Minor League Baseball

Chicago White Sox High-A Affiliate Turning the Torpedo Bat Craze into a Fun Promotion

The Winston-Salem Dash will be giving fans their own miniature -- but functional! -- version in May.
Jami Leabow|
New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) flips his torpedo bat after hitting a three run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium on March 30, 2025.
New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) flips his torpedo bat after hitting a three run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium on March 30, 2025. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago White Sox

The torpedo bat has been all the rage in the opening days of the 2025 Major League Baseball season.

Just what is a torpedo bat? If you watched the New York Yankees slug 15 home runs against Milwaukee Brewers pitching over the opening weekend of the MLB season, you know.

With a torpedo bat, the weight is redistributed, with weight being moved from the end of the bat more toward the middle, where batters typically strike the ball. Nine of the Yankees home runs came from batters who have switched to the torpedo bat.

The Winston-Salem Dash, the High-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, have been quick to capitalize on the phenomenon.

The club announced Monday that it will be bringing the torpedo bat to Truist Stadium on May 22 when they play the Hudson Valley Renegades, the High-A affiliate of, ironically, the Yankees. They won't be the home-run-hitting type of torpedo bat, but instead the miniature kind perfect to open a cold bottle of your favorite beverage on a hot summer day.

The Dash will be giving away torpedo bat bottle openers to the first 500 fans through the turnstiles that night, and they're a perfect size to attach to a key ring.

"Grab your own Torpedo Bat Bottle Opener, because swinging torpedoes is the new baseball strategy. But we have to ask… should Torpedo Bats be legal?"

Fans have been asking that over the past few days. And the answer is yes, according this nugget from ESPN's Jeff Passan:

"The bats abide by Major League Baseball's collectively bargained bat specifications for shape (round and smooth), barrel size (no larger than 2.61 inches in diameter) and length (a maximum of 42 inches). Most also didn't realize that the bowling pin bat was used for some of the most consequential hits of 2024 thanks to one of its earliest adaptors,"Passan wrote, adding the Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton used the bat to hit seven home runs in 14 postseason games in 2024.

The next question: Will the White Sox, who hit a major league low 133 home runs in 2024, embrace the torpedo bat?

Published | Modified
Jami Leabow
JAMI LEABOW

Jami Leabow is the managing editor of Minor League Baseball on SI. Her love for the game began when her parents bought season tickets to the then-California Angels.

Home/NEWS