If you’ve turned on a baseball game anytime in this young 2025 season, you've likely heard the rumblings about “Torpedo Bats.” They’ve taken over MLB conversations lately — players, fans, and announcers can’t stop talking about these funky-looking bats and the bombs they’re helping launch. 

It all starts with the New York Yankees, who lit up their schedule’s first few weeks with a barrage of home runs that would make Babe Ruth blush. The shape of these bats — looking more like bowling pins or actual torpedoes — quickly became a hot topic across sports radio and social media. And honestly, it’s no surprise. Bats have pretty much looked the same for over a hundred years: long, lean, and tapering off toward the barrel. So when something shows up that breaks that mold and actually starts producing results? Yeah, people are gonna talk.

In the middle of this swirl of excitement sits a low-key guy by the name of Aaron Leanhardt, who’s not exactly the stereotypical brash inventor you’d expect to find in a storyline like this. He’s the Miami Marlins’ field coordinator, but for all intents and purposes, he’s the godfather of the Torpedo Bat.

Despite the media frenzy, Leanhardt has stayed true to his humble roots, describing himself as more of a baseball fan than an innovator. But with the Yankees slugging away in record-breaking fashion — hitting more home runs in one game than they ever had before in their storied history — teams across the league have taken notice. 

Some see this as a gimmick; others view it as the future of hitting. The larger question is: how far can this wave go, and is it here to stay?

The Brain Behind the Bat: Aaron Leanhardt’s Journey

If you asked someone to picture a “typical baseball coach,” Aaron Leanhardt probably wouldn’t be the first person they’d visualize. Sure, he wears a uniform on the field these days, but his path there wasn’t exactly the typical route. 

It all started in classrooms and laboratories: he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, then went on to MIT for a doctorate in physics. Most baseball lifers might reference stories of summers on the diamond, but Leanhardt’s early professional highlights involve a NASA-funded research study cooling sodium gas and teaching physics at the University of Michigan from 2007 to 2014.

So how’d a NASA-funded physics whiz end up in Major League Baseball? Well, it turns out he always had a thing for the game. He tried to walk on to the Michigan baseball team (didn’t quite pan out, but hey, you can’t fault a guy for trying). 

After school, he made his way into baseball coaching — starting small, with a role in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League in 2017 and assistant coaching stints at Dawson Community College in Montana. Then came a volunteer gig with the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League (2018). That’s a far cry from NASA labs, but if you love the sport, you go where the opportunities lead.

His big break came in 2018 when the New York Yankees hired him. He began as a Gulf Coast League hitting coach, then pivoted to a Major League analyst role, ultimately landing a position as assistant Minor League hitting coordinator. Underneath all those official titles was one guiding principle: use analytics to improve on-field performance.

Leanhardt meshed his background in science with the Yankees’ push for data-driven strategies. In other words, he bridged the gap between the numbers and the batting cage. He looked at things like swing paths, launch angles, and exit velocities with the eyes of a scientist, then translated it all for players who just wanted to hit. He had no clue that in a few short years he’d revolutionize the very design of the baseball bat.

The “Eureka Moment”: How the Torpedo Bat Was Conceived

Breakthroughs in sports often come from some combination of random eureka moment and good old-fashioned teamwork. The Torpedo Bat was no different. Leanhardt credits a lot of it to what he calls “listening to hitters in the cage.”

From the minors up to the big club, guys would complain about the inconsistency of finding the sweet spot. Hitters would say things like, “It’s weird how I keep hitting it further up the barrel,” or “The thickest part never seems to be where I actually make contact.” Instead of brushing those comments aside, Leanhardt started collecting them.

One day, after hearing yet another comment along these lines, he had a wild idea: “What if we just turned the bat around, so the fattest part is exactly where you’re hitting it?” It sounded half ridiculous, but also half brilliant. The first prototypes looked so strange that people joked it belonged on a bowling lane, not a baseball field. But the players who gave it a shot noticed something right away — when they made contact, the ball consistently jumped off the bat. It didn’t take long for some of them to start thinking, 'Hey, maybe there’s something to this thing after all.'

It took a leap of faith from the hitters and coaches, but their buy-in eventually led to some truly eye-popping results. Once they started hitting bombs during practice, suddenly that “funny-looking bat” started looking a whole lot more appealing.

The Science Behind the Shape: Why Torpedo Bats Might Work

If you’re new to the Torpedo Bat phenomenon, your first question is probably, “Why does it look so odd?” It boils down to weight redistribution. In a normal bat, the heaviest part is at the end, away from your hands. This design has been standard since, basically forever. But the Torpedo flips the script, pushing weight closer to the handle area and making the part where you typically make contact even thicker.

