Ranking the top 20 goals in Alex Ovechkin’s record-breaking career
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Greg Wyshynski
“The Gr8 Chase” is over. Alex Ovechkin is the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, surpassing the legendary Wayne Gretzky.
Ovechkin amassed this career total in a variety of ways. He had over 550 even-strength goals and 320 power-play goals, the majority scored from the fabled “Ovi spot.” He’s the leader in empty-net goals and overtime goals. Five of his goals came shorthanded, from a guy who has averaged eight seconds of penalty-killing time per game in his career.
But not every Ovechkin goal is created equally. Some are works of art; some are masterpieces. Some are important; some are career-defining.
Here are the top 20 goals in Ovechkin’s career, covering both the NHL regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Many of them have become highlight-reel mainstays, while some make this ranking because of their significance to Ovechkin’s legacy and story. Along the way you’ll hear from Ovechkin, his teammates, coaches and opponents about these classic moments during the first 895 goals of the Washington Capitals star’s career. Enjoy!
20. Dec. 18, 2015: Ovechkin shocks the Lightning
You could sense this one was imminent as Jason Chimera floated a juicy pass from the boards into the Lightning zone.
Ovi motored to collect the puck and then froze Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman with a textbook curl-and-drag for a gorgeous power-play goal against Ben Bishop.
19. June 7, 2018: Ovechkin’s Stanley Cup Final moment
We’ve seen Ovechkin score this kind of power-play goal hundreds of times. But until Game 5 against the Golden Knights, we’d never seen him score one in a clinching game for a Stanley Cup championship, after a postseason worthy of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
“A lot of things were said at the end of last year in the press, Twitter, whatever,” said Barry Trotz, who coached that championship team. “And they’re hurtful, and I think he took it personally. He said, ‘I’m going to show you I’m still a great player.’ And he did.”
18. March 9, 2011: Ovechkin plays defense vs. the Oilers
Criticisms of Ovechkin’s defensive prowess have haunted him throughout his career, to the point where former Capitals coach Dale Hunter briefly tried to turn him into a shot blocker rather than a shot taker.
But Ovechkin had his moments on D, such as this play where he picked the pocket of Oilers defenseman Kurtis Foster on the forecheck to set up a 2-on-0 scoring chance and easily converted.
17. Oct. 5, 2005: Career goal No. 1
Where it all began. The Capitals opened their season at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets in front of an announced crowd of 16,325. Just 28 seconds after the Jackets took the lead in the second period, Ovechkin skated between the circles with his stick raised for a one-timer.
Dainius Zubrus found him, and Ovi blasted a shot past future trivia answer Pascal Leclaire for the first of many, many, many goals.
16. March 19, 2022: Ovechkin vs. Chicago (and Duncan Keith)
By the time Ovechkin schooled him on national television, future Hall of Fame defenseman Duncan Keith had already won a Norris Trophy and a Stanley Cup.
What he couldn’t do was stop this move from Ovechkin, who tantalizingly dangled the puck within Keith’s stick range before pulling it back through his legs and motoring around him for the goal, as three Blackhawks stood seemingly powerless around their net.
15. March 1, 2011: OT winner vs. Islanders
The NHL was playing 4-on-4 in overtime back in 2011, but Ovechkin was playing one-on-one against Frans Nielsen in this extra session against the Islanders.
Ovechkin turned the New York forward inside out with a burst of speed through the neutral zone. He then skated through a check attempt by Nielsen in the attacking zone before finishing this goal with a nasty backhander that goalie Nathan Lawson apparently didn’t know was in Ovi’s bag of tricks.
14. March 19, 2009: The ‘hot stick’ celebration
Ovechkin’s 50th goal in the 2008-09 season sparked one of the most memorable and controversial moments of his career: the “hot stick” celebration, as Ovechkin laid his lumber on the ice and warmed his gloves over its imaginary flames.
