Are The Yankees Cheating?
A Blog By Dean
If you lived under a rock, you probably missed the Yankees hitting nine home runs and scoring 20 runs against the Brewers this afternoon. They started the game by barreling into three of their former teammates, Nestor Cortes. The nine home runs are a franchise record, and their 1-6 hitters all hitting bombs is also an MLB first.
The use of the word barreling is not by accident.
Teams across the league are reportedly designing these bats. By looking at this photo, one would think, “tHe YaNkKes aRe cHeAtIng.”
By the way, that person was me. So, I looked into the rules.
According to MLB's Official Rules, specifically Rule 3.02(a), a bat must be a smooth, round stick not exceeding 2.61 inches in diameter at its thickest part and no longer than 42 inches in length. Additionally, the bat must be one piece of solid wood. The rule also notes that no laminated or experimental bats shall be used in a professional game until the manufacturer has secured approval from the Rules Committee for the design and methods of manufacture.
The Yankees' new bats feature a redistribution of wood, shifting the sweet spot closer to the label area to align with certain players' hitting patterns. Volpe, Chisholm, and Bellinger all used them. Despite this modification, the bats maintain a smooth, round profile and comply with the specified dimensions.
They conform to the league's shape, size, and material composition specifications. So in short, the Yankees are not cheating. All the gremlins in the X comments can simmer down.
We asked expert Will Mossa what he thought about this.
“They legit just look like softball bats. I think a lot of guys are moving towards those.”
At this moment, the Yankees seem to be the first team to use these bats in a game. If teams start using them and rocketing nine home runs a game, I think MLB will probably start taking a deeper look at the technology behind the bats.
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