Torpedo Bat Distance Analysis: Do Torpedo Bats Hit Farther?
The simplest performance question about the torpedo bat is also one of the easiest to misunderstand: does a torpedo bat actually hit the ball farther?
The evidence available in 2026 does not support a universal distance advantage. Early MLB data showed that a group of torpedo bat users hit fly balls farther during the opening week of the 2025 season, but the first controlled laboratory comparison of torpedo and traditional maple bats found essentially the same peak collision performance.
The torpedo's more defensible advantage is different. Its barrel can move the productive hitting region closer to where a particular hitter normally makes contact. If that produces better contact more often, some of those batted balls may leave the bat harder and travel farther. But the bat does not automatically add a fixed number of feet to every fly ball.
Short answer: a torpedo bat can help an individual hitter produce longer batted balls when the relocated productive zone improves that hitter's contact. Controlled testing does not show that the torpedo shape itself has a greater maximum-distance capability than a comparable traditional bat.
Torpedo Bat Distance Numbers at a Glance
Early 2025 Fly Ball Distance
+8.3 feet ESPN opening-week analysis: 314.4 ft in 2024 → 322.7 ft in the first 2025 sample of 13 reported users.Controlled Peak BBCOR
Essentially Equal 2026 Nathan, Smith & Russell laboratory study comparing two standard and two torpedo maple bats.Sweet Spot Shift
About 0.5–0.6 in. Controlled testing found the torpedo's productive region shifted farther from the barrel tip and toward the hands.Early Launch Angle Change
+3.2° ESPN opening-week group: 13.7° → 16.9°. Observed change, not proof of a torpedo-bat effect.Full-Season Contact Signal
13 of 16 UC Berkeley Sports Analytics found 13 of 16 confirmed 2025 users increased hard-hit rate year over year.What Actually Determines How Far a Baseball Travels?
Once the baseball has left the bat, it does not know what shape of bat produced the contact. Its flight is determined by the conditions of the batted ball and the environment.
The two Statcast measurements most closely associated with the initial batted-ball trajectory are:
- Exit velocity: how fast the baseball leaves the bat.
- Launch angle: the vertical angle at which the baseball leaves the bat.
Spin, launch direction, air density, temperature, wind and the aerodynamic properties of the baseball can also affect how far an airborne ball eventually travels.
This distinction is important for torpedo bat analysis. The bat can influence the contact event, but it does not create a separate aerodynamic effect after the baseball is in flight. A torpedo-shaped bat does not make the baseball more aerodynamic.
What the 2026 Controlled Torpedo Bat Study Found
The strongest evidence now comes from Alan Nathan of the University of Illinois, Lloyd Smith of Washington State University and Daniel Russell of Penn State University. Their 2026 research was the first experimental study designed specifically to compare torpedo and standard bats in controlled laboratory conditions.
Four maple bats were specially constructed: two standard bats and two torpedo bats. The profiles duplicated a standard bat used by an MLB player in 2024 and a torpedo model used by the same player in 2025. The bats had similar length, weight and inertial properties.
Researchers fired baseballs at different locations along the barrels and measured BBCOR — the ball-bat coefficient of restitution — to determine how efficiently each impact returned energy to the baseball.
| 2026 Finding | What It Means for Distance |
|---|---|
| All four bats had essentially the same peak BBCOR | No general intrinsic power advantage was demonstrated for the torpedo shape. |
| The torpedo productive zone shifted roughly half an inch farther from the tip | The strongest part of the barrel can be positioned closer to where some hitters naturally make contact. |
| One torpedo sample had a wider high-BBCOR region | A wider productive area could make good contact more forgiving, but this result was not identical in both torpedo samples. |
| Two identical torpedo profiles did not perform identically | Natural wood properties still affect performance. Shape alone does not determine every result. |
| The tested bats had similar swing weight | The experiment did not demonstrate an automatic swing-speed increase caused by the torpedo profile. |
The distance implication is important. Moving the optimal impact location closer to the hands means that point on the bat is also moving slightly slower during the rotational swing than a point farther toward the tip. WSU therefore concluded that the torpedo design should not be viewed as a bat that simply produces greater maximum distance.
One torpedo sample did show a modest advantage in calculated exit velocity and productive-zone width, but the researchers linked the difference partly to natural variation in the wood. That makes it inappropriate to convert the result into a general claim that all torpedo bats hit farther.
Why Sweet Spot Location Can Still Affect Real-World Distance
Equal peak power does not mean the bat design is irrelevant.
A hitter does not strike every pitch at the exact point where a laboratory test records maximum BBCOR. Real swings create a distribution of contact locations across the barrel. The torpedo concept attempts to match the strongest part of the bat to that distribution.
If a player frequently makes contact farther toward the hands than the traditional bat's most productive zone, moving barrel mass inward can improve performance on those contacts. A ball that would otherwise be slightly mishit may leave the bat harder when the productive region is better aligned with the hitter.
That is why the strongest torpedo-bat argument is about how often a hitter accesses good barrel performance, not simply how far the single best possible swing can send a baseball.
For a deeper explanation of how the productive region is located and measured, see our torpedo bat sweet spot science guide.
The ESPN 13-User Distance Data: What It Actually Shows
Before controlled laboratory testing existed, one of the most widely discussed datasets came from ESPN analyst Tristan Cockcroft on April 2, 2025. He compared the opening-week performance of 13 players reported to be regularly using torpedo bats with their 2024 results.
| Metric | 2024 Baseline | Early 2025 Sample | Observed Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slugging percentage | .406 | .490 | +84 points |
| Average fly ball distance | 314.4 ft | 322.7 ft | +8.3 ft |
| Average launch angle | 13.7° | 16.9° | +3.2° |
| HR/FB rate | 9.5% | 13.9% | +4.4 percentage points |
The +8.3-foot number is real as an observation of that group during that period. What it is not is a laboratory measurement showing that a torpedo bat adds 8.3 feet.
The sample covered only the beginning of the season and included several Yankees hitters coming off the extraordinary March 29 game in which New York hit nine home runs against Milwaukee. Several home runs in that game were also hit by players using traditional bats.
ESPN explicitly warned against extrapolating the opening-week results. The group had changed in several ways at once: exit velocity, launch angle, pitch outcomes, player form and ballpark context. A bat-type comparison cannot isolate those variables.
The Yankees Effect: Why the Early +8.3 Feet Needs Context
One of the most useful parts of the original ESPN analysis was the comparison after removing Yankees hitters from the group.
Without the Yankees, the remaining torpedo-bat users had a combined .404 slugging percentage, two points below their 2024 level. ESPN also reported lower average exit velocity and hard-hit rates for the wider group at that early stage.
There were still positive hints. The Yankee-free group had a higher early home-run rate than its 2024 baseline, and average fly-ball distance showed some improvement. But these were opening-week samples involving very few batted balls.
How to interpret the +8.3-foot figure: it shows what happened to an early group of reported users. It should not be interpreted as “a torpedo bat adds 8.3 feet.” The 2026 laboratory evidence does not support a fixed built-in distance gain.
Exit Velocity, Launch Angle and Distance
A harder-hit ball has more initial speed available to travel downfield, but exit velocity alone does not determine distance. Launch angle changes how that speed is divided between horizontal and vertical motion.
MLB Statcast classifies a launch angle below 10° as a ground ball, 10–25° as a line drive, 25–50° as a fly ball and above 50° as a pop-up. Statcast also defines its broader launch-angle “sweet spot” as 8–32°.
| Launch Angle | Typical Contact | Distance Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| < 10° | Ground ball | Higher EV can make the ball harder to field, but it will not create long aerial carry. |
| 10–25° | Line drive | Strong combination of useful trajectory and hard contact; many extra-base hits occur here. |
| 25–32° | Lower fly-ball range | Hard contact can produce significant carry and home-run outcomes. |
| 32–50° | Fly ball | Distance remains highly dependent on EV; excessive height can reduce useful horizontal carry. |
| > 50° | Pop-up | Usually too steep to produce maximum useful distance. |
This is why the ESPN group's move from a 13.7° to 16.9° average launch angle cannot simply be converted into a fixed number of extra feet. Both values sit within line-drive territory, and an average launch angle does not reveal the full distribution of individual batted balls.
More importantly, there is no controlled evidence showing that the torpedo barrel itself caused the group's launch-angle increase. Swing mechanics, approach, pitch location and normal year-to-year variation can all change launch-angle distributions.
Does Lower Moment of Inertia Mean More Distance?
Potentially — but not automatically.
Moving mass toward the hands can lower a bat's moment of inertia, commonly called swing weight. With less rotational resistance, a player may be able to accelerate a particular bat more easily or make later adjustments during the swing.
But torpedo bats are not required to have lower MOI. Alan Nathan's early analysis explained that manufacturers can use the redistributed mass in different ways: they can reduce swing weight, increase the barrel diameter around the preferred contact area, or create a design that stays close to the player's existing swing weight.
The bats in the 2026 laboratory study had similar swing weight. That is an important correction to the idea that every torpedo bat automatically produces additional bat speed.
Player year-over-year bat-speed increases are also not controlled equipment tests. Training, health, mechanics, age and approach change between seasons. They should not be multiplied by a fixed “feet per mph” formula and attributed entirely to a new bat.
Why We Removed the Player-by-Player “Feet Gained” Estimates
It is possible to model how additional exit velocity might change the flight of a baseball under a defined set of launch and atmospheric conditions. What is not defensible is assuming that every observed increase in a player's bat speed was caused by the torpedo bat and then converting that increase directly into a guaranteed distance gain.
For example, a player swinging several miles per hour faster than the previous season may also have changed mechanics, strength training, bat specifications or approach. Even if the additional bat speed is genuine, the resulting distance depends on where the ball is struck, the collision efficiency, launch angle, spin and atmospheric conditions.
