Records: UGA players tally more traffic incidents
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Paula Lavigne, ESPN Staff Writer
Georgia football players and their cars have been involved in at least 10 reports of traffic-related moving violations in Athens-Clarke County since Jan. 15, when a player and team staff member were killed in a reckless driving incident allegedly tied to racing, according to records obtained by ESPN.
Players have also been involved in at least 60 additional moving violations — including speeding, distracted and reckless driving, and disobeying traffic signs — since the beginning of the 2021 academic year, according to ESPN’s analysis of 911 calls, police reports and court records from Athens-Clarke County. About 30 of those incidents have occurred since last summer, when coach Kirby Smart said police met with the team about the dangers of street racing.
ESPN’s findings echo those in a report published Friday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which found that police have charged Georgia players with traffic offenses nearly 300 times since Smart became head coach in 2015. The data in AJC’s report included minor offenses, such as failing to wear a seat belt, as well as traffic violations from other counties and states, while ESPN’s analysis focused on Athens-Clarke County and didn’t account for nonmoving violations, such as seat belt and parking tickets. But the analyses shows a pattern of dangerous driving that has continued even after the death of a teammate and staff member and has frustrated police, residents, Georgia coaches and administrators.
“The Athletic Association recognizes the severity of reckless driving and is actively addressing recent incidents with educational measures, mentorship, and when necessary, punitive action. Baseless reports that suggest we tolerate this behavior are categorically false,” according to a statement to ESPN from the UGA Athletic Association. “Our coaches and administrators are deeply disappointed by the persistence of reckless driving and other misbehavior.”
Lt. Shaun Barnett, spokesperson for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, said officers’ enforcement is “equal across the board,” when asked about their interactions with Georgia football players. He said records released in response to requests from various media outlets would document that.
But he would not answer questions about whether the department has tried to address the issue of Georgia football players and their driving habits with the university, nor would he say whether anyone from the department has offered to speak with athletes. And he said no one from the department would be made available to answer questions regarding the specific incidents.
In its statement to ESPN, the UGA Athletic Association said it intended to bring back Athens-Clarke County police to speak to the team.
In the Jan. 15 crash, police alleged former Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter was racing team staff member Chandler LeCroy when LeCroy’s SUV, traveling more than 100 mph, left the road and slammed into power poles and trees. LeCroy, whose blood alcohol concentration was more than twice the legal limit in Georgia, and offensive lineman Devin Willock, who was a passenger in her car, were killed in the wreck. Carter pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing. He was sentenced in March to a year of probation, a $1,000 fine and 80 hours of community service. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in April.
Carter previously had been cited twice for moving violations in September 2022, once for speeding and once for failure to obey a traffic control device, according to the records obtained by ESPN. Both resulted in a fine.
Drew Rosenhaus, Carter’s agent, did not respond to a message seeking comment. In a statement to ESPN in March, Carter’s attorney, Kim Stephens, said Carter did not cause the car wreck that killed Willock and LeCroy. “If the investigation had determined otherwise, Mr. Carter would have been charged with the far more serious offenses of vehicular homicide and serious injury by vehicle under Georgia law, both felony offenses, and would have faced a lengthy prison sentence,” Stephens said in the statement.
Before the January crash, the athletic association had implemented programming to “promote a culture of responsibility” that included vehicle and traffic safety, according to its statement to ESPN. Since the crash, “there have been multiple instances in which coaches and administrators have addressed the team — along with outside experts and speakers — to counsel players following this tragedy, as well as to explain the enormous risks and consequences of reckless behavior,” according to the UGA Athletic Association’s statement to ESPN. That has included a presentation by the Georgia State Patrol, according to the statement.
“Our players have been receptive — they listen, ask the right questions, and demonstrate a clear understanding of the issue,” the association said in the statement. “But, as is often the case with educating younger individuals, we recognize these efforts will need to be consistent and continuous in order to fully reinforce the message and eliminate this behavior completely. Despite our best efforts, we cannot completely prevent speeding and reckless driving.”
The records show that a repeat traffic offender has been running back Kendall Milton, who has been cited for four moving violations in Athens-Clarke County since July 2021 — three times for speeding and once for “failure to maintain lane/improper driving on road.” They all resulted in fines, according to court records.
