Not everyone in Major League Baseball is enamored with the new torpedo bat craze, as one All-Star recently divulged.
Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy is among the players who gave the new torpedo bat a try after the New York Yankees’ initial success with it. For Muncy, however, the verdict was clear: he quickly went back to his old bat.
“For me, my whole career, I’ve swung the same model, and the weight is all the way at the very end of the bat,” Muncy said on the “Foul Territory” podcast. “You change that to be more in the center of the bat, it just felt very off to me. It might be one of those things where I would like it if I had all offseason to swing, which I think a lot of those Yankees guys did have it for a while.
“Maybe if I had more time with it, I might like it, but for my swing right now, that’s definitely not it.”
"It just felt really off to me."
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 8, 2025
Max Muncy explains why he went against the trend and got rid of his torpedo bat. pic.twitter.com/HzBzaxQsKD
Many athletes are creatures of comfort, so a radical change in the feeling of one’s bat is not going to fly for some. It helps that Muncy is a player who has hit 30 home runs in four separate seasons without the need for a new type of bat. The switch might be more tempting for players that have not had that sort of success if they really think it can help them.
The Yankees were the first to use the bats, and they quickly took off around the league when New York hit nine home runs in one game against the Milwaukee Brewers. You can read more about how they work here.
It is worth remembering that the Yankees’ best hitter has not switched to the bats. They might benefit some players, but for others, they will stick with what they have already had success with.
