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

• The New York Yankees swept their opening series against Milwaukee, possibly with the help of a newly designed bat. At least five players are using the new “Torpedo” bat this year.
• The Yankees scored 36 runs and hit an MLB record 15 homers in the first three games of the season. Was it because of the bats?
• Dr. Nick Smith of Washington State University’s Sports Science Laboratory is ready to experiment with the new bat design to see if it helps players.

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The “Torpedo” bats used by the New York Yankees in their season-opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers aren’t just drawing interest from fans and players. Scientists who study the physics of “bat against ball” are also curious.

What are these ‘Torpedo’ bats all about?

The Yankees explosion of 36 runs and an MLB record-tying 15 homers in the first three games of the season made all the headlines. Players like Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. used a new style of bat to bash all those homers. Over the weekend, the Torpedo bats went viral. Yankees star Chisholm explained their appeal.

“It gives you a feeling of just feeling like you have more to work with, you know what I mean?” Chisholm said. “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, the new bats do look a bit like a Torpedo or a bowling pin at the end. But do they provide an advantage other than confidence?

The bats were designed in part by MIT physicist and former Yankees staffer Aaron Leanhardt, who is now with the Miami Marlins as a field coordinator.

What do the experts say?

We decided to ask an expert in bat mechanics and physics, Dr. Nick Smith, at the Washington State University Sports Science Laboratory. His first reaction since being inundated with emails early Monday morning, March 31, was this:

“I think it’s largely an overreaction. I think the Yankees just have some good hitters. But it’s nice to see some innovation in a space where it isn’t really designed for a lot of innovation. Baseball is a pretty traditional game,” Dr. Smith said.

That will not stop the “Bat Lab,” as it is sometimes known, from investigating. They are in the process of tapering a few wooden bats to use in experiments. They’ll test things like barrel effects, balance points and the Torpedo shape’s possible effect on ball compression.

“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,” Dr. Smith said. “If you can do that well, if you can’t train a hitter to hit in the real sweet spot, but you can move the sweet spot to where the hitter is actually hitting it, well, that would be cool.”

What effect could the new bats have on power?

Could the new bats help with a player’s home run power? For that, there are likely many more factors involved than just bat design. Dr. Smith says while the Torpedo may help some hitters make better contact, hitting more home runs requires 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 the bat as much as you can,” Dr. Smith explains. “Because your linear velocity of your swing is the fastest, the farther outside you go.”

Are they catching on, and what do other Yankees say?

Major League Baseball has declared this bat design legal, and it’s starting to catch on around the league. The Atlanta Braves have reportedly placed an order. Also, other players like Davis Schneider of the Blue Jays and Junior Caminero of the Rays are using them.

Players and bat manufacturers have long created custom bats, so why are we seeing this style now and not before? Dr. Smith says it may have been tried before, but not to this degree or with this much hype.

“It has been a 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 analytics,” Dr. Smith said.

That mirrors what Yankees manager Aaron Boone pointed out on Sunday, March 30.

“That’s just trying to be the best we can be,” Boone said. “That’s one of the things that’s gotten pointed out. I say to you guys all the time, we’re trying to win on the margins, and that shows up in so many different ways.”

All except superstar Aaron Judge, who says he’s doing just fine with traditional bats. After the first weekend, he led the majors with four homers.