Then in February — one month after the deadly crash — multiple calls came into Athens-Clarke County police complaining of cars street racing, revving engines, burning rubber and doing doughnuts on Barnett Shoals Road, the same road where Carter and LeCroy were reported to be racing. One of the cars the officer found at the scene was a 2019 Lamborghini Urus luxury SUV, valued at more than $200,000 and registered to Milton, according to a 911 dispatch report obtained by ESPN. There’s no record of any citations being issued, and it’s unclear whether Milton was driving the car at the time of the report.
Milton did not respond to a message sent on social media, and messages left with one of his parents were not returned.
On March 31, 911 calls came in again reporting cars racing, driving recklessly and swerving between lanes, again on Barnett Shoals Road, which is a common location for traffic stops involving Georgia players. One of the cars was a gray Dodge Charger with a license plate registered to Georgia defensive back Tykee Smith, according to dispatch records. When an officer arrived on scene, the officer did not notice any erratic driving; there’s no record of a citation being issued.
Smith did not respond to an effort to reach him via a social media account.
Other incidents since the January crash include: the arrest of receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint for reckless driving and speeding — his arraignment is scheduled for July 5; a warning to offensive lineman Weston Wallace for riding on roadways and bicycle paths; a ticket to wide receiver De’Nylon Morrissette, whose case is pending, for traveling 81 mph in a 45 mph zone; an accident involving punter Brett Thorson, who was cited for following too closely and whose case is still open; and a citation, resulting in a fine, to Christen Miller for failing to obey a red light.
Morrissette was then arrested on multiple driving-related charges — including driving under the influence of drugs — on May 8 in Oconee County. The incident was not included in ESPN’s analysis because it occurred outside Athens-Clarke County.
When asked about punishments related to driving violations, the UGA Athletic Association said in its statement that it could reduce academic-achievement monetary awards for “serious misconduct.” The disciplinary process might also include a one-on-one meeting with Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks.
“Consistent with other Power Five programs, we historically do not suspend players for minor traffic infractions or speeding tickets, but we do pursue appropriate action,” the association said in the statement.
On April 7, Athens resident Hope Cymerman and her husband had enough. For several days, they had watched a gray Dodge Charger peel out on their block, rev its engine and screech its tires multiple times a day. The final straw was when the driver gunned it so hard that he spun into the oncoming traffic lane. They called the police.
When an officer arrived, Cymerman shared the license plate information with him and told him what had been happening, according to police body-cam footage obtained and reviewed by ESPN. She told him about one particularly aggressive streak down the block leaving a trail of burnt rubber. “There was literally smoke rising up to the roof of this house,” she said. Her husband added, “He’s clearly out of control.”
The officer ran the plate, which turned up registered to Mykel Williams, a Georgia defensive lineman. When the officer arrived at Williams’ apartment shortly after responding to Cymerman’s house, the football player came out wheeling a scooter that supported his left leg. The athletic department reported that Williams had foot surgery in the spring.
The officer told Williams that someone had reported his vehicle driving recklessly down a residential street on multiple occasions. “If it is you, I’m just asking you to stop doing that,” the officer told Williams, according to the body-cam footage. “If it’s not you, if it’s someone else driving your car, then you need to have them stop doing that, please, because we’re going to put officers in that area.” Williams, who said nothing about the allegations, nodded in acknowledgement of the officer’s warning before going back into his apartment, the video shows. No citation was issued.
Williams did not respond to a text from ESPN requesting comment.
Cymerman said the driving ceased after they called police. She and her husband said in an interview with ESPN that they had no idea who was driving the car; they had tried to see the driver but said the window tinting was impenetrable.
But when she learned to whom the car was registered, “I immediately put the dots together between what happened with Jalen Carter and the potential for a pattern of behavior with a group of people based on what we saw this guy doing once we found out he was a football player,” she said.
Records from multiple traffic stops with football players show that officers have repeatedly asked them to slow down, noting the pattern in their behavior, according to records obtained by ESPN and the report by the Journal-Constitution.
When the driving arrests continued after the January fatalities, Smart said in March that the athletic department has tried to address the issue, which he said is “not to be taken lightly.”
