The New York Yankees revealed they were using a new piece of hitting technology dubbed the torpedo bat. This new bat has the hardest and densest part of the baseball bat shifted down the barrel a little bit in order to put more wood in the places of the bat that are more likely to make contact with a pitch.
In the short sample size, this bat has been incredible. Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Yankees are two of the more notorious users of the bat and they're off to incredibly hot starts. Volpe, specifically, has never hit with so much power in his career as he's showing since this bat was placed in his hands.
Across the league, players are divided. Some players think that the bat has a tremendous impact on hitters while others don't want to give the bat any credit. Some people are dying to try it while others have shut down the idea entirely.
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Shohei Ohtani is open, but not eager, to using torpedo bats
The only two players in the league who have played well enough over the last year to completely shut down the idea of using the bat are Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Aaron Judge of the Yankees. Judge continues to slug 60 home run seasons while Ohtani created the 50/50 club last year. These two don't need to change anything.
Still, Ohtani has shown a willingness to use this new piece of technology in the future, though he notes he's happy with his current bat.
"I don't plan on using it, but I'm not going to rule out the possibility from the start either," Ohtani said. "I'm happy with my current bat. I'll continue to use this bat."
If I were Ohtani, I wouldn't change a thing about my equipment, swing, approach, or anything pertaining to hitting, especially following his most recent home run against the Atlanta Braves. Still, his willingness to use the bat shows the right mentality toward the developments of baseball. While Ohtani has been at the top of the league, there are always ways to improve. If he eventually takes a chance on the bat, there's the potential that he swings it even better than his current bat.