Before It Took Over MLB, the Yankees’ New Bat Was a Flop

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kristie Ackert | Last updated Mar 31, 2025 12:06 PM ET

Now it seems like everyone wants one. Manny Machado was putting out a call on national TV for some, and the Atlanta Braves put in a big order on Sunday. The Yankees’ new bats, the so-called “torpedo bats,” were the story of the first weekend in the 2025 season.

Long before that, though, the Yankees’ former MIT physicist and Yankees analyst was preaching about the bowling-pin shaped bats. Aaron Leanhardt wasn’t quietly testing an idea in the shadows. He was evangelizing, according to a former Yankees minor leaguer.

According to The Athletic, Leanhardt spent the 2022 season pitching his vision to players across the Yankees’ system. The redesigned bats featured a subtle but significant shift in mass, moving weight closer to the hitter’s hands in an effort to improve barrel control and reduce swing-and-miss outcomes.

“His big thing was like, guys that just swing-and-miss by a fraction of an inch, you’re now fouling off, staying alive,” recalled Brandon Lockridge, a former Yankees prospect who now plays for the San Diego Padres. “Because there’s more barrel there, your mis-hits can be closer to a barrel or maximize that.”

Lockridge said Leanhardt gave presentations to players, trying to win them over with data and logic. But the early response was lukewarm.

“They weren’t a hot commodity,” Lockridge said.

That didn’t stop Leanhardt. Even after the bats were met with shrugs, he kept explaining, kept demonstrating, and kept offering them to anyone willing to try. Lockridge said he used one during spring training, but ultimately stuck with his traditional bat in games.

Now, two years later, the bat he once struggled to get into anyone’s hands is the talk of baseball.

Major League Baseball has ruled the bats legal. Some players, like Jazz Chisholm Jr., have embraced them. Others, like Machado, want them. Still others, like Trevor Megill, were fuming, and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy wants them banned before they take over the sport.

That may be too late, as even Portnoy’s beloved Red Sox have tried the bats out.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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