“I think our guys understand that, and we continue to educate them and we’ll continue to do all we can as a university to make sure they behave and do that in a proper way,” Smart said at the time.
Last month, David Willock — on behalf of his son’s estate — filed a lawsuit against the University of Georgia Athletic Association, claiming the school’s athletic department should be held liable for the fatal car crash that killed Devin Willock and LeCroy.
In an email Tuesday, Willock’s attorney, Terry Jackson, wrote, “It is devastating to Mr. Willock that this conduct continues, and disappointing that the players and the Athletic Association are not taking his son’s tragic death serious enough to modify their driving habits, and the Association’s policies.”
It continued, “Until players perceive and it is demonstrated by the Athletic Association that there will be real consequences to driving offenses, including suspensions and dismissals for repeat offenders, this conduct will continue… Players and organizations respond to structure, organization, and consequences for missing their assignments. The same discipline should be applied to this problem, reckless driving, it is really that simple.”
Smart said he brought in officers from the university police and Athens-Clarke County Police last summer to educate the team about the dangers of street racing. Smart said Bryant Gantt, the program’s director of player support operations, suggested it after watching news clips of street racing in Atlanta.
Gantt is known as the program’s “fixer” because of his practice of helping athletes with criminal matters and acting as a liaison with law enforcement. His name appears on several police reports obtained by ESPN, including two for Carter, often with a notation that he has paid a fine or has been asked to be notified of law enforcement’s interaction with players. Emails obtained by ESPN show police department employees providing information to Gantt about traffic-related incidents.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Gantt had contacted court officials on 82 separate legal matters involving players between 2016 and 2023.
Gantt did not respond to messages seeking comment.
“Ongoing attempts to mischaracterize Bryant Gantt’s role with the football program are misplaced,” the UGA Athletic Association said in its statement. “As Director of Player Support and Operations, Mr. Gantt serves as an invaluable resource for our student-athletes, particularly as they navigate their lives off the field. With many student-athletes living far from home and without parental support in close proximity, Mr. Gantt provides support and reinforces our standards and expectations. Mr. Gantt helps student-athletes address issues that may be new to them, ensuring that they face and complete their responsibilities.”
In February, Georgia outside linebacker Aliou Bah was pulled over by police for going 65 mph in a 45 mph zone in his 2020 Dodge Charger. Body-cam video of the traffic stop, obtained by ESPN, shows that one officer sat in the patrol car while another walked to Bah’s window to talk to him. When that officer returned to the patrol car, she told her partner that Bah said, “Don’t tell Gantt,” according to the video. She said she didn’t know who Gantt was and told Bah, “This traffic stop’s between me and you.” The incident resulted in a fine.
Barnett, the spokesperson for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, hung up when asked about Gantt and his relationship with the department.
“I do not have anything else to contribute to this story. Thank you for your time,” he said, then ended the call.
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Jeff Legwold
BOULDER, Colo. — A horde of NFL talent evaluators headed for the mountains Friday for the Colorado Showcase, where Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter was one of the big draws.
However, it was going to be a limited look at best as Hunter was not seen when players’ heights and weights were taken or for the jumps and 40-yard dash.
Hunter, who is expected to be a top-five selection in this year’s draft and is the No. 1 player on Mel Kiper Jr.’s Big Board, was initially not expected to participate in any on-field work, but Friday morning some scouts in attendance said they expected the two-way star to run routes as a receiver for quarterback Shedeur Sanders‘ throwing session.
Hunter did not work out at the scouting combine or Big 12 pro day but did meet with teams in Indianapolis. Sanders, one of the top quarterbacks on the board and Kiper’s No. 5 player overall, also did not work out at the combine.
Sanders’ brother, Colorado safety Shilo Sanders, measured in at 5-foot-11⅞, 196 pounds, but he did not participate in the jumps or bench press that opened the workout, citing a right shoulder injury.
The highly attended event — by scouts, coaches and personnel executives as well as fans packing small bleachers — had a festive atmosphere. Colorado coach Deion Sanders named it the “We Ain’t Hard 2 Find Showcase,” completed with a large lighted “showcase” sign next to the drills.
