With the slew of injuries the Yankees had been dealing with during the offseason — most notably to starting pitcher Gerrit Cole missing the entire season with a torn ligament in his throwing elbow — the expectations for the Yankees in 2025 died out quickly. After reaching the World Series and losing to the much more stacked Los Angeles Dodgers, many across the fanbase had little hope for next season after losing Juan Soto to the rival Mets and then dealing with the aftermath of injuries to some key players. So, when the season opener came, no one gave the team much hope. Then, out of nowhere, they started piling on wins and attracting more media attention than they ever could have bargained for.
They opened the season with a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, and not only did they sweep the series, but New York crushed them in ways that even the most optimistic Yankees fans couldn’t have predicted, all thanks to something the team had been working on during the offseason: the torpedo bat. These new bats push the meat of the bat towards the end instead of evenly distributing it across the entire bat. This gives hitters faster and stronger swings when practiced for an extended period of time. This helped them blow out the Brewers in the now famous 20-9 beatdown in the second game and 12-3 in the third. This sparked a lot of conversation amongst the fans, debating whether the bats were considered legal. This was largely due to the fact that it was the Yankees who were popularizing it recently. And since the Yankees are almost universally disliked across other MLB fanbases, had it been almost any other team, the reception and response would’ve likely been much more positive.
Aaron Judge has been playing arguably the best baseball of his career, batting in fourteen runs and mashing six home runs to help lead the Yankees to a 6-2 start in their first eight games of the season. While the season is only just beginning and there’s still a lot of baseball left to play, it’s hard to argue that the Yankees haven’t surpassed their offseason expectations. No one gave them much of a chance after losing Soto and Cole getting hurt. But with these new bats and Judge playing like the best player in the American League, the Yankees are looking vintage and making fans reminiscent of the classic years from the 90s. Whether or not they’re contenders to win it all is too early to say, but based on the select sample size and the innovation behind their new bats, the Yankees will definitely be a fun team to watch this season. I believe the buzz surrounding the torpedo bats have gotten people interested in the team again, and when New York’s team is winning, it always keeps baseball interesting.