It was a moment commemorated in everything from bobblehead dolls to video game cutscenes. But “Hockey Night in Canada” analyst Don Cherry hated it, criticizing Ovechkin’s lack of “class” in showing up the Lightning and rookie goalie Mike McKenna.
Years later on the “I Was in Net For” podcast, McKenna admitted that he might have “slashed Ovechkin’s stick into the next ZIP code” had he been a league veteran at the time. But he also said he and Ovechkin talked it out about a week later.
“I remember just saying ‘Hi’ and him saying, ‘I did not mean to embarrass or disrespect you or anything. I thought we were having fun.’ He was apologetic about it, and you know what? I was totally cool with it,” McKenna said. “For him to even take that time to just be a human and say, ‘This is what I was feeling in the moment,’ I have a hard time holding that against anybody, especially if they can have the humility to think maybe it wasn’t nice or right.”
13. Nov. 20, 2014: The end boards goal vs. the Avalanche
This goal has a bit of everything that makes Ovechkin such a force. The speed through the neutral zone. The drag around defenseman Jan Hejda, followed by the brute force that had Hejda helplessly trying to put a body on him. Finally, the patience to stay with the play to collect the rebound and tuck it past goalie Reto Berra.
The only box not checked was a booming Ovechkin slap shot, as it went to the backhand to set up this sequence.
12. Oct. 10, 2015: Ovechkin schools Moore, Devils
Ovechkin’s first goal of the 2015-16 season landed him in the highlight reel and gave New Jersey Devils defenseman John Moore a harsh education. After speeding into the zone, Ovechkin faked a move to his right and dangled to his left, leaving Moore to fecklessly wave his stick at the Capitals star. Ovechkin closed in on goalie Keith Kinkaid and deposited a shot over his glove and into the far top corner of the net.
“I think there he’s going to cut to the middle,” Moore told The Star-Ledger at the time. “To his credit, I think he kind of sold that. I could have a better stick and maybe even a better gap. You give him an inch and he’ll capitalize on it. I’ll learn from that.”
11. May 1, 2018: The double-tap goal
The Capitals won their first Stanley Cup championship after finally overcoming their tormentors from Pittsburgh in the semifinals. Ovechkin scored one of his finest goals to win Game 3 of that series. Nicklas Backstrom did his usual yeoman’s work on the play, generating a turnover in the defensive zone to spring a 2-on-1. He fed Ovechkin across the ice, and Ovechkin clanged a shot off the post behind Matt Murray … and then popped the aerial rebound into the open net.
“I honestly think that from the first time we started playing with each other, we were just a good match. I was more of a playmaker and he was a goal scorer,” Backstrom said recently. “I mean, I just think he loves to score goals. That’s what’s been driving him for all these years.”
10. Jan. 19, 2006: Ovechkin goes full throttle vs. the Blues
As Capitals announcer Joe Beninati said it best: Ovechkin goes “full throttle” through the neutral zone and then absolutely flummoxes veteran St. Louis Blues defenseman Eric Weinrich before putting the puck through goalie Curtis Sanford.
In a 2022 interview with The Athletic, Ovechkin actually ranked this goal as his second favorite from a list of 10 compiled by the NHL.
“I had full speed and make a good move,” he said. “It was a total different game than now. It was more wide-open. Now it’s now more compact.”
Ovechkin also noted that this goal came immediately after another classic goal he scored against Phoenix on Jan. 16 that you might be able to read more about later on this list …
9. Jan. 25, 2014: Ovechkin vs. Canadiens juggle
In which we discover Ovechkin can juggle, too.
Ovi collects a rebound from a Carey Price save midair in back of the Montreal net. He hits it with his stick, juggles it off his stick again to nudge it closer to the goal mouth, then taps it past Price for a power-play goal, raising his arms and bellowing in celebration.
“You’re not going to see a prettier goal from a so-called ‘hands guy’ in the NHL,” Capitals announcer Craig Laughlin said.
8. Feb. 4, 2010: The one-handed classic
The 500th point of Ovechkin’s career, this goal crystallizes the futility of trying to stop the Russian Machine when he’s got the magic working.
Backstrom finds him in full stride. Rangers defenseman Michal Rozsival reaches out with his arm and attempts to impede Ovechkin. The referee’s arm goes up and then almost immediately points to the net as Ovechkin dangled through the hold and sent a one-handed shot — with his left arm, no less — at the pads of Henrik Lundqvist. The puck glanced off King Henrik’s stick and popped into the net.
Ovechkin would say after the game that it was, to his recollection, the first goal he ever scored with one hand on his stick because “my hand is not strong enough” to score that way. As the New York Times headline said after the Capitals’ 6-5 win: “Rangers Surrender Game and Stage to Ovechkin Show.”
7. April 6, 2025: Ovechkin eclipses Gretzky
At 12:34 of the second period against the New York Islanders on April 6, Ovechkin finally eclipsed “The Great One” with his 895th career goal. He could have broken the record in his previous game at home had he completed a hat trick against the Chicago Blackhawks, but Ovechkin vowed not set the mark on an empty netter. Instead, history was made with a vintage Ovi goal: a blast from the top of the circle on the power play that Ovechkin followed with a full belly slide down the ice in celebration.
The quality of this goal never mattered. The enormity of the moment in sports history necessitated its inclusion in the top 10, as Ovechkin netted career goal No. 895 to pass Gretzky and become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.
This is what Gretzky wanted. He encouraged Ovechkin, whether it was in interviews or private text messages during the chase. It’s a lesson Gretzky learned when he was chasing the record himself, back when Hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe owned it.
“My dad said, ‘You know what, somebody is going to break your record. And when he does, make sure you are as much a gentleman to him as Gordie Howe is to you. You smile, you shake his hand, and you are proud of what you accomplished. It’s better for the game,'” Gretzky told Sportsnet in 2020.
The game has never been better, whether it’s the speed or the defense or the goaltending or the coaching or the league’s overall talent level. That Ovechkin shattered this record, in this era, is nothing short of extraordinary.
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Alex Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky’s goals record
Alex Ovechkin scores on the power play for his 895th career goal, surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s record.
6. Dec. 26, 2008: Ovechkin slugs Buffalo
One word: “Buffaslug.”
Ovechkin’s 2008 instant classic goal was scored against a Buffalo Sabres team wearing one of the most maligned jerseys in NHL history, as the franchise forwent its classic crest for a new design featuring an angry cashew. We can only assume Ovi was making them pay for their crime against fashion with this end-to-end beauty.
He starts by tipping the puck away from a Sabres forechecker and then he’s off to the races. Buffalo defenseman Henrik Tallinder does everything he can to track down Ovechkin and appears to take the puck away from him, but it turns out Ovechkin had it the entire time, like one of those pranks where a dollar bill is tied to a string. Ovechkin shoots as he falls to the ice, beating Patrick Lalime before sliding into him like a curling stone.
5. May 2, 2015: Ovechkin from his knee vs. the Rangers
Another playoff goal, during one of several postseason meetings between Ovechkin and the New York Rangers, and easily one of his most impressive given the personnel involved.
That’s Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi on defense for the Rangers, one of the league’s best pairings at that time. That’s Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist in goal, looking behind him before looking to the rafters. Ovechkin split the defense, causing the Rangers blueliners to collide like a closing door. The Capitals star slipped through a crack but his leg got caught. He fell to his knee and snapped a shot before falling on his stomach.
Teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov felt the goal was “sick,” according to the New York Post. “I said a couple of bad words in Russian but I said ‘sick,'” he said.
4. Dec. 20, 2014: Too ‘dangle-licious’ for you
This goal against the New Jersey Devils inspired Capitals play-by-play announcer Joe Beninati to coin the term “dangle-licious” to describe the tally.
Ovechkin streaked through the neutral zone toward Devils defenseman Jon Merrill, who was probably breathing a sigh of relief knowing that teammate Travis Zajac was skating back to offer support. But as Zajac reached for the puck with his stick, Ovechkin toe-dragged around Merrill and headed to the crease. Goalie Cory Schneider had the bottom of the net closed off as Ovechkin fell to the ice … only to have the Capitals star backhand the puck under the crossbar for another epic goal.
“He was flying tonight. You can see why he’s such a dangerous player,” Schneider said. “He made a great move. I stayed with him and I thought I had him. He was able to elevate it in tight like that and finish it off. I stuck with him and I thought I had that one. He made a great play on the end.”
3. April 24, 2009: Ovechkin playoff goal vs. the Rangers
Straight-up video game moves from Ovechkin in this postseason goal against the Rangers.
After a turnover by Nikolai Zherdev, Ovechkin collects the puck and streaks down the ice. Chris Drury attempts to slow him up and gets deked into oblivion. Derek Morris makes an attempt, only to have Ovechkin dangle through his legs. Aaron Voros finally catches up to Ovechkin only to have the Capitals star smack the puck with his backhand to put it past Lundqvist.
“My backhand was terrible. Lucky bounce,” Ovechkin said at the time.
Well, lucky for him.
2. Feb. 18, 2009: The ‘Hamrlik goal’
In 2011, veteran defenseman Roman Hamrlik signed as a free agent with the Capitals, becoming Ovechkin’s teammate. Which naturally begs the question: Did they ever talk about this goal?
Hamrlik was a member of the Montreal Canadiens back in 2009. He chased the puck to the red line where Ovechkin beat him in a race. Ovi poked the puck off the boards and around Hamrlik before pulling off a spin-o-rama to skate into the Montreal zone. Kyle Chipchura back checked to catch him, knocking Ovechkin to the ice. But as the Capitals star slid toward Carey Price, he flicked the puck on the forehand past the Montreal goaltender for a spectacular goal. Ovechkin sat up, raised his arms and waved for his teammates to join him in celebration.
Wes Johnson, the Capitals’ longtime public address announcer, was seated right behind the glass where Ovechkin made his initial move.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, he passed the puck to himself.’ He spun the defenseman and then he duped the goalie as he’s falling down the ice,” he said. “It was the most spectacular goal I had seen in my 25 years of doing this live.”
1. Jan. 16, 2006: ‘The Goal’
What’s the point of a ranking if not to spark conversation and debate? To that end, any number of Ovechkin’s nimble, flailing classics could have made the top spot, subverting expectations. That would be a stunt. That would be disingenuous.
“The Goal” is his “Citizen Kane,” a masterpiece announcing the arrival of a true artist. When we close our eyes and think about any of the nearly 900 goals that have defined Ovechkin’s career, our mind’s eye will focus on that game in Glendale, Arizona, and what Sportsnet ranked as the greatest goal of the 21st century.
It was Ovechkin’s rookie season, one in which he’d hit 30 goals by the middle of January. He collected the puck at center ice and skated in on Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Paul Mara. He tried to deke Mara, but the defenseman wasn’t biting, raising his arms to try and knock Ovechkin off the puck. He was successful in that Ovechkin toppled to the ice. He was unsuccessful in that Ovechkin was still near enough to the puck.
As the Capitals star rolled onto his back, he had one hand on his stick to corral the puck and send a desperate shot to the Coyotes net. Goalie Brian Boucher flung his stick out as a last line of defense, only to look back at the cage as the puck glided across the line.
In the stands watching “The Goal”? An 8-year-old Coyotes fan named Auston Matthews, who would be inspired to score a few hundred of his own in the NHL. Behind the Coyotes’ bench watching “The Goal”? Gretzky, Phoenix’s head coach and the NHL’s leading career goal-scorer — at the time.
Early in the game, Beninati noted that Ovechkin was only 860 goals behind Gretzky’s record total of 894. Laughlin laughed at the notion that a rookie was beginning down the path to catch The Great One.
“Good luck, Mr. Ovechkin,” Beninati said. “Good luck.”
Sports
‘It’s taken on a life of its own’: Inside the 48 hours torpedo bats launched into baseball lore
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.
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.
A week has passed since torpedo bats burst onto the scene as the talk of the 2025 MLB season, and the hitting innovation is still buzzing through the industry.
We asked our MLB reporters to talk to players and coaches to see if they think the bowling pin-shaped bat trend is here to stay, how much it really helps hitters — and if they believe it should be allowed in the majors.
Here’s what those around baseball had to say about the trend taking the sport by storm.
When did you first hear about torpedo bats?
Andrew Benintendi, OF, Chicago White Sox: I had never heard of it. I’ve used the same bat for nine years so I think I’ll stick with that. 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.
Robert Van Scoyoc, hitting coach, Los Angeles Dodgers: I’ve heard about bat fitting. We do bat fitting and all that. I just haven’t heard about this specifically. When I first heard about [torpedo bats specifically] was when everyone else kind of knew about it.
Ryan O’Hearn, first baseman, Baltimore Orioles: (Orioles assistant GM and former NASA engineer) Sig Mejdal deserves credit. Sig has been on the torpedo bat for a long time. He’s been trying to get guys to experiment with it, use it. He’ll send them out, send us everybody. He sent some in the offseason. He sent me the traditional torpedo bat and then he sent me a special model that, based off of my batted ball data, would fit better. He’s been all over it. I think I first heard about it in maybe the end of ’23 from Sig. And then he made them available. I took BP with it. I was unsure because it does feel a little different. Not in a bad way, just different. I feel like I was hitting balls and kind of feeling the vibrations on the end, which I didn’t really like.
Dansby Swanson, SS, Chicago Cubs: This offseason. It’s just caught on. People have used it before. It’s not that new.
Adam Ottavino, veteran reliever: I noticed last year that there were some guys with different shaped bats. I think [Francisco] Lindor had one. And, honestly, I didn’t think too much of it because there’s always been a lot of tinkering with bat models since I’ve been in the big leagues. There’s so many bat models. Even like custom handles like big knobs. Some hockey puck knobs. And there’s like those triangular knobs. So I didn’t really think too much of it. I didn’t maybe understand what they were going for.
Nolan Schanuel, 1B, Los Angeles Angels: I heard about it in spring training this year. Chuckie Robinson had a bat. We kind of weren’t serious about it, you know? He pulled it out and we were like, “Uh, that’s kind of strange.” But the science behind it makes total sense. I didn’t really think about that from that standpoint at all until the science came up for it and said why it would benefit certain people’s swings.
[Robinson] never used it … I don’t know if he had it the year prior, but for some reason he had one. And we were just like, “That’s a weird-looking bat.” I didn’t think anything of it until come Opening Day, you see all these guys swinging it in the regular season.
Martin Maldonado, C, San Diego Padres: I don’t know anything about it other than what I read on Twitter.
Have you used a torpedo bat before and if not, are you planning to try it now? If so, how did it feel?
Max Muncy, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers: It felt good. The swing felt good. But after the Dylan Lee at-bat (in which Muncy struck out in the sixth inning last Wednesday), I felt like the bat was causing me to be a little bit off-plane, a little bit in and out of the zone. My swings felt really, really good tonight but just a little bit off. So the last at-bat I decided just to go back to my regular bat.
Matt Shaw, 3B, Chicago Cubs: I’ve used it in batting practice. I wasn’t a big fan. The weight felt a little heavier. The ball feedback wasn’t as good. But we’ll see.
Swanson: It’s not the perfect product. There are so many nuances involved. I’ve committed to using it enough to get a good sample size. There is definitely validity in everything, but it just has its media craze right now.
Jed Hoyer, president of baseball operations, Chicago Cubs: I talked to [Swanson] a lot this winter about it. He was very open-minded. It’s a process. That’s why we wanted to have guys use them in spring training. The more the veteran guys do it, hopefully that has a carry-over effect.
Michael A. Taylor, OF, Chicago White Sox: I would love to try one. I’m sure everyone is trying to order one right now. It’s interesting. I’m not too educated on the science behind it, but it seems pretty straightforward. I tried the axe bat then the puck bat so the torpedo bat is the latest thing. I want to try it.
Byron Buxton, OF, Minnesota Twins: I haven’t tried it. Not going to try it either. I’ve been doing perfectly fine with my bats. No point in trying to switch it up now. People blowing up the Yankees about all the homers they hit. Same guys that hit homers are the same guys that hit homers last year. It’s not that big of a deal.
O’Hearn: I’ve used a torpedo bat for one major league at-bat. I struck out. And then I threw it in the trash. Didn’t even make contact. I’m weird, man. I just remember guys laughing at me, being like, you’re done with it already?
Salvador Perez, catcher, Kansas City Royals: No, but it’s interesting. I’m going to talk to Davy (Royals VP of major league team operations Jeff Davenport) about that. Are we going to put in some orders for that bat? I talked to Gary Sanchez yesterday. He used the bat yesterday. The first time that I saw that bat, I grabbed it. Big barrel. I think if it helps, why not? Why not just try it out and see what happens?”
Mark Canha, outfielder, Kansas City Royals: It wasn’t anything I was aware of during spring until that half of the first week. I’m using kind of a modified one right now. It’s torpedo-esque. It’s not as drastic. I didn’t even know what I was ordering. Pete Alonso told me to get that model. It’s great. And usually he knows a lot. He’s really likes stuff like that. So I kind of just trusted him, and it’s been working. I like it. But I do like that there’s more barrel, a little lower than I’m used to swinging. It feels a little different. It’s not as ringy when I get it closer to the label, which I like.
Schanuel: I mostly miss [the ball] on the inner side of the barrel, so if I miss the barrel, I get jammed the most. If I were to get a torpedo bat … I think it would help me out a lot, especially my bat path and seeing the ball deep. I’d be more than willing to try it yet.
Nicky Lopez, 2B, Los Angeles Angels: I gave it a little bit of a test run in spring training because that’s what everyone was kind of doing. But it takes a little bit of getting used to.
Your whole career you’ve been using a bat that you know, and you know where the sweet spot is, and it’s one kind of length. You have the specifications of it and you kind of feel where that barrel is, and now when you move that barrel down a little bit, you have to refine where that sweet spot is. It takes a little bit to get used to. I used it a little bit in BP and I’m going to continue to use it and just see where it’s at.
Nico Hoerner, 2B, Chicago Cubs: I’ve used it since mid-spring training. Every AB I’ve taken this year has been with some version of the reverse taper barrel (which is what the Cubs call the torpedo bat). Still in the process of figuring that out, but I like it. It’s not something I’m thinking of when I go to the plate. A misconception I’ve heard is guys are not changing what they do to fit the bat. It’s kind of the opposite.
What do you make of the way the topic has blown up across the sport?
Ottavino: I mean, listen, first of all, 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 boogeyman and that’s what some people are going to do and can’t really stop that. But there’s also a lot of misinformation and noneducation on it too.
I was in Boston this spring and there were a bunch of guys using those types of bats over there too. So, they’re all over the place. It’s not unique to this organization. Maybe it originated in [the Yankees clubhouse], but I mean, there’s no secrets in baseball. Everybody’s going to be using what they think’s going to give them the best result. So I don’t really make too much of people complaining about it, honestly.