Hunter, who has said he wants to play offense and defense in the NFL, won the Chuck Bednarik (top defensive player) and Biletnikoff (top receiver) awards, in addition to the Heisman. He said whether he would primarily be a wide receiver or cornerback in the NFL “depended on the team that picks me.”
He had 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver last season to go with 35 tackles, 11 pass breakups and four interceptions at cornerback. In the Buffaloes’ regular-season finale against Oklahoma State, he became the only FBS player in the past 25 years with three scrimmage touchdowns on offense and an interception in the same game, according to ESPN Research.
Hunter played 1,380 total snaps in Colorado’s 12 regular-season games: 670 on offense, 686 on defense and 24 on special teams. He played 1,007 total snaps in 2023.
With all NFL eyes on the Colorado campus to see Sanders throw, one player who made the most of it was wide receiver Will Sheppard, who was not invited to the combine. Sheppard, who measured in at 6-2¼, 196 pounds, ran his 40s in 4.56 and 4.54 to go with a 40½-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-11 in the broad jump.
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‘It’s taken on a life of its own’: Inside the 48 hours torpedo bats launched into baseball lore
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Buster Olney
At 1:54 ET on Saturday afternoon, New York Yankees play-by-play man Michael Kay lit the fuse on what will be remembered as either one of the most metamorphic conversations in baseball history or one of its strangest.
During spring training, someone in the organization had mentioned to Kay that the team’s analytics department had counseled players on where pitches tended to strike their bats, and with subsequent buy-in from some of the players, bats had been designed around that information. In the hours before the Yankees’ home game against the Brewers that day, Kay told the YES Network production staff about this, alerting them so they could look for an opportunity to highlight the equipment.
After the Yankees clubbed four homers in the first inning, a camera zoomed in on Jazz Chisholm Jr.‘s bat in the second inning. “You see the shape of Chisholm’s bat…” Kay said on air. “It’s got a big barrel on it,” Paul O’Neill responded, before Kay went on to describe the analysis behind the bat shaped like a torpedo.
Chisholm singled to left field, and after Anthony Volpe worked the count against former teammate Nestor Cortes to a full count, Volpe belted a home run to right field using the same kind of bat. A reporter watching the game texted Kay: Didn’t he hit the meat part of the bat you were talking about — just inside where the label normally is?
Yep, Kay responded. Within an hour of Kay’s commentary, the video of Chisholm’s bat and Kay’s exchange with O’Neill was posted on multiple platforms of social media, amplified over and over. What happened over the next 48 hours was what you get when you mix the power of social media and the desperation of a generation of beleaguered hitters. Batting averages are at a historic low, strikeout rates at a historic high, and on a sunny spring day in the Bronx, here were the Yankees blasting baseballs into the seats with what seemed to be a strangely shaped magic bat.
An oasis of offense had formed on the horizon, and hitters — from big leaguers to Little Leaguers, including at least one member of Congress — paddled toward it furiously. Acres of trees will be felled and shaped to feed the thirst for this new style of bats. Last weekend, one bat salesman asked his boss, “What the heck have we done?”
Jared Smith, CEO of bat-maker Victus, said, “I’ve been making bats for 15, 16 years. … This is the most talked-about thing in the industry since I started. And I hope we can make better-performing bats that work for players.”
According to Bobby Hillerich, the vice president of production at Hillerich & Bradsby, his company — which is based in Louisville, Kentucky, and makes Louisville Slugger bats — had produced 20 versions of the torpedo bat as of this past Saturday, and in less than a week, that number has tripled as players and teams continually call in their orders.
Said Yankees manager Aaron Boone: “It’s taken on a life of its own.”
0:36
Olney: ‘Torpedo’ bats could be catching the eye of MLB teams
Buster Olney reports on the Braves exploring the new “torpedo” bats the Yankees have been using and how other teams could explore it as well.
Even though Saturday marked its launch into the mainstream, this shape of bat has actually been around for a while. Hillerich & Bradsby had its first contact with a team about the style in 2021 and had nondisclosure agreements with four teams as the bat evolved; back then, it was referred to as the “bowling pin” bat. The Cubs’ Nico Hoerner was the first major leaguer to try it — and apparently wasn’t comfortable with it. Cody Bellinger tried it when he was with the Cubs before joining the Yankees during the offseason.
