SAN DIEGO — A reporter approached Tyler Fitzgerald in the Giants’ clubhouse Wednesday morning, and the second baseman answered the question before it could be asked.
“No more torpedoes,” Fitzgerald said.
The first on the team to try torpedo bats, baseball’s latest craze for hitters, Fitzgerald received two last week from Louisville Slugger, and for the series opener Tuesday at Petco Park, both he and catcher Patrick Bailey used them.
The good news is, Fitzgerald and Bailey used torpedo bats to hit back-to-back singles in the fifth inning.
The bad news is, both hitters broke their bats on contact.
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Suddenly, the Giants have no more torpedo bats.
“They died heroes,” Fitzgerald said.
Torpedo bats were all the rage when the season began, as hitters, especially Yankees hitters, barreled up pitches and put up huge numbers. Suddenly, players from every team put in orders. Many of those hitters, however, haven’t sustained the same success, but the oddly shaped bats — looking more like bowling pins, with bigger sweet spots on the barrel — remain a talking point throughout the industry.
Fitzgerald was the first Giant to get a torpedo shipment, and he used one for the first time Friday at Oracle Park, going 0-for-3. He sat out the weekend with a chest bruise and tried a torpedo again Tuesday because he liked the feel of it in batting practice.
As did Bailey, so Fitzgerald shared with his teammate.
“We were laughing about it,” Fitzgerald said. “When we were talking, he was like, ‘I don’t want to break your only other bat.’ I told him, ‘You’re not going to break it.’ Then he breaks it, and I break the other one next at-bat. But it got us two base hits. We’ll take ’em.”
Both hit the ball off the end of their bats, an area of the torpedoes that is less meaty with the weight distribution. Bailey lined softly to right field (73.5 mph exit velocity), and Fitzgerald popped the ball to left (69.5 mph).
As it turns out, breaking bats isn’t new to Fitzgerald, who has broken half a dozen this year.
The story’s not over. Fitzgerald has six more torpedoes on order from Louisville Slugger, though he’s not expecting them for at least three weeks. When they arrive, he plans to use them right away.
Ditto for Bailey, who has his own torpedoes on order.
“When I get them, I’ll use them,” Bailey said. “They feel good when I square up.”
Now the trick is keeping them intact.