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Former MLB Pitcher CJ Wilson of Fresno on New Torpedo Bats: 'Still Room for Innovation'
Edward Smith updated website photo 2024
By Edward Smith
Published 4 days ago on
March 31, 2025

Former Texas Rangers pitcher and current owner of sports car dealerships in Fresno, C.J. Wilson, calls the "torpedo" bat an example of innovation in baseball. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)

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The New York Yankees’ newest weapon in the Major League Baseball arms race drew hotly divided takes from the baseball community.

Over the weekend, the team blew past Milwaukee, hitting nine home runs against the Brewers on Saturday — three of them back-to-back — followed by another stunning 12-3 win on Sunday. The team hit 15 homers over the three-game series.

The unveiling of the iconic teams’ “torpedo” bat came with a new single-game home run record, with many attributing it to the controversial bowling-pin-shaped sticks.

Though not new, the Yankees’ stunning win brought the bat into national attention after five players all used it.

The Yankees reportedly turned to their resident MIT physicist on staff to develop the shape, centering more mass where the bat should be striking the ball, ideally.

 

While the innovative new bat frustrated Brewers pitchers, Texas-Ranger-pitcher-turned-Clovis-sports-car-dealer C.J. Wilson sees the development as needed innovation in the sport.

Wilson owns BMW Fresno, Audi Fresno, and Porsche Fresno. The southpaw pitched for the Rangers and L.A. Angels from 2005 to 2015.

Changes have come in video or, more controversially, sticky substances for pitchers, he said.

The only real development in terms of equipment has been in uniforms.

“You still see people using the same bats in terms of the shape, diameter, weight that Barry Bonds or Willie Mays or Ted Williams or Ken Griffey, Jr. used decades ago,” Wilson said. “So this is interesting, if it works, then other teams would obviously adopt this.”

Pitchers’ Focus on Strikeouts Still Primary Goal: Wilson

Associated Press reports shortstop Anthony Volpe used the bat during Spring Training.

Experimental models must be approved by the MLB. The organization cleared them ahead of the season, according to Sports Illustrated.

MLB’s rules on bats are relatively uncomplicated, with rules on length and diameter, and that they be one solid piece of wood.

Former Yankees infielder Kevin Smith posted online Saturday that Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees front-office staffer who now works for the Miami Marlins, developed the torpedo barrel to bring more mass to a bat’s sweet spot.

“You’re going up with a weapon that can be better,” Smith wrote. “Your ‘just misses’ could be clips, your clips could be flares, and your flares could (be) barrels. And it was true, it’s fractions of an inch on the barrel differentiating these outcomes.”

For the pitcher, the focus on making the batter miss means not much changes on how they can train, two-time All Star Wilson told GV Wire.

Pitchers study where in the strike zone a ball needs to go for each different player.

“If you’re a good pitcher, it’s not going to affect you as much,” he said. “It will affect pitchers that, quote, pitch to contact, but I think that pitching to contact is not in vogue anymore. I feel like most pitchers now are ramping into a strikeout ratio — how many strikeouts per nine innings.”

Top Players Don’t Need the Help: Wilson

New developments help affect mid-tier players more than they affect the elites, Wilson said. He said that was the case when MLB was cracking down on “foreign substances” used by pitchers to help their throws.

“A guy like Vladimir Guerrero back in his prime could have gone up there with a boat paddle or a cricket bat and still got hits. It wasn’t the bat, it was his hand-eye coordination,” Wilson said.

Dealership owner C.J. Wilson stands alongside an Audi. Wilson has the region’s BMW, Audi, and Porsche dealerships, which are moving from Fresno to state-of-the art facilities in Clovis. (GV Wire/Edward Smith)

Yankees’ MVP Aaron Judge hit his three home runs on Saturday without the use of the torpedo bat.

The Yankees aren’t the only ones to employ the new device.

Players with the Orioles, Cubs, and Twins also use the bats, Yahoo! Sports reports.

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was also seen using the bat over the weekend.

Analysts surmise the new shape could help boost Volpe’s contact stats after a lackluster season in 2025.

“It just shows that there is still room for innovation and what a lot of people see as a very stagnant equipment development,” Wilson said.

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Edward Smith,
Multimedia Journalist
Edward Smith began reporting for GV Wire in May 2023. His reporting career began at Fresno City College, graduating with an associate degree in journalism. After leaving school he spent the next six years with The Business Journal, doing research for the publication as well as covering the restaurant industry. Soon after, he took on real estate and agriculture beats, winning multiple awards at the local, state and national level. You can contact Edward at 559-440-8372 or at Edward.Smith@gvwire.com.

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