Baseball 2025

iveofione said:
Any response to the new bats? They seem like a brilliant idea to me since they are well within the configuration specified by MLB. Moving the mass closer to the batters hands seems to be a way to increase bat speed whereas having the main mass at the end of the bat would appear to result in more of a pendulum effect that would be slower to accelerate. Add to that the tendency that most batters have to grip the bat right down at the knob and you have the recipe for a longer slower swing. Whatever the reason, batting averages have fallen considerably in the past 25 years from around .268 in the early part of this century to .243 last year. That is a huge decline, I think there were only 8 guys in all of baseball that hit .300 or more last year. So I'm all for anything that will improve batting averages and make the game more interesting.

Bat speed may be somewhat analogous to swing weight in a fly rod, move the center of inertia closer to the batters hands and the bat speeds up, remove mass at the tip of a fly rod and swing weight decreases. I don't know if it is a macho thing or what but choking up on a bat gives better control and more bat speed yet few do it. A guy named Barry Bonds did it (along with some illegal drugs).
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The MOI difference is important, but the biggest factor seems to be where along the length of the hat specific hitters contact the ball most frequently. The hitters going with the new bowling pin style had a tendency to contact closer to their hands, outside of the optimal "sweet spot" of traditional turn models. This new style shifts the sweet spot lower on the bat which should help those players.

With the torpedo bats, hitters can swing faster, but the bat has lower momentum and less leverage so the max exit velocities tend to be about the same regardless of bat style. It could possibly shift the BA-SLUG pendulum back, we'll see.

It's well within the rules and I fully support it. Pitchers have become SO good, velocities are higher than ever, pitches move more than ever, and pitchers have a wider arsenal than ever. That's the driving factor for the lower batting averages. The new bat style is a tool that could help hitters much the way super high speed cameras and ball tracking systems have helped pitchers. I enjoy the evolutionary arms race between pitchers and hitters.
 
A few months of use should make clear if the bats make an overall diff around the league, and hopefully they do.
As it is pitchers certainly have the edge, a starter only throwing 5 innings (5.2 league average last year) before being replaced by two or 3 situational relievers/closers so willing to really wing it while in, the hitters not seeing as many pitches from the same pitcher before rotated out. These days if a pitcher throws a full game it's newsworthy.
 
Hitters plate stance, arm length, and swing length with new bat will still dictate where pitchers and catchers will try to locate their offerings. As @Gary Knowels states the arms race is on. Good hitters gonna hit, good pitchers going to succeed.
Hitters have a new option so pitchers go to the outside corner now instead of inside. In lieu of having a bat sawed off at the handle from a heater inside I believe we’ll see more wrist and hand ringers from broken bats closer to the end of the bat. Gonna be interesting.
 
VAGABOND said:
Hitters plate stance, arm length, and swing length with new bat will still dictate where pitchers and catchers will try to locate their offerings. As @Gary Knowels states the arms race is on. Good hitters gonna hit, good pitchers going to succeed.
Hitters have a new option so pitchers go to the outside corner now instead of inside. In lieu of having a bat sawed off at the handle from a heater inside I believe we’ll see more wrist and hand ringers from broken bats closer to the end of the bat. Gonna be interesting.
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I'm not sure how well the numbers will bear this out, but one former pro suggested that having a smaller diameter near the end of the bat will result in less weak contact put in play and more of those swing resulting in foul balls which could even out that aspect.
 
Watched the Phillthys and the Dodgers Empire game last night on the tube before collapsing into unconsciousness. The kid who pitched for the Philthys, Luzardo, did a helluva job. Only major league player born in Peru, had the Worlds most expensive team on their heels or front foot most of the game. Can’t remember who the announcers were but I thought they did a great job not turning it into a word sentence competition between each other. May watch another one tonight. Mookie is still one of my faves. Looks like he’s having fun all the time even after losing a losing a bunch of weight. WTF were the R/S thinking??
 
iveofione said:
Any response to the new bats? They seem like a brilliant idea to me since they are well within the configuration specified by MLB. Moving the mass closer to the batters hands seems to be a way to increase bat speed whereas having the main mass at the end of the bat would appear to result in more of a pendulum effect that would be slower to accelerate. Add to that the tendency that most batters have to grip the bat right down at the knob and you have the recipe for a longer slower swing. Whatever the reason, batting averages have fallen considerably in the past 25 years from around .268 in the early part of this century to .243 last year. That is a huge decline, I think there were only 8 guys in all of baseball that hit .300 or more last year. So I'm all for anything that will improve batting averages and make the game more interesting.

