Ottavino Talks Torpedo Bats, Says 'It's Cool to Hate' Yankees and Look for 'Boogeyman'

Veteran relief pitcher Adam Ottavino believes the New York Yankees' reputation is doing more than anything else to amplify the discourse around torpedo bats in MLB.

"I mean, listen, first of all, it's the Yankees and they scored a million runs in the first few games and it's cool to hate the Yankees and it's cool to look for the boogeyman and that's what some people are going to do and can't really stop that," the right-hander told ESPN. "But there's also a lot of misinformation and noneducation on it too.

"I was in Boston this spring and there were a bunch of guys using those types of bats over there too. So, they're all over the place. It's not unique to this organization. Maybe it originated in [the Yankees clubhouse], but I mean, there's no secrets in baseball. Everybody's going to be using what they think's going to give them the best result. So I don't really make too much of people complaining about it, honestly."

The way this story developed certainly helps to prove Ottavino's point.

This isn't the first season in which hitters have been using bats with a modified barrel. As one example, Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton had one at the plate last postseason.

And yet, fans were none the wiser until play-by-play announcer Michael Kay highlighted the "torpedo" bat during a Bronx Bombers broadcast. That's when the innovation exploded on social media and started to dominate every MLB-related conversation.

It's hard to envision the same kind of outcome if this revelation is made on a broadcast for the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Guardians, Pittsburgh Pirates or any other team with a far smaller following.

The way in which the Yankees torched Milwaukee Brewers pitching in their opening series made it easier to draw a line between cause and effect, too, regardless of whether it existed.

In general, torpedo bats could be no different from that one player who unexpectedly goes on a tear to start a season and then levels off as opposing players adjust.

For all the talk about the bats, the slugging percentage across MLB (.394) is tracking as the second-lowest since 2000, per FanGraphs. In a few months, we could easily look back and wonder what all the buzz was about.