Sitting in the visiting manager’s office at Yankee Stadium, Brewers manager Pat Murphy declined to go ballistic over the torpedo bats that blew up his pitching staff over the first three games of the season.
“My old ass will tell you this for sure: It ain’t the wand, it’s the magician,” Murphy said Sunday. “So if the bats help, I’m sure every guy in the league will be using them within a week. But I’m telling you, it’s the hitter, not the bat.”
Murphy shared that philosophy after a 12-3 loss that saw the Yankees sweep his Brewers while crushing four home runs. The day before, the Yankees set a franchise record with nine home runs in a 20-9 beatdown. During the game, much was made of the Bombers’ “torpedo” bats.
The bats, shaped like a torpedo or bowling pin – as Brewers pitcher Nestor Cortes put it – were invented by former Yankees analyst Aaron Leanhardt. Leanhardt now works for the Marlins, but he introduced the bats to the Yankees last year. The perfectly legal design features a barrel that is closer to the hands, creating more density toward the bat’s label.
Michael Kay explains that the Yankees made new bats "where they moved a lot of the wood into the label so the harder part of the bat is going to strike the ball."
Seems relevant today… pic.twitter.com/cpldzigdrT
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 29, 2025
Only Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Trevino, now with the Reds, used the bats in 2024, according to Cortes, who pitched for the Yankees last season. But Anthony Volpe, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr., who homered twice on Sunday, have been seen using the unique lumber early this season, as well as during spring training.
“The team has bought into it more now. And if it’s legal, it’s legal. I got nothing against it,” Cortes said. “Now it’s a story because the whole team is using it.”
The Yankees roughed Cortes up on Saturday, as Goldschmidt, Bellinger and Aaron Judge – who is not using the torpedo design – smoked the lefty’s first three pitches of the game for home runs. Wells and Chisholm also smacked longballs off Cortes, making for an ugly return to Yankee Stadium.
However, Cortes didn’t blame the bats for his poor performance.
“No, it’s probably because of a bad pitch I made,” he said to laughter. “I think those were gonna go out regardless if they had a pin bat or a regular bat.
“I got no idea what these bats do, so I can’t give my opinion on it.”
Other Brewers refused to attribute a horrific opening series to the bats.
“I don’t think the kind of bat used had any impact on the outcome of the series,” Christian Yelich said. “I don’t think we played anywhere close to good enough to deserve to win any of those games the last three days.”
Murphy noted the Brewers started the season with a decimated pitching staff, as they were down eight of their top 13 arms. He also said Sunday starter Aaron Civale, who surrendered three homers, was impacted by a hamstring issue.
Murphy added that his pitchers generally didn’t execute.
“When you throw the ball down the middle, you’re going to get it whacked,” the skipper said.
Still, he made sure to credit the Yankees for their offensive outbursts.
“I don’t know if you guys watched, but if you did, the Yankees are good, and they kicked our ass,” Murphy said. “They’re real good. Were they in the World Series? Is that the highest level you can go?”
Like Cortes, Freddy Peralta didn’t have any issue with the Yankees’ bats. He allowed homers to Wells and Volpe on Opening Day.
“If it’s legal, there’s nothing that I can do or anybody can do about it,” Peralta said. “If it’s something good and we want to use it, we can use it.”
Asked if any of his pitchers were annoyed by the bats, Murphy also noted that they are within the rules. He went on to say that if any pitchers are bothered by the bats, then they’ve already lost.
“It’s not like some magical wood or anything else,” Murphy said. “It’s proven to be effective for the Yankees this weekend. I think there’s other things that were in play there, but they’re really good hitters, and if pitchers want to get annoyed, then the hitters win.”
Earlier in the day on Sunday, Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill was quoted by the New York Post as saying that the bats are “terrible.”
“We’ll see what the data says,” Megill continued, per the Post. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. I feel like it’s something used in slow-pitch softball. It’s genius: put the mass all in one spot. It might be bush [league]. It might not be. But it’s the Yankees, so they’ll let it slide.”
When other reporters approached Megill after the series finale, he claimed he was misquoted and had intended to praise the Yankees for the innovation.
Yelich, meanwhile, seemed curious about the new-look bats.
The former MVP had not heard about them until this weekend, and he’s not sure what edge they could provide. But Yelich is close with a few members of the Yankees’ clubhouse and plans on picking some brains.
“If it is a technological advancement on the hitting side, it’d be cool because we’ve been kind of playing catch up with the pitching side,” Yelich said. “If you can use technology to make yourself perform better, as long as it’s within the rules, why not?
“I think as players, especially if you want to keep playing at a high level in the league, you should always be open to making changes, making adjustments and trying to improve any way you can.”
