New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton has refused to blame the MLB’s new “torpedo bats” for his recent elbow injury.
The bat’s bowling pin design has been attributed to the Yankees’ firepower in their opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Stanton said last month at Yankees spring training in Tampa that “bat adjustments” were the cause of tendon injuries in both elbows. This led to speculation that the torpedo bats in particular were responsible.
In an interview on Tuesday before the Yankees’ series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Stanton refused to blame them.
Stanton praised the new bat shape.
“It’s something that makes a lot of sense, but it’s like, why hasn’t anyone thought of it in 100-plus years?” he said.
Torpedo bats are named for their unique shape. Traditional baseball bats feature a relatively straight barrel that tapers toward the handle. In contrast, torpedo bats have their densest point—and a distinctive swell—in the middle of the barrel, where most batters make contact with the ball. This gives them a resemblance to a torpedo or a bowling pin, and they are sometimes referred to as “bowling pin” bats.
The bat was invented by Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT-educated physicist who began coaching in the Yankees’ minor league system in 2018 and started the development process in 2022. He currently serves as a field coordinator with the Miami Marlins.
The bats made waves this year because several players in the Yankees’ lineup began using them.
“To explain simply, you try it as long as it’s comfortable in your hands,” Stanton said. “We’re creatures of habit, so that’s got to feel kind of like a glove or an extension of your arm. So as long as the balance points and all that are good, you’ve got to mess around with it and play with how big or small you want the barrel.”
Stanton added that he lacked grip strength, struggled to pick up everyday objects, and had not swung a bat since mid-January. He received injections of platelet-rich plasma as part of a regimen in the hope of avoiding season-ending surgery.
“These [injuries] happen throughout the year,“ he said. ”You don’t want them to happen off the bat, but you understand and consider they happen every year, unfortunately, to a different number of guys.”
