The introduction of the “torpedo bat” has dominated the discussion of MLB’s opening week, and it’s not hard to see why.
After a century and a half of baseball’s existence, a New York Yankees in-house physicist had the idea to thicken the barrel of the bat where it most often hits the ball, and the result so far has been a whole lot of homers and a whole lot of arguing.
Advertisement
The torpedo bat is hardly an automatic slugging percentage producer — it’s difficult to take any hard analysis on the bat’s effect seriously when some teams haven’t played in their own ballpark yet — but it’s at least something new in a sport historically resistant to change.
And at least one pitcher is fine with hitters keeping their bowling-pin-style bats, provided pitchers get something in return.
Philadelphia Phillies reliever Matt Strahm proposed such a deal on Monday, saying hitters can “use whatever bat they want,” as long as pitchers can go back to using the pine tar those same hitters use to handle those bats.
Also, Strahm outlined, do away with mandatory umpire hand checks.
Advertisement
MLB famously cracked down on pitchers’ use of sticky stuff in 2021 and has continued to do its best to prevent workarounds to its ban. The type of sticky stuff used varied from pitcher to pitcher — some used a tacky mixture of two legal substances, sunscreen and rosin, while others used a Pelican Grip substance so strong it would leave residue from the baseball’s leather on their fingers.
With batting averages at historically low levels and sky-high spin rates caused by sticky stuff partially responsible, the public was firmly in favor of banning the substances, though pitchers defended the use of at least some sticky stuff with the argument that it helps their control, reducing walks and hit-by-pitches.
Advertisement
Strahm said he doesn’t want the super-sticky stuff back, calling it “a bit much,” but he thinks pitchers should at least be able to use pine tar to help their grip.
Strahm is in his 10th MLB season and third with the Phillies. He’s coming off a career year last season, in which he earned his first All-Star selection while posting a 1.87 ERA, 0.750 WHIP and 79 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings across 66 appearances.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