Bat speed may be somewhat analogous to swing weight in a fly rod, move the center of inertia closer to the batters hands and the bat speeds up, remove mass at the tip of a fly rod and swing weight decreases. I don't know if it is a macho thing or what but choking up on a bat gives better control and more bat speed yet few do it. A guy named Barry Bonds did it (along with some illegal drugs).
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Ive, you mind find this article about the bat profiles interesting.
blogs.fangraphs.com

The Physics of the Torpedo Bat

What can physics tell us about the torpedo bats?
blogs.fangraphs.com blogs.fangraphs.com
 
Thanks Gary, I'm not sure what he said though! My attention span is probably deteriorating in old age but I would have been happy with the one paragraph lay version of that treatise instead of the verbose one. I did glean that both bats are remarkably similar though. I remember back when Harry Carey was broadcasting Cubs games and a ball was hit to the warning track. He used to say the hitter "should have had one more biscuit for breakfast!" So until we get a seasons worth of data on the torpedo bats my opinion will be that there is barely a biscuit of difference in them.
 
iveofione said:
Thanks Gary, I'm not sure what he said though! My attention span is probably deteriorating in old age but I would have been happy with the one paragraph lay version of that treatise instead of the verbose one. I did glean that both bats are remarkably similar though. I remember back when Harry Carey was broadcasting Cubs games and a ball was hit to the warning track. He used to say the hitter "should have had one more biscuit for breakfast!" So until we get a seasons worth of data on the torpedo bats my opinion will be that there is barely a biscuit of difference in them.
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Short version: no change to maximum exit velocity, slight increase in sweet spot length, slight shift in sweet spot towards the hands, probable slight increase in bat control
 
More broken bats?
 
Gary Knowels said:
Short version: no change to maximum exit velocity, slight increase in sweet spot length, slight shift in sweet spot towards the hands, probable slight increase in bat control
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Think aluminum bats…
Watched a guy hit a walk-off in the ninth tonight opposite field near the hands.
 
I have not played baseball competitively since I was 20 but still watch this YouTube Channel on occasion. Oregon based I believe. Basically, a former D1 player that reviews bats and does some other fun stuff too. Sometimes with participation from pro players. His review of torpedo bats was pretty much spot on with the article @Gary Knowels posted.



@FinLuver I don’t think they are anything like the aluminum bats of old. Not even anything like the BBCORE bats they use in high school and college today. Different though. Not sure they are the game changer everyone says. That said, modern pitching has gotten to where it is via modern training not equipment changes. I can see where folks would like to see the same from batters versus equipment changes. That’s the sport though. Cleats to gloves to balls to bats evolve and it’s up to the rules committee to make a call.
 
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jasmillo said:
I have not played baseball competitively since I was 20 but still watch this YouTube Channel on occasion. Oregon based I believe. Basically, a former D1 player that reviews bats and does some other fun stuff too. Sometimes with participation from pro players. His review of torpedo bats was pretty much spot on with the article @Gary Knowels posted.



@FinLuver I don’t think they are anything like the aluminum bats of old. Not even anything like the BBCORE bats they use in high school and college today. Different though. Not sure they are the game changer everyone says. That said, modern pitching has gotten to where it is via modern training not equipment changes. I can see where folks would like to see the same from batters versus equipment changes. That’s the sport though. Cleats to gloves to balls to bats evolve and it’s up to the rules committee to make a call.
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I'm in the same boat with you, I LOVE the bat bros, watch every episode, even Will's secret 2nd channel.
 
More on the Dodgers "fast start". Despite all of the talking heads on TV and the media in general awarding them a World Series victory after just 8 games, reality has begun to expose itself. And despite being tied with the most victories in baseball-today, April 10th-they find themselves in 3rd place in the NL West. It appears that some of their young pitchers are not yet ready for prime time and some of their veterans are fragile. The loss of one or two superstars and the inability of some role players to produce makes them look average and vulnerable. It is the same in all sports, the loss of a key player can change the trajectory of an entire season and be the difference between a champion and an also ran.

By October the rosters of many teams will look far different than they did in April with players injured, traded or DFA'd. After being a Dodger fan for about 77 years now I will temper my enthusiasm with the reality that shit happens and today's sure thing could be tomorrows disaster. I lived through the 1951 "Miracle of Coogans Bluff" when the Giants came from 13 games behind near the end of the season to tie the Dodgers only to have Bobby Thompson hit "the shot heard round the world" and go to the World Series. I was listening to the game at the time and can still hear Russ Hodges screaming: "The Giants Win The Pennant! The Giants Win The Pennant!"
As a 13 year old I was crushed but 74 years later I have become far more resilient. It's nice to win but not unexpected to lose. A lot like the rest of life.
 
Nice come from behind win for the M's last night. Down 5-0 in the eighth and pull out a victory. In yet another season of suspected mediocrity you have to enjoy the occasional positive moment.
 
albula said:
Nice come from behind win for the M's last night. Down 5-0 in the eighth and pull out a victory. In yet another season of suspected mediocrity you have to enjoy the occasional positive moment.
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Saw the end of that game, prior to tuning into a disappointing Royals effort. Great comeback by the Ms, good-on'em.

Go Royals
 
Wonder if Cal is going to that torpedo bat a try again.
 
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