but do they provide an advantage other than confidence The bats were designed in part by an MIT physicist and former Yankee staffer Aaron Lanehart

who is now with the Miami Marlins. We decided to ask an expert in bat mechanics and physics, Dr. Nick Smith at the Washington State

University's sports science laboratory. His first reaction since being inundated with emails

early Monday morning? I think it's largely an overreaction. I think the Yankees just have some good

hitters. But it's fun to see innovation in a space that isn't really designed to allow for a lot of

innovation. There's not meant to be a lot of change. Baseball is a pretty traditional game. That will not

stop the bat lab, as it is sometimes known, from doing some investigating. They're in the process

of tapering a few of their wooden bats to experiment with them, testing things like barrel effects

balance point and the torpedo shapes possible effect on ball compression It all physics which Dr Smith simplifies for this undereducated reporter What would be cool and what we want to see if this does is if they can actually move the sweet spot by changing the barrel design

If you could do that, well, then if you can't train a hitter to hit in the real sweet spot

but you could design a bat that moves the sweet spot to where your hitter is actually hitting it

well, that's pretty cool. Could they be responsible for all the home run power the Yankees have displayed

There are likely many more factors than bat design. And in fact, Dr. Smith says they may help some hitters make better contact, but more home runs require something different

If you were trying to hit the most home runs, you would actually want to move your sweet spot farther to the outside of your bat as much as you can

Because your linear velocity of your swing, it's the fastest the farther outside you go

Major League Baseball has declared this bat designed to be legal and it's starting to catch on around the league

the Atlanta Braves have reportedly placed an order, and other players like Davy Schneider of the Blue Jays and Junior Caminero of the Rays are using those bats Players and bat manufacturers have long been creating custom bats

So why are we seeing this style in 2025 and not before

Well, Dr. Smith says it may have been tried before, but not to this degree, or with this much hype

It has been a very traditional and almost superstitious sport. and this has been going on for a while

but people have been much more experimental and willing to try new ytics

Which mirrors what Yankees manager Aaron Boone pointed out on Sunday. His team is trying to win on the margins

All except superstar Aaron Judge, who says he's doing just fine with the traditional bats

He leads the majors with four homers after the first weekend. So we'll keep tabs on the Yankees and how they hit going forward

We'll also check back with the Washington State Sports. science lab as they run their experiments on the torpedo bats to find out if they really make a difference

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis