From MIT to the Yankees: Meet the mastermind behind the torpedo baseball bat, Aaron “Lenny” Leanhardt

The New York Yankees started off the MLB season with a bang - hit directly from their new “Torpedo” bats, which helped them along to a record nine homers against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. And although the bats have caused controversy throughout the league, they are technically legal and look like they’re here to stay.

If you’re not familiar just yet, the bat’s new design has a wider section in the middle and tapers slightly towards the end. And the designer of the bat actually works for the Miami Marlins. His name is Aaron Leanhardt.

How Aaron “Lenny” Leanhardt became a media sensation

As the torpedo bats seemed to be the novel factor behind the Yankees’ early-season success, many people got curious about the man behind the design.

48-year-old Aaron “Lenny” Leanhardt is the field coordinator for the Miami Marlins, but before that, he studied electrical engineering at the University of Michigan and earned his doctorate in physics from MIT, working on a NASA-funded research team. He later served as a physics professor at the University of Michigan from 2007-14.

It was 2017 when Leanhardt got involved in baseball professionally, serving as an assistant coach for college teams and minor leagues teams. The Yankees hired him in 2018 and he filled several roles, including Gulf Coast League hitting coach and Major League analyst.

During his time as an assistant Minor League hitting coordinator from 2022-23, Yankees hitters and coaches approached him for help. His main job was to combine data with on-field performance and preparation, and to serve as a link between the analytics team and the major league coaches.

“I think the eureka moment, really, was when players pointed to where they were trying to hit the ball, and they noticed themselves that that was not the fattest part of the bat,” Leanhardt said. “They noticed themselves that the tip was the fattest part of the bat, and then everyone just looked at each other like, ‘Well, let’s flip it around. It’s going to look silly, but are we willing to go with it?‘”

There were definitely players willing to go with it, so the torpedo bat underwent several trials and errors before becoming what it is today. And today, it’s a bat that’s redistributed its weight so the ball hits the sweet spot with even more emphasis, and it meets all the MLB rules and regulations.

And now Lenny and his Torpedo bats have become a legend as he was swarmed by the media on Monday. He acknowledged the craziness of it all, but gave credit to the players for their success, rather than his invention.

“It’s definitely been surreal for the last couple days,” said Leanhardt. “I’m happy to always help those guys get a little bit better, but ultimately, it’s up to them to put good swings on pitches and grind it out every day. So, credit to those guys.”

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