Two Weeks Of Torpedo Bats
A Blog By Dean
Two weeks ago, Torpedo Bats were all the rage across MLB and beyond. Whenever something breaks out of the regular baseball circle, it typically flames out soon after. That is what has happened with torpedo bats. We went from calls for MLB to ban them to complete silence.
What is the main reason for that silence? Well, the torpedo bats don’t really do much.
I took the 15 players I covered when the torpedo bat craze began and took another look at their numbers. Yes, there are outliers, but for the most part, they are all hitting for league-average numbers or worse. You can see this in the chart below.
Right now, you could argue that the bats lead to a slight increase in power. That is about it, and even that is minuscule.
I lay out all the players’ stats in list form further down, but I wanted to give a heatmap of the players I used. Right now, Volpe and Goldschmidt stand out from the pack. Overall, Elly is probably the most well-rounded (his stats from today aren’t included in this.)
Alright, let’s lay out all the numbers. I will do another check-in at the end of April to see if anything has changed.
Adley Rutschman | Baltimore Orioles
AB: 46
Batting Avg: .261
HR: 2
OPS: .771
Avg Exit Velo- 88.1
Alec Bohm | Philadelphia Phillies
AB: 57
Batting Avg: .158
HR: 0
OPS: .347
Avg Exit Velo- 92.9
Anthony Volpe | New York Yankees
AB: 49
Batting Avg: .245
HR: 4
OPS: .902
Avg Exit Velo- 90.9
Austin Wells | New York Yankees
AB: 38
Batting Avg: .220
HR: 2
OPS: .761
Avg Exit Velo- 90.8
Cody Bellinger | New York Yankees
AB: 38
Batting Avg: .225
HR: 1
OPS: .627
Avg Exit Velo- 90.8
Jazz Chisholm Jr. | New York Yankees
AB: 54
Batting Avg: .167
HR: 4
OPS: .676
Avg Exit Velo- 87.6
Paul Goldschmidt | New York Yankees
AB: 52
Batting Avg: .365
HR: 1
OPS: .904
Avg Exit Velo- 89.6
Dansby Swanson | Chicago Cubs
AB: 60
Batting Avg: .200
HR: 4
OPS: .719
Avg Exit Velo- 92.2
Nico Hoerner | Chicago Cubs
AB: 46
Batting Avg: .304
HR: 0
OPS: .699
Avg Exit Velo- 85.8
Elly De La Cruz | Cincinnati Reds
AB: 55
Batting Avg: .236
HR: 2
OPS: .688
AVG Exit Velo: 94.9
Jose Trevino | Cincinatti Reds
AB: 25
Batting Avg: .280
HR: 1
OPS: .773
Avg Exit Velo: 85.4
Francisco Lindor | New York Mets
AB: 47
Batting Avg: .213
HR: 1
OPS: .592
Avg Exit Velo- 88.2
Oneil Cruz | Pittsburgh Pirates
AB: 38
Batting Avg: .211
HR: 2
OPS: .755
Avg Exit Velo- 90.9
Junior Caminero | Tampa Bay Rays
AB: 44
Batting Avg: .273
HR: 2
OPS: .753
Avg Exit Velo- 90.0
Ryan Jeffers | Minnesota Twins
AB: 32
Batting Avg: .219
HR: 0
OPS: .515
Avg Exit Velo- 89.9