After the New York Yankees hit 15 home runs (nine of which came with torpedo bats) this past weekend, bat makers are looking to cash in on the offensive explosion. Bat companies Victus, Marucci, and Chandler Bats have all begun selling torpedo bats through their websites, with prices ranging from $199 to $239.
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At Victus, customers can purchase three different torpedo bats, including the version used by Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe. The bats went on sale on the site at 7 p.m. ET Monday night. In the Yankees’ opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Volpe hit two home runs using a torpedo bat.
Jared Smith, the founder and CEO of Victus, said the torpedo bats have been the “most talked about thing in the baseball bat world since we started 15 years ago.” Smith estimated at least half of the pros who use Victus have at minimum reached out for either more info or their own torpedo model.
“Any time you have that kind of success with a new product that looks kind of funky and has a cool name — I mean, it’s baseball season and it’s hot right now,” Smith said. “For us, I definitely think there’s something to it. As far as how big it got, nine home runs in one game certainly changed that a little bit.”
Marucci is selling a torpedo bat used by New York Mets star Francisco Lindor. The site explains that their torpedo bats move more mass into the barrel’s sweet spot, which “maximizes the force exerted on the ball.”
Through Chandler, any of their bats can be converted into a torpedo model, including the version used by Yankees superstar Aaron Judge. But don’t expect to see Judge swinging a torpedo bat anytime soon. He told reporters on Sunday that he has no interest in using one.
“What I did the past couple of seasons speaks for itself,” Judge said. “Why try to change something if you have something that’s working?”
(Top photo of Anthony Volpe: Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
