Yankees break home run record with ‘Torpedo’ bats, but are they legal?

The New York Yankees have started the 2025 MLB season with three wins from three and they enjoyed a historic 20-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night.

With nine home runs against the Brewers the Yankees broke their franchise record for the most homers in a single game. However there has been some discussion about a new ‘Torpedo’ bat used by some members of the Yankees team, which appears to have given them a real advantage.

The new design features a broader section in the middle, tapering slightly towards the end, and was used by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe. Commentating on the game, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay ran through the reason for the bespoke design.

“You see the shape of Chisholm’s bat? The Yankee front office, the analytics department, did a study on Anthony Volpe, and every single ball it seemed like he hit on the label,” Kay said. “He didn’t hit any on the barrel, so they had bats made up where they moved a lot of the wood into the label, so the harder part of the bat is going to actually strike the ball. It’ll allow you to wait a little bit longer.”

Are the Yankees’ Torpedo bats legal?

SI report that they have an MIT physicist on the payroll to help create the bat but it has been a contentious development. The emergence of this new design and the Yankees’ early success in 2025 has sparked a conversation about the legality of the Torpedo bat.

However, MLB Rule 3.02 on bat design simply states: “The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.” It adds that “experimental” bats cannot be used “until the manufacturer has secured approval from Major League Baseball of his design and methods of manufacture”, suggesting that the league has already approved the design.

The Torpedo bat looks set to stay and we may start to see other teams in the league adopt similar designs to produce custom bats. For player with unconventional hitting styles it could help to squeeze a few extra feet out of every hit, potentially crucial over the course of an MLB season.

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