Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton says he'll continue using torpedo bats upon return from injury

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton said he'll continue using a torpedo bat whenever he returns from pain in both elbows, but also declined to say whether he thought using the new model might have caused his injury.

Last season Stanton began using the unique bats that feature more wood lower down the barrel closer to the label, shaped a little like a bowling pin. During spring training, he seemed to hint that using the different bats could have caused pain, telling reporters, “probably some bat adjustments," before later adding he didn't know why his injury occurred.

“You’re not going to get the story you’re looking for,” Stanton said Tuesday before New York opened a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. “So if that’s what you guys want, that ain’t going to happen.”

The torpedo bats made national headlines after Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells used them while combining to hit nine of New York’s 15 homers in its season-opening sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The bats were developed by Aaron Leonhardt, a former Yankees front-office staffer and MIT physicist now working for the Miami Marlins. On Monday, before the Marlins faced the New York Mets, Leonhardt said the origin of the bats dates to 2023 but added any success with them was due to the talented players swinging them.

“It makes a lot of sense,” Stanton said. “But it’s like, why hasn’t anyone thought of it in 100-plus years? It’s explained simply and then you try it and as long as it’s comfortable in your hand.”

Stanton is still feeling pain and has started hitting with the Trajekt machine that simulates high velocity and live pitching, but his rehab is in the early stages. The 35-year-old designated hitter expects to need a minor league rehab assignment after missing all of spring training and not swinging a bat since January.

“This is very unique,” Stanton said. “I definitely haven’t missed a full spring before. It will just depend on timing, really.”

Stanton hit .273 with seven homers and 16 RBIs during the 2024 postseason to help the Yankees reach their first World Series since 2009. After reporting to camp this year, he said on Feb. 17 that he hadn't swung a bat in three or four weeks because of elbow pain. He underwent three rounds of platelet-rich plasma injections.

Stanton batted .233 with 27 homers and 72 RBIs while playing 114 regular-season games last year, his season interrupted by a strained left hamstring that sidelined him between June 22 and July 29.

He signed a then-record $325 million, 13-year contract with the Marlins ahead of the 2015 season and had 59 homers and 132 RBIs in 2017, winning the NL MVP award. He was acquired by the Yankees that December and hit 38 homers with 100 RBIs in his first season with New York.

Stanton missed 266 of 708 games over the next five seasons because of a series of injuries that included strains of right biceps, right knee, left hamstring (twice) and left quadriceps along with right ankle inflammation and left Achilles tendinitis.

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