New York-Die Bats of the New York Yankees were the history of the team's franchise record-nine-home day against the Milwaukee Brewers. Then got here the discussion in regards to the actual bats that some players utilized in the 20-9 victory.
The uniquely shaped wood is the results of two years of research and experiment with a former physicist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has turn into at the highest.
The query in the center?
“Where do you try to hit the ball?” Aaron Leanhardt said in a telephone interview on Sunday morning. “Where do you try to contact?”
The 48-year-old Leanhardt began his work when he was a member of the Yankees-Minor League department in 2022, and brought them to crucial leagues last season when he was the fundamental analyst of the team, with some players, including Shortstop Anthony Polpe, and tried them in games. According to Outfield Cody Bellinger, you’ll now use as much as five Yankees in games a minimum of this season this season.
The bats with their torpedo-like shape-sind for the preferences of the players and designed in such a way that the densest a part of the bat on this specific striker makes contact with the baseball most incessantly, said Leanhardt, who became a field coordinator with the Miami Marlins within the off-season.
“Really,” he said. “It's all about making the racket as heavy and fat as possible in the area in which you try to damage the baseball.”
Anthony Volpe (holds a “torpedo” bat) congratulates Jazz Chisholm throughout the 20: 9 victory of Yankees on Saturday. (Mike Stobe / Getty Images)
A baseball spokesman for the Major League said that the bats don’t break any rules. MLB rule 3.02 states that a bat “a smooth, round rod with a diameter of no more than 2.61 inches in the thickest part and no more than 42 inches must be in length. The bat must be a piece of solid wood.” It also signifies that “experimental” bats can’t be used.
When asked whether he was the inventor of technology, Leanhardt said that it was a gaggle effort, the outcomes from discussions with coaches, players, MLB and BAT makers.
“Credit goes to those who take it,” said Leanhardt. “But if people want to attribute recognition to different people, then I'll take part of it.”
However, a Yankees officer said Leanhardt deserved “a lot” from the loan. Leanhardt also attributed the retired Infieldder Kevin Smith, who spent parts of 4 seasons within the Majors.
Yes, the Yankees have a literal genius -with -physicist, Lenny (who’s the person) on a listing of salary. He invented the “Torpedo” barrel. It brings more wood – and mass – to where you most frequently contact as a bat. The idea is to extend the variety of “barrels” and reduce the failures. pic.twitter.com/csc1wkam9g
– Kevin Smith (@kjs_4) March 29, 2025
Leanhardt took an unorthodox method to baseball.
He has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. In physics from MIT. From 2007 to 2014 he was a physics professor on the University of Michigan.
Leanhardt began to coach within the Atlantic League in 2017 and trained in 2018 at a university in Montana Community College. In the majors in 2024, the association was the primary “Major League Analyst” and “to integrate the use of quantitative information with performance and preparation in the field”.
Why leave the Baseball Academy?
“I think that's one of the cool things about sport is that it is very competitive,” he said. “The boys are ready to drive the envelope. It is only an opportunity to bring my background to an area and find ways to innovations.”
The conversation with the players over time showed that their best concerns were two, said Leanhardt. They desired to get more contact with parking spaces and infrequently desired to beat the ball with the “sweet spot” of the bat or the densest area.
“You will refer to a place on the racket, which is probably six or seven inches from the top of the bat,” he said. “Here is the sweet spot.
Leanhardt said he hadn't seen many disadvantages to redistribute the weight of the bat.
“The bat speed should remain the identical,” he said. “Perhaps the bat speed may even increase a bit, depending on how you need to redesign the bat. But ultimately you get a thick barrel, a heavier barrel on the sweet spot. In a way, you can too have your cake here and you can too eat it here. You could make some profits without actually making victims.”
Leanhardt said he did not want to talk about the experiences of the individual players with the new bat. Yankees, who was shown as Hitter Giancarlo Stanton, said reporters at the beginning of this month that in the past season it was “probably some bat adjustments” that caused the ligament tears in both elbows that led to his current stay on the injured list, even though he did not blame anyone. Then he added: “I don't know why it happened.” Leanhardt refused to comment on Stanton's situation.
“You would should ask the Yanke's medical staff,” he said. “I’ll postpone all of those inquiries to the medical boys of the Yankees.”
Leanhardt said it was “the character of our business” that it took years for a radically new bat design.
“Back then, people swung very heavy bats from Hickory, after which someone had this sensible idea to swing something like ashes, and that was revolutionary on this transition within the Nineteen Twenties, 30s, after which the industry remained the course for a while,” he said. “Ultimately, it only takes the individuals who ask the proper questions and are willing to think forward.”
He made a kick from it to see the social media passion that caused the bats on Saturday. He said that some players started using them last season last season, “the whole industry that captures wind” and “it exploded within the low season”.
“That's why you see it within the hands of so many boys,” he said. “Obviously (Saturday) performance has attracted lots of attention.”
It took a lot of coordination for the bats to be managed by the design phase for production. Leanhardt said he “guaranteed” that he “guarantee”, “guarantee” with the mlb officers with the officials of bat regulation and “everyone who operates the lathe for each bat manufacturer in baseball.
“You really only communicate with every company and try to find the person who really knows the wood and know how to turn the wood on a lathe.” So it was really built. “
image credit : www.nytimes.com