The New York Yankees debuted a new baseball bat at this weekend's season-opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Attention has focused on the new style of bats after they were used to hit some of the Yankees' nine home runs during the Saturday matchup, setting a franchise record.
The Yankees, who won 20-9, began the game with three home runs off of the first three pitches thrown by the Brewers' starting pitcher, Nestor Cortes Jr. Those pitches were hit out of the park by , then and, finally, , giving the Yankees an early lead.
The impressive three home runs in a row were followed by a fourth home run, from Austin Wells, in the same inning, making the game one for the record books: it was the first time the Yankees had hit four home runs in the first inning.
"What a performance," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said to reporters after the game. "Kind of a weird, crazy game."
During the game, YES Network play-by-play announcer Michael Kay mentioned that some of the Yankees players were using newly designed bats. At least two of the players using the bats hit home runs during the game.
What's so special about the bats?聽
According to a by former infielder Kevin Smith, the Yankees' new bats were designed by , a former physicist turned baseball coach. Leanhardt, an ex-physics professor who earned his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been working for the team for over six years. He used to be the Yankees assistant hitting coach, before becoming an analyst. He recently moved to work for rival team the Miami Marlins.
Smith posted on X that the "torpedo" barrel bat was designed to decrease misses by hitters. The bat's barrel is thicker and wider than a standard baseball bat. The goal is to bring more wood and mass to the part of the bat that makes most contact with the ball, according to Smith, so that the hitter is less likely to miss.
Yes, the Yankees have a literal genius MIT Physicist, Lenny (who is the man), on payroll. He invented the 鈥淭orpedo鈥� barrel. It brings more wood - and mass - to where you most often make contact as a hitter. The idea is to increase the number of 鈥渂arrels鈥� and decrease misses.
— Kevin Smith (@KJS_4)
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, one of the players using the new bats, said that he began using the bat during spring training. Volpe hit a home run in Saturday's game against the Brewers using the new bat.
"The concept makes so much sense. I know I'm bought in," Volpe said. "The bigger you can have the barrel where you hit the ball, it makes sense to me."
Not all of the players were using the new bats, and some of the home runs were made with standard issue bats. But the numerous home runs have led to questions about whether the bats should be allowed in Major League Baseball.
Are the new bats allowed in Major League Baseball?聽
New bats have to be approved by MLB before being used in the field. This is according to MLB Rule 3.02, which states that "experimental" bats can't be used "until the manufacturer has secured approval from Major League Baseball of his design and methods of manufacture."
The rule also states that baseball bats must be one solid piece of wood that is shorter than 42 inches and cannot have a diameter greater than 2.61 inches.
MLB confirmed that the new bats comply with the rules.
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch acknowledged that there had been conversations about the new bat during spring training. "The internet has a beautiful way of bringing things to be a big deal," Hinch told reporters. "I hadn't paid a ton of attention to it really until today."
Innovation in bats have changed MLB聽
This is not the first time a new bat has been introduced in Major League Baseball. Bats made out of white ash trees were used for decades. Then Joe Carter became the first notable baseball player to use a baseball bat made out of maple wood in the 1990s.
In 2001, Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in a single season using a maple bat, helping that type of bat It was later alleged that during that season. Bonds has denied knowingly taking steroids.
The Yankees were at the center of another bat-related controversy. In 1983, two home runs by Kansas City Royals player George Brett were ruled out by an umpire after then-Yankees manager Billy Martin noticed a large amount of pine tar on Brett's bat.
The umpires ruled that the home run was made with an "illegally batted ball" because of a rule that states "a bat may not be covered by such a substance more than 18 inches [46 cm] from the tip of the handle."
The ensuing protest led to a reversal of the decision, and Major League Baseball amended the rules to say that if it is later determined that there is excessive pine tar on a baseball bat, the play cannot be nullified if the object is not raised prior to the bat being used.
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