Torpedo bats usually are not only for main leaguers. New York Yankees outfield prospect Spencer Jones will use a torpedo bat in Double-A this season, he revealed Tuesday. Jones stated the group launched him to the brand new bat mannequin close to the tip of spring coaching and he appreciated the best way it felt, so he will give it a attempt through the common season.

“They confirmed me that my bat barrel was like twentieth percentile in barrel measurement,” Jones stated Tuesday. “Why am I utilizing a bat with a tiny barrel after I can maximize that? It is apparent for me to start out utilizing an even bigger barrel.”  

Jones, 23, was New York’s first-round draft choose in 2022. He performed your entire season in Double-A a 12 months in the past and hit a good .259/.336/.452 with 17 house runs, although that slash line got here with 200 strikeouts. Jones struck out in near 40% of his plate appearances and have become the primary Yankees’ minor leaguer ever with a 200-strikeout season.

‘I feel they will be banned’: What’s the way forward for MLB’s torpedo bats? Insiders weigh in on baseball’s new fad

R.J. Anderson

Jones is an enormous human with lengthy levers (listed at 6-foot-7 and 235 lbs.), and given his strikeout points, it solely is sensible to attempt a bat with extra optimized barrel. Due to these 200 strikeouts, we didn’t rank Jones amongst New York’s prime three prospects getting into 2025. MLB Pipeline ranks him third within the system. This is a part of their write-up:

Jones creates well-above-average energy and upper-end exit velocities. However his naturally lengthy left-handed swing makes him late on a lot of pitches and resulted in a 40 p.c swing-and-miss charge in 2024, together with much more alarming empty contact charges on all fastballs (36 p.c) and in-zone heaters (33 p.c). The Yankees are working with him on changes that might hold his bat on a extra degree aircraft and within the zone longer.

A number of minor leaguers, not simply these with the Yankees, have acknowledged making an attempt torpedo bats within the Arizona Fall League final 12 months. They’ve been within the sport for over a 12 months now, although they aren’t broadly used, not less than not till the Yankees broke them out throughout their weekend sweep of the Brewers.

Yankees star Aaron Choose stated he won’t use the torpedo bats as a result of his observe document “speaks for itself.” One entrance workplace one who spoke to CBS Sports activities believes they are going to be banned.