SCOTTSDALE — It took almost a month for the Giants to get their first shipment of torpedo bats last season and just three pitches for them to run out.
Tyler Fitzgerald received a pair from Louisville Slugger and gifted one to Patrick Bailey, who like many of his teammates, was awaiting his own shipment of the bats that briefly took Major League Baseball by storm last April. They broke both in the same inning at Petco Park, and because demand was so high across the industry, Fitzgerald knew that was the only shot he was going to get in 2025.
You would think that a full offseason would allow vendors to catch up and hitters to stock up. But that’s not the case for the Giants.
“They fell off the face of the earth,” Fitzgerald joked when asked if he’s still using one.
The infielder is no longer swinging a torpedo bat and Bailey isn’t, either. In fact, there isn’t a single member of the 40-man roster who currently uses one.
The bat, which exaggerated the barrel and was popularized by an early-season offensive explosion from the New York Yankees, came and went like a waiver claim on the 2019 Giants. So, what happened?
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Bailey said. “I mean, I was trying everything last year. It was just seeing if it was a thing and how it felt, but I’m going back to a more traditional bat. It was fun. I think all of us saw the Yankees go up and hit like nine home runs in a game and it was like, ‘Let’s try some of that.’ ”
“I don’t know. I guess that’s the fun thing about baseball?”
It is a sport forever in search of the next big thing, and last season, a dozen Giants ended up getting shipments from their bat companies. Others borrowed them in BP to see how they felt.
Bailey, who had a rough offensive season, was viewed as the one who used it most often, and he did so from both sides of the plate. Fitzgerald, trying to recapture some of his 2024 form, was the most enthusiastic. He laughed Friday as he tried to figure out where they’ve all gone.
“I don’t know, man. I haven’t seen any of them this spring,” he said. “I just had the two that broke. I broke one and Pat broke one and I never got any more.”
An informal survey of the clubhouse turned up just two players who are still experimenting in different ways.
Prospect Parks Harber was drafted by the Yankees organization that had been tinkering with bat design for years, and it was a common talking point in the minor leagues when he was there. He tried one in BP this week and used it in Friday’s game, and he’s still interested in the concept. He did, however, hit into a double play, so perhaps this latest attempt won’t last long.
The man who is still fully on board is catcher Logan Porter, although his three torpedo bats are slightly different from the ones that were all over TV screens last summer. They aren’t quite as bowling pin-ish.
“Mine are discreet,” he said.
A bat vendor who visited Giants camp recently explained that while some of the torpedos are still out there, most players either went back to their traditional bats or embraced something in between.
Teams were fascinated by the concept of pinpointing the spot on the barrel where players make contact most often and that data is still sent to bat companies, but the actual bats they’re making are not as thin at the end. You have to pick up the new variation and study it closely to see that the barrel is slightly thicker than usual.
“They look normal,” Porter said as he took one out of his locker. “They sent me three different models of torpedoes and one of them was like a pinball. And then they sent me this (more subtle) one and I like this one. It looks normal.”
Porter was in Triple-A last season when the bats took over the industry and borrowed one from Hunter Bishop. He said his swing data didn’t even show that he was all that good a candidate for a torpedo, but he liked the feel, and he especially likes this newer “discreet” model.
For a hitter, feel is everything, and perhaps that best explains why they have disappeared at Scottsdale Stadium.
Fitzgerald said the bat just didn’t feel right in his hands when he used it in batting practice last summer. He has had a slow spring at the plate and joked that he might have to try it again here soon if that doesn’t change, but just like 11 months ago, he might have trouble finding one in the clubhouse.
“They were OK …” he said. “But yeah, I think that trend is kind of over with.”