2025 MLB Season Early Review: Torpedo Bats, New Stadiums and more

The MLB season is just over 2 weeks in, and a lot has already happened. New bats, 2 minor league parks holding games and 2 red-hot teams. Let's get into the start of the 2025 MLB season. 

*Stats Are As of 4/14/25

Torpedo Bats

The “Torpedo Bats” have taken over baseball. They have been used this season by Cody Bellinger, Adley Rutchmen, Dansby Swanson and others. However, 2 of the players using the new bat stand out. Anthony Volpe has had a resurgent start to the season. His OBP is currently at .333, and he is slugging .509. Last season, his OBP was only .293 and he only slugged .364. His OPS+ has also jumped from 87 (below average), to 143 (well above average). Another player that has had an amazing start to the season is Paul Goldshmidt. His batting average is currently a career best .357, and has an insanely good 157 OPS+. The bat was invented by a former MIT physicist, and Yankees employee, Aaron Leanhardt. The idea of the bat is to shift the “sweet spot” (the biggest part of wood on the bat) to the place that the ball was hit most, usually the label of it. There are others, however, that have it different, like Cody Bellinger. He hits the ball closer to the top of the bat, causing a lot of slow ground balls to 2nd base. The Yankees shifted the sweet spot closer to the top of the bat for Bellinger, causing the ball to elevate more and be hit harder. Due to all of this, a lot of fans thought that these bats were illegal, and it looked for a minute that it would be banned. Then, MLB issued a statement saying that the bats were totally legal and Commissioner, Rob Manfred, said they were,”Great for the sport of baseball.” The bats were made out of 1 piece of wood and had a maximum total diameter of 2.61 inches, which made them fully legal. Overall, I think they are great for baseball. The league has had a league-wide trend of offensive numbers going down. I think that if  these bats stay on track, and more players use them, the league could finally have an offensive surge. 

Stadiums

This season we have 2 minor league stadiums used for MLB games, and a team that brought in their left field fence, to make their stadium more “hitter friendly.” Let's start with the Orioles, who moved the left field wall back, and lowered the fence in some places this season. They were “correcting their overcorrection,” stated GM Mike Elias. They had moved the wall back in 2022 to make Camden Yards a more “pitcher friendly” environment. However, they think that they went too far, and moved it back a little. As for the Tampa Bay Rays and the (soon to be) Las Vegas Athletics, they are both hosting their home games at minor league stadiums. George M. Steinbrenner in Tampa, Florida is where the Rays are playing this season. After Hurricane MIlton devastated parts of Florida, Tropicana Field roof was blown off, and the stadium was damaged. Due to the rainy conditions they will most likely have to endure this summer, they reached out to the Yankees, and set up shop at George M. Steinbrenner field. However, since the stadium is almost a carbon copy of Yankee Stadium, it has that short porch out in right field, helping set up some of the shortest home runs in MLB history there. Then, we have the Athletics. The A’s are going to be playing games at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California for next 3 seasons, until their stadium is built in 2028. They are sharing the ballpark with the Triple-A team the Sacramento River Cats. When the A’s are playing at Sutter Health Park, expect a lot of runs to be scored, as the ball absolutely flies out of there. The Cubs came to town for the first 3 game series in Sacramento, and scored 35 runs in those games. 

2 Rising Teams

AL Team - Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are looking to build on a very impressive end to last season. They were able to push the Guardians to Game 5 of the ALDS, before being eliminated by them. Now, they were alone at the top of the AL Central, with a record of 10-6. Spencer Torkeleson has been exceptional this year, with a 1.007 OPS and a .380 OBP. After losing their first 3 games to the Dodgers, the Tigers won their next 4 series, including a sweep of the White Sox. I think that this team will be poised to make a run come October, and can be very successful if their pitching (mainly Tarik Skubal) can come together down the stretch. 

NL Team - Chicago Cubs

The Cubs, a team most people had as a Wild Card appearance at most, are currently sitting at the top of the NL Central, and don’t look like they are going to be giving it up anytime soon. After getting swept by the Dodgers in Tokyo, and splitting a 4 game series with the Diamondbacks, the Cubs have been on fire. They swept the Athletics, and were able to take 2 of 3 from the Rangers, Padres and Dodgers. The Cubs have a very tought schedule in April, but it will ease out over the summer months. However, their ace Justin Steele will be undergoing season-ending surgery, and he will be replaced by Colin Rea. If the Cubs can get a pitcher at the trade deadline, watch out for this team to be a potential 2 or 3 seed come playoff time. 

Just over 2 weeks of this season have been played, and lots has already happened. We will see if more players use the “torpedo bat”, how the minor league stadiums are doing after a full season of work, and if the Cubs and Tigers are able to keep up their red-hot starts.