Torpedo Bats Have Oddsmakers' Eyes
Torpedo bats have been the most explosive storyline one week into the 2025 MLB season.
The baseball world is watching how these newly-designed hickory sticks could change the game, and that includes the people who set odds for a living.
Oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag said they’re keeping close tabs on the impact torpedo bats could ultimately have on their numbers as they were not expecting an equipment evolution in 2025.
“Nine times out of 10, when there’s a rule change or equipment change or some other day-to-day alteration that could be factored into our handicapping equation, we’re ahead of it,” BetOnline Sportsbook Manager Adam Burns said. “But this one definitely caught us off guard so we're watching it closely as we expect more teams and players to experiment.”
Scoring across the league isn't up through the first 81 games of the season compared to last year (8.0 rpg in 2025 vs. 9.4 rpg in 2025), but there are only 16 hitters using the bowling pin bats currently.
Where oddsmakers are aiming not to be caught with their pants down are areas such as individual player hitting props and game totals.
The Cubs, Reds, Twins and Rays all have two players using the bats. The Yankees have five. Those five teams have combined for a 19-12 over/under record so far.
Nothing outrageous, but certainly something the oddsmakers will keep tabs on throughout the season.
“This is something we’re monitoring extremely close in terms of hits and runs output because the more players who begin to adopt the torpedo bat, the more we may have to tweak our system,” Burns said.
BetOnline.ag created a couple of torpedo bat prop bets to accompany the narrative, setting odds on how many players will hit 40+ and 50+ home runs this season, and there's a slight uptick for each category.
Last year, two guys hit 40-49 bombs (Soto, Santander) while two players mashed 50 or more (Ohtani, Judge). Here are the current 2025 projections from BetOnline:
How many players will hit 40+ home runs?
Over/Under 5.5
How many players will hit 50+ home runs?
Over/Under 2.5
