Astros Manager Reveals Team's Stance on Controversial 'Torpedo Bats'

The Houston Astros have had a hit-or-miss start to the season, as despite only scoring eight runs through four games, they have a 2-2 record and took a series win against the powerhouse New York Mets. Their offense has struggled to gain traction, but their pitching has remained relatively strong, which has allowed them to remain in games on multiple occasions.

When it comes to offensive production, no one has shown more flashes than the New York Yankees however, and their new bats have made MLB headlines over the past few days. While not every player is using them on the team, and Aaron Judge is doing just fine without them, many of their hitters have seen improvements in their ability to make strong contact with the ball.

Some other teams have begun to order these prototype bats to see how their own team may be able to utilize them, and it seems many teams had been testing them out throughout the offseason to see if they were feasible for their own batters. However, some teams have seemingly remained away from them as a whole, and would rather utilize their own traditional bats instead and just focus on making contact.

Astros manager Joe Espada discussed this recently and said that none of their Major Leaguers are using them yet to his knowledge and that he personally has not seen or touched one, so he did not want to comment on it as of yet, as was reported by Chandler Rome of The Athletic. He also noted that some minor league players are utilizing them in Houston's farm system.

This is an intriguing comment, as the fact that he hasn't even gotten his hands on one of these bats yet means the team may end up being behind others if they continue to be so heavily implemented across the league. While not using them is one thing, it does feel like they should have at least been researched more thoroughly once they started being used.

These bats have been around for a decent amount of time as well, with Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor having used them previously, but the newer models are significantly more noticable given the weight distribution being heavily moved to the center of the bat.

Given the struggles Houston has had so far with making consistent contact, it may have to be something they look into in the coming weeks, and begin to train with to see if it is viable for their hitters.