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The New York Yankees’ bats were the story of the team’s franchise-record nine-home run day against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Then came the discussion about the actual bats used by some players in the 20-9 win.
The uniquely shaped lumber is the result of two years of research and experimentation with a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist-turned-coach at the helm.
The question at its center? “Where are you trying to hit the ball?” Aaron Leanhardt said in a phone interview Sunday morning. “Where are you trying to make contact?”
Leanhardt, 48, began his work when he was a member of the Yankees’ minor-league hitting department in 2022 and brought it to the major leagues last season when he was the team’s lead analyst, with some players, including shortstop Anthony Volpe, trying them in games. Now, as many as five Yankees will be using them in games at least early this season, according to outfielder Cody Bellinger.
The bats – with their torpedo-like shape – are custom-made to player preferences and are designed so that the densest part of the bat is where that particular hitter most often makes contact with the baseball, said Leanhardt, who became a field coordinator with the Miami Marlins in the offseason.
Really, it’s just about making the bat as heavy and as fat as possible in the area where you’re trying to do damage on the baseball.
A Major League Baseball spokesman told The Athletic that the bats don’t break any rules. MLB Rule 3.02 states that a bat “shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.” It also says that “experimental” bats can’t be used “until the manufacturer has secured approval from Major League Baseball of his design and methods of manufacture.”
Leanhardt said it was a group effort, the results coming from conversations with coaches, players, MLB and bat makers.
Credit goes to those who take it, but if people want to ascribe credit to different people, then I’ll take some cut of it.
A Yankees official, however, said Leanhardt deserves “a lot” of the credit. Retired infielder Kevin Smith, who spent parts of four seasons in the majors, also credited Leanhardt as the inventor.
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