The New York Yankees have lit the baseball world on fire this season. They've gotten off to one of the fastest possible starts in baseball by slugging 15 home runs and scoring 36 runs in just three games. But they've taken the world by storm with the newly innovative torpedo bat that's being used by a few of their players.
There have been mixed reactions around the league, but the negative reactions seem to echo a bit louder than the positive ones.
“I think it’s terrible...We’ll see what the data says," Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Trevor Megill said when asked about the new torpedo bats. "I’ve never seen anything like it before. I feel like it’s something used in slo-pitch softball. It’s genius: Put the mass all in one spot. It might be bush [league]. It might not be. But it’s the Yankees, so they’ll let it slide.”
Alongside Megill, the Houston Astros fanbase seems to want to crack down on the torpedo bats as some call it cheating or bush league. This is especially funny considering that nobody has forgotten about the trash can banging incident. And the fact that the torpedo bats are well within the rules of the rulebook.
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The torpedo bats are legal and everybody can use them
To understand that the new piece of hitting technology is legal, first you need to understand what it is.
The torpedo bat is different than a normal bat because the barrel has been moved down the bat and into the label, if that makes sense. The hardest and densest piece of the wood is now a bit closer to the hitters' hands with the hopes that it will increase barrels and decrease mishits. There's also a chance with the bulk of the weight closer to the hands that there can be an increase in bat speed, but there's not enough data to definitively back this statement up yet.
And it's all completely legal. Everybody can use them. In fact, there are teams around the league that are reportedly already putting them into play after the Yankees did so this weekend.
So, Astros fans, this is nothing like the trash can banging incident. It's not cheating whatsoever. It's new technology that's legal for any team and any hitter to use.