Damn the torpedoes if you like, as Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill did after the New York Yankees routed his team on the opening weekend of the season, but the torpedo-style bats are not worth the hysteria that home run show in the Bronx created. With the way major leaguers are hitting—or more to the point, not hitting—torpedo bats are an interesting innovation but not the game-changer they were cracked up to be.
The major league batting average through Tuesday was .237, down from .242 at the same point last year and .249 after a similar number of games in 2023. While torpedo madness took root, a trend continued that quietly is having a greater impact on offense: pitchers are emphasizing “pitch shaping” as power breaking pitches with late movement replace curveballs.