Before Atlanta took the field Sunday night, Braves catcher Drake Baldwin recalled trying one in the Arizona Fall League last year (noting that his first impression was that it “looked weird”). Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor used it in 2024, in a year in which he would finish second in the NL MVP voting; Lindor’s was a little different from Volpe’s version, with a cup hollowed out at the end of the bat. Giancarlo Stanton swung one throughout his playoff surge last fall, but no one in the media noticed, perhaps because of how the pitch-black color of Stanton’s bat camouflaged the shape.
Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli saw one in the Twins’ dugout during spring training and picked it up, his attention drawn to the unusual shape. “What the hell is this thing?” he asked, wondering aloud whether the design was legal. When he was assured it was, he put it back down.
Baldelli’s experience reflected the way hitters have used and assessed bats since the advent of baseball: They’ll pick up bats and see how they feel, their interest fueled by the specter of success. Tony Gwynn won eight batting titles, and many teammates and opposing hitters — Barry Bonds among them — asked whether they could inspect his bats. The torpedo bat’s arrival was simply the latest version of that long-held search for the optimal tool.
On Opening Day, eight teams had some version of the torpedo bat within their stock, according to one major league source. But with video of the Yankees’ home runs being hit off unusual bats saturating social media Saturday afternoon, the phone of Kevin Uhrhan, pro bat sales rep for Louisville Slugger, blew up with requests for torpedo bats. James Rowson, the hitting coach of the Yankees, began to get text inquiries — about 100, he later estimated. Everyone wanted to know about the bat; everyone wanted to get their own.
In San Diego, Braves players asked about the bats, and by Sunday morning, equipment manager Calvin Minasian called in the team’s order. By the middle of the week, all 30 teams had asked for the bats. “Every team started trying to get orders in,” Hillerich said. “We’re trying to scramble to get wood. And then it was: How fast can we get this to retail?”
Victus produces the bats Chisholm and Volpe are using and has made them available for retail. Three senior players, all in their 70s, stopped by the Victus store to ask about the torpedoes. A member of Congress who plays baseball reached out to Louisville Slugger.
The Cincinnati Reds contacted Hillerich & Bradsby, saying, “We need you in Cincinnati on Monday ASAP,” and soon after, Uhrhan and pro bat production manager Brian Hillerich, Bobby’s brother, made the 90-minute drive from the company’s factory in Louisville with test bats.
Reds star Elly De La Cruz tried a few, decided on a favorite and used it for a career performance that night.
“You can think in New York, maybe there was wind,” Bobby Hillerich said. “Elly hits two home runs and gets seven RBIs. That just took it to a whole new level.”
A few days after the Yankees’ explosion, Aaron Leanhardt, who had led New York’s effort to customize its bats as a minor league hitting coordinator before being hired by the Marlins as their field coordinator, was in the middle of a horseshoe of reporters, explaining the background. “There are a lot more cameras here today than I’m used to,” he said, laughing.
Stanton spoke with reporters about the simple concept behind the bat: build a design for where a hitter is most likely to make contact. “You wonder why no one has thought of it before, for sure,” Stanton said. “I didn’t know if it was, like, a rule-based thing of why they were shaped like that.”
Over and over, MLB officials assured those asking: Yes, the bats are legal and meet the sport’s equipment specifications. Trevor Megill, the Brewers’ closer, complained about the bats, calling them like “something used in slow-pitch softball,” but privately, baseball officials were thrilled by the possibility of seeing offense goosed, something they had been attempting through rule change in recent years.
“It’s all the rage right now, given what transpired over the weekend,” said Jeremy Zoll, assistant general manager of the Twins. “I’m sure more and more guys are going to experiment with it as a result, just to see if it’s something they like.”
That personal preference is a factor for which some front office types believe the mass orders of the bats don’t account: The Yankees’ recommendations to each hitter were based on months of past data of how that player tended to strike the ball. This was not about a one-size-fits all bat; it was about precise bat measurements that reflected an individual player’s swing.
“I had never heard of it. I’ve used the same bat for nine years, so I think I’ll stick with that,” White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi said. “It’s pretty interesting. It makes sense. If it works for a guy, good for him. If it doesn’t, stick with what you got.”