For that reason, this updated analysis does not assign Anthony Volpe, Cody Bellinger, Austin Wells or other players a hypothetical number of feet gained solely from year-over-year bat-speed changes.
What About the Early Fastball Distance Results?
ESPN's opening-week analysis contained an interesting pitch-type finding. The original group of 13 users had slugged nearly 300 points higher against four-seam fastballs than during the previous season, made hard contact 5.6 percentage points more often and averaged 23.7 feet greater distance on batted balls against four-seamers.
Eight of the group's first 14 home runs came against four-seam fastballs.
Those numbers are worth recording because they were part of the early torpedo-bat story. They are not strong enough to conclude that torpedo bats provide a special fastball-distance advantage. The dataset covered only the opening week, player identities and health changed between seasons, and pitch locations and quality were not controlled.
It is therefore more accurate to describe the fastball result as an early observational signal that would require a much larger controlled sample before being treated as a bat-design effect.
What the Full 2025 Season Adds to the Distance Debate
Later analysis is useful because the opening-week sample no longer has to carry the entire argument.
A January 2026 analysis by UC Berkeley Sports Analytics reviewed confirmed torpedo-bat users with sufficient 2024 and 2025 data. Thirteen of 16 increased their hard-hit rate.
That does not prove the bats caused those improvements, and hard-hit rate is not the same thing as fly-ball distance. It does, however, fit the more cautious performance theory supported by the laboratory work: the torpedo may help some hitters produce useful contact more consistently when its productive barrel region better matches their contact pattern.
Bat-speed changes were less universal in that analysis, reinforcing why the distance story should not be reduced to “torpedo bat = faster swing = more feet.”
The 2026 Distance Verdict
- MAXIMUM HITTING POWER: No clear torpedo advantage. Controlled laboratory testing found essentially identical peak BBCOR across the tested standard and torpedo bats.
- SWEET SPOT LOCATION: This is the meaningful difference. The torpedo design moved the productive region roughly half an inch farther from the tip in the controlled comparison.
- REAL-WORLD DISTANCE: Player dependent. If the relocated productive region helps a hitter make harder contact more frequently, some batted balls can travel farther.
- EARLY +8.3 FT RESULT: Real observation, not a universal effect. ESPN's opening-week group averaged 8.3 more feet on fly balls, but the sample was tiny and strongly influenced by Yankees hitters.
- BAT SPEED: Not automatically higher. Torpedo bats can be built with lower swing weight, but the 2026 test bats had similar MOI to the standard bats.
- LAUNCH ANGLE: Critical for distance, but not proven to be changed by the bat. The early group increased average launch angle, but there is no controlled evidence showing the torpedo profile caused that change.
- NO FIXED “FEET GAIN” EXISTS. A torpedo bat cannot responsibly be described as adding 7, 8, 20 or any other fixed number of feet to a batted ball.
Frequently Asked Questions: Torpedo Bat Distance
Not inherently. Controlled 2026 laboratory testing found essentially the same peak BBCOR for comparable torpedo and standard maple bats. A torpedo can still help an individual hitter produce longer batted balls if its relocated productive region improves that hitter's contact quality.
There is no verified fixed distance gain. An early ESPN sample of 13 reported users averaged 8.3 more feet on fly balls than their 2024 average, but the analysis covered only the opening week of 2025 and was heavily influenced by Yankees hitters. That figure should not be treated as an 8.3-foot equipment advantage.
The design moves more barrel mass toward a hitter's preferred contact region. If the player's normal contact aligns better with that productive zone, some swings that would have been slightly mishit with a traditional barrel can produce better exit velocity. Higher-quality contact at a useful launch angle can then produce more distance.
It can at certain impact locations for certain hitters, but it does not have a universally higher exit-velocity ceiling. Controlled testing found similar peak collision performance while showing that the productive region shifts along the barrel. The detailed exit-velocity evidence is covered separately in our Exit Velocity Tests guide.
Yes, in ESPN's April 2, 2025 opening-week analysis, the first 13 reported regular users increased average fly-ball distance from 314.4 to 322.7 feet compared with their 2024 numbers. The sample was extremely small and changed substantially when Yankees hitters were removed, so it is observational evidence rather than proof of a bat effect.
A lower-MOI bat may allow some hitters to swing faster, which can contribute to higher exit velocity if contact quality is maintained. But not every torpedo bat has lower MOI. The torpedo bats in the 2026 laboratory study had swing weights similar to the standard bats, showing that barrel shape and swing weight must be considered separately.
Both matter. Exit velocity measures how fast the baseball leaves the bat, while launch angle measures its initial vertical trajectory. A very hard ground ball will not travel as far through the air as a similarly hard ball launched upward, while an excessively steep pop-up can sacrifice useful horizontal distance. The combination matters more than either metric by itself.
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