Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishNEW YORK — The New York Yankees’ bats were certainly alive during Saturday’s 20-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. And some of them looked a bit different than usual.Early in the game, in which the team hit a franchise-record nine home runs, YES Network’s play-by-play broadcaster Michael Kay mentioned that several Yankees players were using newly designed bats, including shortstop Anthony Volpe and second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who both homered in the game. These bats feature a barrel closer to the hands rather than near the end of the bat, which is the standard.“You see the shape of Chisholm’s bat? The Yankee front office, the analytics department, did a study on Anthony Volpe, and every single ball it seemed like he hit on the label,” Kay explained. “He didn’t hit any on the barrel, so they had bats made up where they moved a lot of the wood into the label, so the harder part of the bat is going to actually strike the ball. It’ll allow you to wait a little bit longer.”
Michael Kay explains that the Yankees made new bats “where they moved a lot of the wood into the label so the harder part of the bat is going to strike the ball.”
Seems relevant today… pic.twitter.com/cpldzigdrT
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 29, 2025Former Yankees infielder Kevin Smith said on X that a former member of the Yankees’ front office, Aaron Leonhardt, developed the “Torpedo” barrel. The thinking behind the barrel’s new shape is to bring more wood and mass to where a hitter makes contact more often. The idea is to increase the number of barrels and decrease misses.“You’re going up with a weapon that can be better,” Smith wrote of what he was told by the organization. “Your just misses could be clips, your clips could be flares, and your flares could (be) barrels.” And it was true, it’s fractions of an inch on the barrel differentiating these outcomes.”MLB Rule 3.02 states that teams cannot use “experimental” bats unless the league gives clubs the green light. An MLB spokesman wasn’t immediately available for comment when asked if the Yankees needed special approval for their new barrels.(Top photo of Anthony Volpe: Mike Stobe / Getty Images)
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