Weight Redistribution

By shifting the mass inward, the bat’s center of gravity changes, which can theoretically improve swing dynamics. You don’t need to be an MIT grad to grasp that a lighter-feeling bat (or at least one that feels more balanced) might help you swing faster. But it goes deeper than that.

Reduction of Swing Weight

Physicist Alan Nathan and Washington State University’s Lloyd Smith have talked about how the “moment of inertia” plays a crucial role in bat speed. When you reduce the bat’s moment of inertia, you decrease the resistance to rotation. Essentially, you can accelerate that thing quicker through the strike zone. Translate that to a baseball field, and you’re talking about better control and quicker swings. In a game where milliseconds matter, that’s a huge deal.

Potential for a Larger Sweet Spot

One of the biggest perks of the Torpedo shape is that it provides a fatter barrel exactly where hitters usually connect. On a traditional bat, the sweet spot is actually smaller than many realize, and not always situated perfectly for each hitter’s swing path. With Torpedo Bats, the sweet spot can essentially be expanded and moved around without a massive increase in overall weight. 

Legality in the League: MLB’s Official Stance

Before everyone ran out and bought Torpedo Bats, there was a big question: Are these legal? According to Rule 3.02 of MLB’s official rulebook, a bat must be a solid piece of wood, can’t exceed certain length and diameter limits, and has to be smooth and round. But, there’s zero mention of how weight distribution needs to be structured.

MLB did a thorough review of the Torpedo concept and eventually gave it the thumbs-up. Some fans assumed there’d be a catch, but as of now, these bats meet every existing regulation. The only potential wildcard was the MLB rule that requires the league to approve “experimental” bat designs before they can be used in official games. They got that thumbs-up, too.

Could the league change its tune if these bats prove too dominant? Possibly. Baseball history shows us that whenever an innovation might break the game’s competitive balance, league officials tend to step in. For now, though, the Torpedo has a green light.

Who’s Actually Using These Things?

Let’s talk about who’s actually swinging these things. Surprise, surprise: the Yankees are at the forefront. Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Austin Wells are among those using the new bats. The results speak for themselves: the Yankees smashed a franchise-record number of home runs in a single game earlier this season, and suddenly people weren’t laughing at the weird shape anymore.

But it’s not just pinstripes. Around the league, more players are test-driving the Torpedo. Elly De La Cruz over in Cincinnati went 4-5 with two jacks in his first game using it. The Orioles’ Adley Rutschman’s been spotted tinkering with it. The Blue Jays are always on the lookout for an offensive edge — Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider have apparently tried it out, too. Then you’ve got the Rays’ Junior Caminero, the Twins’ Ryan Jeffers, and more who’ve at least shown interest.

Some big names remain skeptical, though. Aaron Judge, ironically, is a holdout despite the bat’s deep Yankee ties. 

What I did the past couple of seasons speaks for itself. Why try to change something if you have something that’s working?

Some players say it just feels better in their hands — more balanced, easier to control. Others think it helps them stay inside the ball more naturally. A few have even said it’s mostly mental; using something new just gives them a little extra confidence at the plate. 

As for coaches and managers? A lot of them are in wait-and-see mode. They’re not ready to crown it a game-changer yet, but they’re definitely curious. And let’s be honest — baseball is just as much mental as it is physical, so even that little edge could make all the difference.

The “Torpedo’s” Trajectory

From the first time people saw these bowling-pin-shaped bats, they’ve either been amazed or bemused. But as we’ve seen, the design itself isn’t as outlandish as it looks. There’s a method to the madness — shifting weight closer to the hands, expanding the sweet spot, and potentially supercharging a hitter’s bat speed.

Right now, the Torpedo is legal. And enough players are having success with it that it’s more than just a footnote in a baseball magazine. It’s a real factor in MLB, whether or not everyone wants to admit it. Every day, more hitters in different organizations are giving it a test drive. It’s like the newest phone on the market that everyone’s curious about — some are diving in headfirst, others are waiting on the sidelines.

Still, it’s early. We need more data to separate hype from reality. The Yankees’ hot streak might be due to their overall talent and a friendly schedule. The guys adopting Torpedo Bats might be great hitters no matter what lumber they’re swinging.

Whether you’re cheering for your team to completely adopt it or think it’s just another passing fad, you can’t deny that the Torpedo has brought a new level of excitement (and a dash of controversy) to the plate. 

Baseball might be rooted in tradition, but at its core, it’s always hungry for that next little edge — and right now, that edge might just come in the form of a bat that looks ready to sink a battleship.