Schanuel: I think it’ll help out, especially to boost offensive performances. I think it’s good for MLB itself. Fans would like to see it. Everyone loves homers. Everyone loves when guys get on base. I think it’ll help out a lot. I mean it’s just exciting talking about it.
Mark Leiter, reliever, New York Yankees: I wouldn’t say I’m surprised just because I think there’s a level of it’s something to talk about in a big market. I mean, just the fact that it’s within the rules and stuff, I just think it’s more surprising that it took this long for somebody to do this. Just because you know about customizing golf clubs and stuff like that. Like, it makes a lot of sense.
Buxton: Everyone is blowing up the Yankees about all the homers they hit. Same guys you see hit homers, are the same guys that hit homers last year. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s like when the sweeper came around. We were like, “What’s a sweeper?” We had never heard of sweepers. And now we’ve never heard of torpedo bats and now they pop.
Shaw: The Yankees hitting a bunch of home runs made it blow up. Aaron Judge not using the torpedo bat is funny to me. It blew up with the Yankees, but he doesn’t swing it. You can clearly see both sides. They might work, but the old bats work too. The difference might be very small.
Do you think it should be allowed in the sport to use torpedo bats?
Canha: Yes. I do feel like we need all the help we can get. These guys are throwing so hard now. But it’s not a cheat code. We’ll see how it plays out over a little bigger sample size.
Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers: I do not look down on anybody. If it’s legal, you can do whatever you want. I swung the same bat for 16 years. I will not be changing to a torpedo bat. I’ve swung the same length, ounces, everything. If it works for the guys, go for it. I know some of our guys are getting them, so, we’ll see. I will not be swinging them.
Jake Cronenworth, 2B, San Diego Padres: [Torpedo bats] give everyone something to talk about. If any team hit 15 home runs, you’d be like, “What bats are they using? Are they legal?” And they are.
Are torpedo bats a trend based on this week’s buzz or something that is here to stay?
Lopez: I think so, yeah. I really do. I think this can be a good thing for a lot of hitters.
Van Scoyoc: I’m sure some guys will try it out. Someone gets hot, then you’ll probably see more guys going to it. I think it’s good. In pitching they have Trackman. In hitting we do, too. But we don’t capture the bat, which is essentially our same equipment. That’s why I think hitting is behind — because they just get more information that’s useful a lot faster.
O’Hearn: It’s kind of like the axe handle or puck knob. I think just because the Yankees went bananas for two games, it’s going to blow up. And I honestly felt bad for Sig when it went crazy because I was like, I don’t know if he was the first one on it, but I feel like he’s sitting around somewhere, like, ‘I wish the Orioles would’ve done this.’
Freeman: I promise you I have not read a thing about it. I only know there’s a torpedo bat and it looks kind of like the barrel’s shorter or lower down. That’s all I’ve got. Nor will I read into it. That’s just me. I’m not the right guy to ask those kind of questions. I swing the same bat every day.
Muncy: Baseball is not a one-size-fits-all sport, going from socks to batting gloves to shoes to pants. It’s not a one size fits all for anyone in this game. So, everyone swings different. Everyone likes their bat different. There’s some guys I think it could be a real benefit for, and there’s some guys it might be a detriment. I still don’t know where I’m at on that scale.
Hoerner: I think [it’s a trend]. There was the axe handle. A lot of guys with the Red Sox had success with that. Then in 2021, there was the big puck knob trend. You still see some of those. This is a little different when you’re changing where you impact the ball with. The jury is still out. I don’t look at that Yankees series and think it would have been a totally different series without the bats. It’s about marginal differences over the course of 600 ABs. That really matters.
Hoyer: This isn’t the kind of thing, one team did it and everyone copied. There were a number of teams on this. There is a lot of attention because of the size of the market and [the Yankees] scored 20. Guys were hitting in the cage with them last year. Pete [Crow-Armstrong] used it in a game last year in September (he flew out). It’s new, but it’s not like it started game two last weekend and everyone copied it quickly.
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