Baseball fans at Pioneer League games this summer may get to see the latest trend in Major League Baseball.
Torpedo bats have been big news in Major League Baseball this year when the New York Yankees had a 15- home run barrage over the first three games of the season.
The torpedo bat is a wooden bat that has a different barrel structure than traditional ones. It centers the weight of the barrel differently to what is called the “sweet spot” where hitters get the most power on their swings. Some describe the bat as having a bowling pin shape.
MLB has determined the torpedo bat to be a legal bat according to the current rulebook. When it comes to Montana’s professional baseball teams, Pioneer Baseball League Commissioner Henry Hunter told YPR that because the bat is legal in the big leagues it is approved in the Pioneer Baseball League by default.
Aaron Leanhardt is credited with developing the bat a couple of years ago when he was with the New York Yankees. Leanhardt has a Montana connection: he was an assistant baseball coach nearly a decade ago at Dawson Community College in Glendive.
Will Pioneer Baseball League players step up to the plate with a torpedo bat? Fans can check it out when the Pioneer Baseball League season begins May 20th when the Missoula Paddleheads come to Billings to take on the Billings Mustangs and the Great Falls Voyagers travel to Kalispell to play the Glacier Range Riders.
