So Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz picked one of these bats up for batting practice on Monday.
“I just wanted to know if it feels good -- and it definitely does,” De La Cruz said.
He used it for the first time on Monday, hit two homers and drove in a career-high seven runs.
“Our guys are going to order what they’re comfortable with,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. ”Bats are really personal. Whatever guys want to use, as long as they’re MLB approved, I don’t care.”
Trevino was an early adopter of these torpedo bats. Last year, when he played for the Yankees, he heard about them from then-Yankees coach Aaron Leanhardt.
“I picked up one in spring training last year and started toying around with it,” Trevino said. “At first, I was like no way. Then I tried it, and I liked it.”
Trevino has been using the bat ever since. He was raving about it to his teammates during spring training. There was interest, Trevino said, “but it’s nothing like (it is now).”
The Torpedo bat has a bigger barrel at the sweet spot, which leads to more force behind the swing when a batter makes contact at that point.
“I think it’s more the player than the bat,” Francona said.
De La Cruz was already a great player, and his no doubt home runs on Monday would have left the yard regardless of the style of bat that he was using. But if the physics of the Torpedo bat helps him pick up a few extra homers this season, that certainly doesn’t hurt.
When asked if he’ll keep using this bat, De La Cruz laughed. The answer was pretty obvious.
While De La Cruz stole the show with his home runs, Francona said that his favorite swing of the night was an opposite field double by De La Cruz in the sixth inning.
“What I told him was the most impressive thing was the line drive to left field,” Francona said. “When he does that, that means he’s on balance. He drove the ball that way. And it makes it awfully hard (for the pitcher). You better make some pretty good pitches when he’s on balance like that.”
De La Cruz is taking better at-bats and making more consistent contact this season. The new bat might help him get even better.
“Elly is pretty good at baseball,” Reds starting pitcher Brady Singer said. “Game-changer. On one swing of the bat, (he) can change the whole entire game.”
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