During the opening of the Major League Baseball (MLB) season in 2025, the New York Yankees set a team record by hitting nine home runs in a single game. Six of these home runs were achieved using an unusual bat resembling a bowling pin, known as the torpedo-shaped bat.

This bat was developed by a PhD physicist from MIT, who proposed the idea while working with the Yankees’ minor league development department. Unlike traditional bats, the torpedo-shaped bat tapers at both ends, creating a silhouette similar to an upside-down bowling pin when swung. This design increases the size of the “sweet spot,” which helps maximize energy transfer to the ball and reduces vibration felt in the player’s hands. After this record-breaking game, all 30 MLB teams ordered similar bats.

However, a new study conducted by experts from Washington State University (WSU), the University of Illinois, and Penn State University found that, from a physics standpoint, these bats do not increase the distance a ball travels compared to standard bats, which have remained largely unchanged for the past 150 years. For the experiment, researchers crafted two standard and two torpedo-shaped bats from maple, ensuring they felt identical in weight during a swing. They used light gates and cameras to measure the incoming and outgoing speeds of baseballs launched at the bats using an air cannon.

The only notable difference discovered during testing was that the “sweet spot” on the torpedo-shaped bat was located about half an inch farther from the end compared to a standard bat. Otherwise, both designs delivered nearly identical results in terms of energy transfer to the ball.

The study also notes that the shape and weight distribution of the torpedo-shaped bat may make it more comfortable to swing, which could potentially improve batting averages, but it does not increase the number of powerful home runs. The research findings will be presented at the International Sports Engineering Association conference later this year.