Inside The Mets

Former New York Mets fan favorite Bartolo Colón chimes in on torpedo bats

Former Mets fan favorite Bartolo Colón gives his comical thoughts on the torpedo bats.
Logan VanDine|
Oct 1, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (40) in action during a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-Imagn Images
Oct 1, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (40) in action during a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-Imagn Images | Derik Hamilton-Imagn Images

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Less than a week into the regular season, "torpedo bats" have been the talk around the major leagues.

Despite Francisco Lindor being the only New York Mets player who has used the bat thus far, the Mets' cross-town rivals, the New York Yankees, have found lots of success with the torpedo bats after mashing 15 home runs in their opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

With these bats now being one of the main focuses of the young season, this former Met and fan favorite is chiming in on players across the league using torpedo bats, even though he was not known at all for his offense.

In a March 31 post on X, former Mets starting pitcher and fan favorite Bartolo Colón raised the hilarious question of how many home runs he would be able to hit if torpedo bats were developed during his playing days.

Read More: Torpedo bat 'nothing new' according to Mets manager Carlos Mendoza

It's no secret that Colón wasn't known for his offense during two decades in MLB, having been in the American League for most of his career. However, once he arrived in Flushing, Queens, when the Amazins' signed him to a two-year, $20 million contract on December 11, 2013, his at-bats with the Mets pretty much became must-watch TV.

From swinging way too early or too late at the plate, which resulted in him losing his helmet, or making weak contact that even got fans excited, Colón certainly knew how to make his plate appearances fun for Mets fans to watch. However, when he stepped into the batter's box on May 7, 2016, at Petco Park, Colón did something that Mets' play-by-play broadcaster Gary Cohen emphatically said, "The impossible has happened!"

Of course, it was when the now 51-year-old clobbered a two-run homer off San Diego Padres starting pitcher James Shields that not only shocked and entertained the Mets players and fans, but everyone in the baseball world.

Even though that ended up being Colón's only home run as he ended up going just 25-for-299 (.084) throughout his 21 seasons in the major leagues, you have to wonder, just like Colón is in his X post, if he could have had a bit more success offensively with the now infamous torpedo bats.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan VanDine is a contributing writer for On SI's Mets. Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work at On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports. Give him a follow on X: @VandineLogan

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