Outside The Confines: Damn the torpedoes

The Yankees new bat is causing a stir. There are two new stadiums this year. Willson Contreras eats tape. We remember whom we’ve lost and other news from baseball.

I don’t know whether I’m paying tribute to David Farragut or Tom Petty.

• The Yankees hit nine home runs against the Brewers on Saturday and many were quick to credit/blame New York’s new “torpedo” bats. Jack Baer has an explanation on what makes these bats different and no, they aren’t illegal.
• Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill thinks the torpedo bat should be made illegal.
• Jared Greenspan has reaction from throughout MLB on the torpedo bats.
• I’m not going to vouch for the accuracy of this graph, but it’s an illustration about how much better the torpedo bats are than normal bats. [Bluesky link] So if this is accurate, they are a slight improvement but hardly any magic home run hitting machine.

• Jake Mintz also takes a stab at what makes the torpedo bats special. Or not.
• Aaron Judge won’t use the torpedo bats. He says his hitting isn’t broke so he’s not going to fix it. R.J. Anderson reports.
• Chris Kirschner has more on Judge’s decision. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Brendan Kuty profiles the MIT physicist that developed the torpedo bats. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Lindsay Adler looks at the epidemic of arm injuries among pitchers and MLB’s dilemma about what to do about it. If you can’t read at that link, try this one. It’s worth reading despite the use of “the M.L.B.” in the article, which is objectively wrong, New Yorker.
• Michael Rosen tries to figure out how MLB’s two new stadiums—both minor league stadiums—will play this year.
• Barry M. Bloom writes about the badly-damaged Tropicana Field and the dilemma the city of St. Petersburg and the Rays are dealing with.
• Chad Jennings profiles the Rays’ grounds crew, who are working outdoors for the first time. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Speaking of grounds crew, Scott Merkin has how the White Sox “Sodfather” managed to get the White Sox game in after a torrential downpour on Sunday.
• Brian Murphy has the 13 best storylines on Opening Day rosters.
• Jesse Rogers polls MLB executives on some of the big questions in baseball this year. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Bob Nightengale asks if the Dodgers can break the 116-win season record this year.
• Davy Andrews has one reason that each team will have a great season and one reason they’ll have a terrible one.
• Will Leitch has the ten oldest players in baseball this year.
• Speaking of which, Blue Jays’ 40-year-old right-hander Max Scherzer went on the injured list with a sore thumb.
• Jared Greenspan examines how eight teams plan to overcome early-season injuries.
• Tyler Kepner has each team’s “hidden” statistical drought. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $45 million with a couple of team option years after that.
• The Athletics claimed lefty Angel Perdomo off waivers and designated outfielder Esteury Ruiz for assignment.
• “Mr. Marlin” Jeff Conine was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame on the same day that his son Griffin hit a home run in Miami’s win over Pittsburgh.
• The Red Sox’s Rafael Devers is off to a rough start, becoming the first player in MLB history to strike out 12 times in the first three games of the season. Devers is 0-for-16 with two walks on the year.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt has a profile of the Bednar family and brothers David and Will Bednar. (The Athletic sub. req.) Will was a 2021 first-round draft pick with high expectations who hasn’t gotten above Double-A and is no longer considered a top prospect. David was a 34th-round pick with no expectations who is now the All-Star closer for the Pirates.
• Both Rangers manager Bruce Bochy and Braves manager Brian Snitker are both in what is expected to be their final seasons in the dugout. But as Bob Nightengale reports, neither one will announce their retirement yet and are focused on this season, not retirement.
• Mark Sheldon reports on the Reds’ Elly de la Cruz’s progress in learning English and how he’s an inspiration to other Reds Latin players who want now want to learn English too. Sheldon also profiles de la Cruz’s English teacher, Kaitlin Beltre, who he no longer needs but who is working with other players in the Reds’ organization.
• The Naval Academy has flagged a Jackie Robinson biography for removal from the Academy library.
• Umm, Willson?

• Contreras explains why he ate the batting tape. As John Denton reports, Contreras said “That was a bad taste. Really bad.”
• And finally, every year Sully Baseball does an “In Memoriam” video in tribute to the people who contributed to baseball whom we lost over the past year. This is this year’s video. It’s worth your time.