The 1 Yankees player most clearly affected by torpedo bat revolution

While torpedo bats have become all the rage, and have thrust the Yankees into the spotlight, they're not the magic bullet some would have you believe. Their effectiveness greatly depends on the individual player, and how and where he most often makes contact with the ball.

For decades, players have toyed around with different kinds of bats; some using heavier ones, or lighter ones, or pine ones, or maple ones, and so on and so forth. While so much of it depends on feel, and more and more players will experiment with the new-ish tool as the season progresses, some will find that it better suits their swings, while others will quickly abandon it in favor of what has worked previously.

For the Yankees, perhaps no hitter will benefit more from the torpedo bat than shortstop Anthony Volpe. To say that Volpe is a hitter devoid of power would be an overstatement; he did hit 21 dingers in his rookie year, but he's still not known for his oppo power.

Yet on Wednesday against Arizona, he went yard on a pitch lofted to right field that was clearly aided by his torpedo bat, as well as Yankee Stadium's friendly dimensions. Volpe made contact toward the label, which probably would've resulted in a lazy flyball if a non-torpedo bat was used.

Instead, the torpedo bat did its job, and the ball traveled up with a 38-degree launch angle and a 94-mile-per-hour exit velocity, resulting in what would be a home run in just two ballparks: Yankee Stadium and its mirror image, George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

Yankees' Anthony Volpe may realize his full potential thanks to the torpedo bat

It would be fair to say that, given the hype, Anthony Volpe has failed to impress since being anointed the shortstop of both the present and the future. While he's made strides defensively, his offense over his first two full seasons has been below average.

While there have been flashes, such as the aforementioned 21 homers in 2023, Volpe's career wRC+ of 87 indicates that he's left a lot to be desired at the plate.

Different players have different swing paths, which ultimately result in different sweet spots on the bat. Derek Jeter's iconic inside-out swing is a prime example of this in action. Just as Jeter was able to hone that swing to generate incredible production, so too can Volpe with the help of the torpedo bat.

Early returns show that Volpe typically makes contact closer to the label, so by picking a bat that maximizes his natural swing's abilities it becomes much more likely that he finally realizes the potential we were all promised when he arrived on the scene.

If the torpedo bat can turn Volpe, who stands at a modest 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, into a guy who can launch opposite field jacks on a somewhat regular basis, then Yankee fans will certainly be a gleeful bunch. So far, that certainly seems to be the case.