As longtime player Eric Hosmer explained on the “Baseball Tonight” podcast, the process is a lot like what players can do in golf: look for clubs customized for a player’s particular swing. And, he added, hitting coaches might begin to think more about which bat might be most effective against particular pitchers. If a pitcher tends to throw inside, a torpedo bat could be more effective; if a pitcher is more effective outside, maybe a larger barrel would be more appropriate.
That’s the key, according to an agent representing a player who ordered a bat: “You need years of hitting data in the big leagues to dial it in and hopefully get a better result. He’s still tinkering with it; he may not even use it in a game. … I think of it like switching your irons in golf to blades: It will feel a little different and take some adjusting, and it may even change your swing subtly.”
Two days after the home run explosion, Boone said, “You’re just trying to just get what you can on the margins, move the needle a little bit. And that’s really all you’re going to do. I don’t think this is some revelation to where we’re going to be — it’s not related to the weekend that we had, for example. I don’t think it’s that. Maybe in some cases, for some players it may help them incrementally. That’s how I view it.”
“I’m kind of starting to smile at it a little more … a lot of things that aren’t real.”
Said the player agent: “It’s not an aluminum bat with plutonium in it like everyone is making it out to be.”
Reliever Adam Ottavino watched this all play out, with his 15 years of experience. “It’s the Yankees and they scored a million runs in the first few games, and it’s cool to hate the Yankees and it’s cool to look for the bogeyman,” Ottavino said, “and that’s what some people are going to do, and [you] can’t really stop that. But there’s also a lot of misinformation and noneducation on it too.”
Major league baseball mostly evolves at a glacial pace. For example, the sport is well into the second century of complaints about the surface of the ball and the debate over financial disparity among teams. From time to time, however, baseball has its eclipses, moments that command full attention and inspire change. On a “Sunday Night Baseball” game on May 18, 2008, an umpire’s botched home run call at Yankee Stadium compelled MLB to implement the first instant replay. Buster Posey’s ankle was shattered in a home plate collision in May 2011, imperiling the career of the young star, and new rules about that type of play were rewritten.
The torpedo bat eruption could turn out to be transformative, a time when the industry became aware how a core piece of equipment has been taken for granted and aware that bats could be more precisely designed to augment the ability of each hitter. Or this could all turn out to be a wild overreaction to an outlier day of home runs against a pitching staff having a really bad day.
On Thursday, Cortes — who had been hammered for five homers over two innings in Yankee Stadium — shut out the Reds for six innings.
In Baltimore, Bregman, who had tried the torpedo bat earlier this week, reverted to his usual stock and had three hits against the Orioles, including a home run. Afterward, Bregman said, “It’s the hitter. Not the bat.”
This story was also reported by Jeff Passan, Jorge Castillo, Jesse Rogers and Kiley McDaniel.
The opening weekend of the 2025 MLB season was taken over by a surprise star — torpedo bats.
The bowling pin-shaped bats became the talk of the sport after the Yankees’ home run onslaught on the first Saturday of the season put it in the spotlight and the buzz hasn’t slowed since.
What exactly is a torpedo bat? How does it help hitters? And how is it legal? Let’s dig in.
Read: An MIT-educated professor, the Yankees and the bat that could be changing baseball
What is a torpedo bat and why is it different from a traditional MLB bat?
The idea of the torpedo bat is to take a size format — say, 34 inches and 32 ounces — and distribute the wood in a different geometric shape than the traditional form to ensure the fattest part of the bat is located where the player makes the most contact. Standard bats taper toward an end cap that is as thick diametrically as the sweet spot of the barrel. The torpedo bat moves some of the mass on the end of the bat about 6 to 7 inches lower, giving it a bowling-pin shape, with a much thinner end.
How does it help hitters?
The benefits for those who like swinging with it — and not everyone who has swung it likes it — are two-fold. Both are rooted in logic and physics. The first is that distributing more mass to the area of most frequent contact aligns with players’ swing patterns and provides greater impact when bat strikes ball. Players are perpetually seeking ways to barrel more balls, and while swings that connect on the end of the bat and toward the handle probably will have worse performance than with a traditional bat, that’s a tradeoff they’re willing to make for the additional slug. And as hitters know, slug is what pays.
