Everyone in and around baseball seems to have an opinion on the “torpedo” bats now being used by several New York Yankees players and other stars around Major League Baseball. Opinions vary, but Philadelphia Phillies reliever Matt Strahm has offered a rather unique, and fiery take on the controversial new sticks.
After the Yankees cranked a record-tying 15 home runs in their first three games (four of them by Aaron Judge, who doesn’t use the torpedo bats), Matt Strahm, fired off a message on X (Twitter) with his thoughts on the bats.
“Let them use whatever bat they want,” Strahm wrote. “Let’s just allow pitchers to use whatever hitters have in the on deck circle. And not check us like we are criminals every time we walk on or off the field. I’m just a pitcher but I’m assuming better grip helps ya swing harder…”
He is referring to the numerous mandatory hand checks umpires conduct on pitchers throughout games these days. Major League Baseball started going after pitchers in 2021 because of the widespread use of sticky substances by pitchers.
Matt Strahm, however, walked back his take a little bit, at least with regard to letting pitchers use “sticky stuff” again.
“PREACH!!! This was my exact thought, let you guys use the sticky stuff,” one fan replied to Strahm’s original comment.
“Not sticky cause some of that stuff was a bit much. Just whatever a hitter can use to grip a bat better we can use too,” the 2024 All-Star responded back.
Based on Strahm’s 1.87 ERA with 79 strikeouts in 62.2 innings last year, he doesn’t appear to really need the “sticky stuff” anyway.
It’s also still very debatable whether these “torpedo” bats are really some sort of cheat code for hitters.
Yes, Elly De La Cruz went 4-for-5 for two home runs and seven RBI in his first game using one of the bats. And yes, Orioles catcher Adley Rutcshman has hit two home runs using the bat this season.
However, several other players that are also using the bats, especially Francisco Lindor, who is 0-for-13 so far this season, aren’t fairing nearly as well.
The post Phillies’ All-Star Reliever Fires Off Combative Hot Take On New ‘Torpedo’ Bats appeared first on BroBible.
Phillies’ All-Star Reliever Fires Off Combative Hot Take On New ‘Torpedo’ Bats
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