After Home Run Barrage, Fans Notice Change in Bats

On the first three pitches the Yankees saw in their game Saturday, they hit three home runs. By the time their 20-9 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium was wrapped up, New York had a new single-game team record, with nine home runs, USA Today reports. Combined, the homers traveled 3,695 feet, per the AP. Partial credit apparently goes to the differently shaped bats used by some of the Yankees. Although online posts expressed suspicion, the redesign—created by a coach who used to be a physics professor—is within the rules.

Broadcaster Michael Kay said during the game that the team's analytics department studied Anthony Volpe's at-bats. It seemed that Volpe hit the ball on the label of the bat each time, never the barrel. "So they had bats made up where they moved a lot of the wood into the label so that the harder part of the bat is going to strike the ball," Kay said. The reshaping was designed by Aaron Leanhardt, a former assistant hitting coach for the Yankees who holds a doctorate from MIT, per NPR. Kevin Smith, a former player, posted online that the new design can make just enough of a difference.

"Your just misses could be clips, your clips could be flares, and your flares could (be) barrels," Smith said, adding, "it's fractions of an inch on the barrel differentiating these outcomes." MLB confirmed that the new bat is legal, per the Athletic. The rules state: "The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood." Also, there may be a cupped indentation up to 1 ¼ inches in depth, 2 inches wide, and with at least a 1-inch diameter.

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Despite the immediate suspicion that the bats were juiced, online posters also praised the Yankees for the innovation. One said baseball is learning from golf, per USA Today. The Yankees' biggest star, Aaron Judge, said he sees no need to switch to the new bat. "The past couple of seasons kind of speak for itself," he said. The reigning American League MVP went 4 for 6 on Saturday, with three home runs and eight RBIs. (More Major League Baseball stories.)