Former Tigers Slugger Provides Perspective on Yankees "Torpedo" Bats

A former Detroit Tigers slugger provides valuable insights on the New York Yankees "Torpedo" bats.

July 3, 2007; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Sean Casey (21) singles to center field in the second inning scoring Carlos Guillen (not in photo) during the game against the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI. | Leon Halip-Imagn Images

The Detroit Tigers are on the short list of teams that can challenge the New York Yankees for American League supremacy. Those conversations have been put on hold early, because "torpedo" bats are the talk of Major League Baseball.

The general concept of the bat is to shift the sweet spot of the barrel closer to the player's hands, which is a value add for hitters that make contact closer to their hands. This bat was designed by former physics professor Aaron Leanhardt, who has a PH.D. in physics from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Love the Bronx Bombers or hate them, they are one of, if not the most polarizing team in the sport. If a small market team introduced this new bat design while having the extreme success New York has enjoyed early this season, perhaps this discussion would have a different tone. Since it's the Yankees, there are a ton of detractors ranging from current players to media headliners like Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.

That said, not everyone views "torpedo" bats as a game-breaking problem. Sean Casey is a former three-time All-Star with a career .302 batting average. He's also served as a hitting coach for New York in the past. Needless to say, he's an expert on the subject of hitting, and he views "torpedo" bats as just one of many legal bat design variants in existence.

During his podcast, "The Mayor's Office with Sean Casey," the 12-year Big League veteran pulled a variety of bats from his collection, including some that he used himself, showing that barrels have different designs, handles with different thicknesses and that MLB bats can be made from a variety of different types of wood. Casey also suggested that it's the player, not the bat that makes the difference.

Casey explained that in his generation, when Ken Griffey Jr.'s switched to a smaller bat size, that led to other players trying the same thing. This is a similar situation, as teams are already ordering these new bats.

Individual players around the league are using them as well, including New York Mets star Francisco Lindor.

At the end of the day professional sports franchises are massive businesses with the resources to chase new competitive advantages. The Yankees have more resources than most in baseball, but any team could have come up with a new legal bat design as they have.

In the NFL the Philadelphia Eagles have enjoyed great success through their "tush push" in short yardage situations. That's not a product design like the "torpedo" bat, but it's a play design tailored to their offensive roster's specific talents. The Eagles can execute that play better than anyone, which unquestionably gives Philadelphia an advantage, to the point other teams are trying to get the play banned.

The "torpedo" bat is a similar innovation that will give certain players an advantage they didn't previously have. Reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge already has four homers and he's not using these new bats, even though roughly half the Yankees starting lineup is at least trying them.

Like Casey said, production at the Big League level is primarily about the hitter, they wouldn't be in this position otherwise.