Phillies’ Bryson Stott says torpedo bats aren’t for him, but teammate Alec Bohm is already trying them

Bryson Stott picked up a run-of-the-mill bat from his locker and pointed to where the diameter was the thickest.

“Say a typical barrel is right here,” the Phillies second baseman said Monday. “You can move it [down] to here, so now, this is dead where the end of the barrel should be.”

It’s called a “torpedo,” and it looks more like a bowling pin than a bat. After several Yankees players used it in a three-game, 15-homer barrage over the weekend to open the season against the injury-riddled Brewers pitching staff, it has become all the rage. Bat suppliers, including King of Prussia-based Victus, are receiving calls from curious hitters and hitting coaches across the sport.

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Major League Baseball is a copycat industry, especially at a time when every team is looking for the slightest edge. So, when a shipment of torpedo bats showed up shortly before the Phillies’ home opener, third baseman Alec Bohm picked one out and used it in the game.

“Why wouldn’t you try it?” Bohm said after going 1-for-4 in a 6-1 victory over the Rockies. “It’s a piece of wood. I don’t know. Did I hit a home run?”

The Phillies are “looking into” torpedo bats, according to manager Rob Thomson, with hitting coach Kevin Long calling around to find out more information.

Bohm’s impression: “It felt pretty normal to me. It doesn’t feel different. That’s why I wasn’t worried about using it. Because it feels like a normal bat. I’m not really thinking about what it looks like when I’m trying to see 99 [mph].”

Asked if he would stick with it Wednesday, Bohm said, “I don’t know. I might use it. I might not.”

But torpedo bats aren’t new, according to Stott, who has tested them out.

And he says they aren’t for everyone, either.

Stott swung a torpedo bat during an offseason visit to a high-tech hitting laboratory at Marucci Sports’ (which acquired Victus in 2017) headquarters in Baton Rouge, La. Dozens of hitters have dropped in on the bat company to be fitted for the bat that suits them best.

“They connect all these wires to you, and you swing 1,000 bats,” Stott said. “And they kind of tell you where you’re hitting the ball mostly.”

For hitters who rarely hit the ball off the end of the bat, the torpedo — with the barrel positioned in a nontraditional spot closer to the hands — might be a desirable option. But for hitters who tend to get jammed, well, let Stott explain it.

“If you’re a guy who uses the whole bat — like, if [sometimes] you get jammed and hit it on the end and [other times] hit the barrel — it’s not for you,” Stott said. “You’re taking wood off the end of the bat and shrinking that part. If you hit it off the end with that torpedo bat, you’re in trouble.”

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It’s perfectly legal, according to MLB regulations, as long as the diameter of the barrel isn’t more than 2.61 inches and the bat doesn’t exceed 42 inches in length.

Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and Austin Wells were among the Yankees hitters who used a torpedo bat over the weekend. They combined for nine homers. But Aaron Judge hit four homers with a normal bat and said he doesn’t intend to switch.

Stott said he probably won’t use the torpedo bat, either. And he said it isn’t as simple as placing an order.

“It’s not one of those things where you could just call them and say, ‘I want this torpedo,’ because it might not work,” Stott said. “It’s mostly where you hit it and where all of their computers and things are telling you where you’re hitting it and things like that.

“I feel like I use the whole bat. Some of those balls I hit toward the end that fall in [behind] shortstop or whatever, I don’t know what the torpedo would look like doing that. I probably won’t use it. I might try it. But it’s more for the guys that never hit it off the end.”

That doesn’t mean hitters across the sport aren’t intrigued.

“I’m not really the scientist behind it,” Bohm said. “I don’t know who’s fit for it and who’s not. But you see a team hit 20 homers, you’re going to try it. But it didn’t work.

“It’s a bat. It’s different. It’ll probably run its course. Who knows? Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s not. I guess time will tell.”

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