The second benefit, in theory, is increased bat speed. Imagine a sledgehammer and a broomstick that both weigh 32 ounces. The sledgehammer’s weight is almost all at the end, whereas the broomstick’s is distributed evenly. Which is easier to swing fast? The broomstick, of course, because shape of the sledgehammer takes more strength and effort to move. By shedding some of the weight off the end of the torpedo bat and moving it toward the middle, hitters have found it swings very similarly to a traditional model but with slightly faster bat velocity.
Why did it become such a big story so early in the 2025 MLB season?
Because the New York Yankees hit nine home runs in a game Saturday and Michael Kay, their play-by-play announcer, pointed out that some of them came from hitters using a new bat shape. The fascination was immediate. While baseball, as an industry, has implemented forward-thinking rules in recent seasons, the modification to something so fundamental and known as the shape of a bat registered as bizarre. The initial response from many who saw it: How is this legal?
OK. How is this legal?
Major League Baseball’s bat regulations are relatively permissive. Currently, the rules allow for a maximum barrel diameter of 2.61 inches, a maximum length of 42 inches and a smooth and round shape. The lack of restrictions allows MLB’s authorized bat manufacturers to toy with bat geometry and for the results to still fall within the regulations.
Who came up with the idea of using them?
The notion of a bowling-pin-style bat has kicked around baseball for years. Some bat manufacturers made smaller versions as training tools. But the version that’s now infiltrating baseball goes back two years when a then-Yankees coach named Aaron Leanhardt started asking hitters how they should counteract the giant leaps in recent years made by pitchers.
When Yankees players responded that bigger barrels would help, Leanhardt — an MIT-educated former Michigan physics professor who left academia to work in the sports industry — recognized that as long as bats stayed within MLB parameters, he could change their geometry to make them a reality. Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to serve as major league field coordinator for the Miami Marlins over the winter, worked with bat manufacturers throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons to make that a reality.
When did it first appear in MLB games?
It’s unclear specifically when. But Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton used a torpedo bat last year and went on a home run-hitting rampage in October that helped send the Yankees to the World Series. New York Mets star Francisco Lindor also used a torpedo-style bat last year and went on to finish second in National League MVP voting.
Who are some of the other notable early users of torpedo bats?
In addition to Stanton and Lindor, Yankees hitters Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have used torpedoes to great success. Others who have used them in games include Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers and Toronto’s Davis Schneider. And that’s just the beginning. Hundreds more players are expected to test out torpedoes — and perhaps use them in games — in the coming weeks.
How is this different from a corked bat?
Corking bats involves drilling a hole at the end of the bat, filling it in and capping it. The use of altered bats allows players to swing faster because the material with which they replace the wood — whether it’s cork, superballs or another material — is lighter. Any sort of bat adulteration is illegal and, if found, results in suspension.
Could a rule be changed to ban them?
Could it happen? Sure. Leagues and governing bodies have put restrictions on equipment they believe fundamentally altered fairness. Stick curvature is limited in hockey. Full-body swimsuits made of polyurethane and neoprene are banned by World Aquatics. But officials at MLB have acknowledged that the game’s pendulum has swung significantly toward pitching in recent years, and if an offensive revolution comes about because of torpedo bats — and that is far from a guarantee — it could bring about more balance to the game. If that pendulum swings too far, MLB could alter its bat regulations, something it has done multiple times already this century.
So the torpedo bat is here to stay?
Absolutely. Bat manufacturers are cranking them out and shipping them to interested players with great urgency. Just how widely the torpedo bat is adopted is the question that will play out over the rest of the season. But it has piqued the curiosity of nearly every hitter in the big leagues, and just as pitchers toy with new pitches to see if they can marginally improve themselves, hitters will do the same with bats.
Comfort is paramount with a bat, so hitters will test them during batting practice and in cage sessions before unleashing them during the game. As time goes on, players will find specific shapes that are most comfortable to them and best suit their swing during bat-fitting sessions — similar to how golfers seek custom clubs. But make no mistake: This is an almost-overnight alteration of the game, and “traditional or torpedo” is a question every big leaguer going forward will ask himself.
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