Terry Francona Gave Simple Quote on 'Torpedo' Bats After Elly De La Cruz Hit Two HRs

De La Cruz tried out a 'torpedo' bat for himself Monday.

Cincinnati Reds manager Francona returns to the dugout after making a pitching change during the MLB Opening Day game between the Cincinnati Reds and the San Francisco Giants. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The "torpedo" bat has taken the baseball world by storm. New York Yankees infielders Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. broke them out over the weekend and each smacked a home run to help the Yankees hit a franchise-record nine long balls in a single game Saturday.

Chisholm hit two more homers the next day, saying the new bat gave him "extra confidence" that he can go out and hit anything. The Yankees' home-run party quickly spread the unusual-looking twigs across the MLB, with the Atlanta Braves putting in their own order for the custom bats according to ESPN's Buster Olney.

Cincinnati Reds star shortstop Elly De La Cruz tried one for himself Monday against the Texas Rangers. Spoiler alert—it worked pretty well.

De La Cruz crushed a slider from Rangers starter Kumar Rocker in the bottom of the second inning for a three-run homer, his first long ball of the year. He did it again in the seventh, hitting an even longer home run that sailed 436 feet.

Elly De La Cruz teed off on this pitch for his first home run of 2025 💥 pic.twitter.com/zIsrxEqP1w

— MLB (@MLB) March 31, 2025

Triple shy of the cycle? Nah, Elly wants to demolish a baseball instead. pic.twitter.com/eT1dIiAaat

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 1, 2025

He had four hits Monday with seven RBIs, finishing the game just a triple shy of the cycle. Reds manager Terry Francona was asked about the torpedo bat after the game and he summed up the perceived lore behind the new lumber quite nicely.

“It’s more the player than the bat," Francona said to reporters postgame via Charlie Clifford of NBC 5 Cincinnati. “What I told [De La Cruz] is the most impressive thing was the line drive to left field—you better make some pretty good pitches if he is on balance like that.”

Maybe the new bat just gave De La Cruz some extra confidence,not that he needed any, to hit his first homer of the 2025 campaign—just like Chisholm.

But with all the ruckus surrounding the new torpedo bats, Francona provided an important reminder: give credit to the player.

---