The Yankees were at PNC Park for the Pirates home opener on Friday, and they brought their torpedo bats with them.
The Yankees made quite a bit of noise last week. A lot of it came off the barrel of their bats with a league-record 16 home runs in the first four games of the season. But now other players around Major League Baseball have taken note of the torpedo bat, and some of the Pirates have too.
“You know, I was a hitter for a long time, and I know it’s really hard,” said Pirates pitcher Colin Holderman. “So it doesn’t matter what kind of bat you have in your hands, you still have to hit the ball, and so my job is to make sure they don’t.”
Holderman has the difficult job of pitching against Major League hitters, and the torpedo bat, created by the eastern Pennsylvania-based company Victus, could make that job a little harder now. But that hasn’t stopped some of the hitters in the Pirates’ clubhouse from being a little curious.
“I used one a little bit in the offseason. It’s not really kind of extreme as you’ve seen on TV, so not that much,” outfielder Jack Suwinski said.
“Yeah, why not? I mean, you try a whole bunch of different bat companies, bat models. You might as well try that one,” infielder Jared Triolo said.
Triolo says he’s ordered some new torpedo bats to try out, but he hasn’t received them yet, so he can’t comment on whether the torpedo bat should be allowed. But Holderman says trying different things to help find an edge is just part of the pro game.
“You know, you adapt or die in this league, so I get what they’re to do, and I’m just going to make my adjustments accordingly. It’s not too big of an adjustment, and I’m just going to do my thing, and I try not to throw it off the barrel anyways, so I’m going to keep the same play on,” Holderman said.
According to Major League Baseball rule 3.02, the torpedo bat is considered legal. And Victus sells their new favorite model for around $200 apiece.
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