The 2025 MLB regular season has only begun, and the New York Yankees are already involved in a controversy. This time, it’s impossible to ignore after their record-breaking start to the season.
It all started in their second game of the season, when the Yankees scored an MLB-high 20 runs while clobbering the Milwaukee Brewers. Of course, it helped that the Yankees hit a new franchise record nine home runs, but it was the way they hit these home runs that drew widespread attention.
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New York Yankees’ ‘torpedo bats’ stirring controversy
The New York Yankees didn’t just hit nine home runs on Saturday, they did so while utilizing a new shape of baseball bat.
Some call them “bowling-pin” bats. Others say they’re “torpedo-shaped.”
Well this is wild…
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) March 29, 2025
The Yankees made new bats that moved more of the wood into the label so the hardest part of the bat strikes the ball.
They have 8 home runs today. pic.twitter.com/CH2cOmvOh8
The whole idea is to help the hardest part of the bat connect with the ball, or where players are more likely to strike the ball.
“So they had bats made up, where they moved a lot of the wood into the label, so the harder part of the bat is going to actually strike the ball,”
Yankees announcer Michael Kay
No matter what they’re called, Milwaukee Brewers closing pitcher Trevor Megill can’t stand them, calling them “terrible” while saying he’s “never seen anything like it.” That’s coming from someone who hadn’t even had to face them yet.
“I think it’s terrible. We’ll see what the data says. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I feel like it’s something used in slo-pitch softball. It’s genius: Put the mass all in one spot. It might be bush [league]. It might not be. But it’s the Yankees, so they’ll let it slide.”
Brewers closer Trevor Megill on new Yankees bats
Megill did get into the game on Sunday and he needed just four pitches to get the lone out he was tasked with. Fellow teammate and former Yankees starter Nestor Cortes had much worse luck, lasting just two innings before being pulled for allowing nine runs and five dingers against his previous team.
As odd as these new bats are, they’re apparently 100% legal. It’s not like the Yankees are the only ballclub using them. Other teams are too. They’re just not breaking franchise records with them. Yet.
Oddly enough, a current Miami Marlins field coordinator deserves “a lot” of the credit,according to a Yankees official. Meanwhile, the Yankees are the ones generating all the hype.
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