The New York Yankees have come out swinging—literally—in the early part of the 2025 MLB season, and it’s not just their offense making headlines. It’s the bats they’re using. The Yankees have debuted newly designed “torpedo bats” that are engineered to increase a hitter’s ability to consistently square up the ball. The results have been eye-popping, but not everyone is on board.
The bats—and the Yankees for embracing them—have been met with a mix of curiosity and criticism. Some see the innovation as a potential game-changer, while others question its legitimacy. But with the Yankees tearing the cover off the ball, other teams are starting to take notice.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Atlanta Braves are among those making the switch. “…And after what happened yesterday, the Braves put in an order for some of these bats,” Olney reported. Braves catcher Drake Baldwin was ahead of the curve, having already experimented with the torpedo bat in the Arizona Fall League. “It looks weird, but if the Yankees are gonna keep hitting like that, everyone’s gonna want to do it,” Baldwin said.
Braves slugger Matt Olson is also joining the experiment. “Guys are going to be trying it out now,” Olson noted. “…I might try it to just feel what it’s like.”
The Braves are off to a slow start, having been swept by the San Diego Padres to open the season. With the powerhouse Dodgers up next, Atlanta is doing what it can to jump-start the offense—even if that means trying out the unorthodox torpedo bats.
Despite the rocky start, there’s no panic in the Braves’ clubhouse. Manager Brian Snitker emphasized that rough patches are just part of the marathon that is a baseball season. “It gets so magnified at the beginning,” Snitker told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You go through these stretches all the time and if you only have one like this, you’re lucky. Even in the years we won over 100 games, you’d have more than one rough spot. It’s no fun going through it in June, July, whenever. It gets magnified in the beginning.”
The Padres are no slouch either, and Braves outfielder Michael Harris II gave credit where it was due. “They have a phenomenal pitching staff over there. Some of the same people we saw in the playoffs, some new guys, but they have a phenomenal rotation and bullpen,” Harris said. “We still had some areas where we could’ve pulled through, but they did a good job really sticking to their plan and hitting their spots.”
The Braves remain optimistic that things will turn. “You have to look at it like that,” Snitker said. “We can’t look at it any way but tomorrow is going to be the start of something good for us for a while.”
With the introduction of torpedo bats and a determined mindset, the Braves hope their offense finds its spark soon—and if it’s good enough for the Yankees, it might just be the edge they need.
