Baseball is back and every die hard fan can rejoice (or groan), as their favorite MLB teams are back on the screen and on the field in pursuit of playoff berths and magical moments throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
Perhaps the most discussed topic of the season’s start has been the debut of the torpedo bat. The New York Yankees were the first team to see players use it in a game, with Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm, Jr. hitting multiple home runs in their first series versus the Milwaukee Brewers. It has raised suspicion, interest, and questions of integrity for the future of bats in baseball and what other ways it can be modified to fit a specific player and improve their hitting. The first player to use the torpedo bat was Giancarlo Stanton last year in the playoffs for the New York Yankees, hitting seven homers throughout the playoffs last fall.
This season, many players across the league have ordered these bats and it has become a frenzy of interest. The bat is legal, it has all the ramifications of a regular baseball bat, but it shifts the barrel down closer to the hands making it more optimal and more forgiving when contact occurs closer to the middle of the bat.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred commented during an interview with the New York Times, “I believe that issues like the torpedo bat and the debate around it demonstrate the fact that baseball still occupies a unique place in our culture, because people get into a complete frenzy over something that’s really nothing at the end of the day. The bats comply with the rules.”
The torpedo bat may seem like an advantage with its wider barrel, although it leaves the end of the bat relatively powerless. So pitchers can likely adjust to batters using the torpedo bats aiming to paint the outside corners and searching for weak contact.
But the widespread adoption of the torpedo bat was not the significant development during MLB’s first week this season.
The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers have unsurprisingly looked like the best team in baseball, starting the season 8-0, before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies on the road. Undoubtedly the best division so far has been the NL West, with the San Francisco Giants jumping out to a blazingly hot start in the early portion of the season as well as the San Diego Padres looking very strong despite some recent injuries to star players Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill.
The worst start of the season belongs to the Atlanta Braves, beginning 0-7 and looking like one of the worst offenses of all time during the opening week. Having high expectations throughout the offseason coming off a playoff series loss, the Braves looked forward to the return of stars Ronald Acuna, Jr. and Spencer Strider from injury. Though they hoped to look like contenders in the National League, they look really rough for the time being and it may take some time for the team to mesh.
Something all baseball fans love to see is the great Mike Trout healthy and playing for the Los Angeles Angels, who are off to their best start in years, leading the AL West with their band of recently signed veterans. It would be a shame to never see Trout in the playoffs again, as it has been eleven years since the Angels were last in the postseason and he deserves to get back there after years of loyalty in LA. He may not be off to a great start, but the team certainly is.
As for our Pittsburgh Pirates, it has been a rocky start, though the club has found a way to win five games. The team currently sits at 5-8, tied for last place in the NL Central. But hey, at least we’re not the Braves!
