Twins’ Carlos Correa not ready to jump on board ‘torpedo bat’ bandwagon yet

ST. LOUIS – Twins shortstop Carlos Correa has used the so-called “torpedo bats” that suddenly gained notoriety Saturday when the New York Yankees hit a franchise-record nine home runs in a rout of the Milwaukee Brewers, some using the new bats.

They’re not for him, he said.

“I tried them awhile in spring training. … I feel like we need a full year of data to see how they play,” Correa said. “For me personally, the way I was hitting [before being injured last year], I was really comfortable with my bats. So why change?”

“Torpedo bats” conform to baseball rules restricting the size of bats, but they look unusual because the barrel of the bat is shifted several inches closer to the handle.

Several Twins players gave them a try in spring training, but it’s not yet clear how many Twins have chosen to make the switch. Catcher Ryan Jeffers used one Sunday but so far has declined to discuss his choice.

The difficulty Correa experienced with them is that “pitches running away from you are going to be a little tough,” he said. “Cutters, sweepers, sliders, any pitch running away that you hit further down the bat, those are tougher to hit hard.”

If you’re confident you will be facing pitches inside, the bat has more usefulness, he said.

“Everyone breaking into you, you may have better contact because there’s more of the barrel there than in a normal bat,” Correa said. “It doesn’t feel different when you swing it. It feels different when you make contact, though, because the barrel is in a different place.”

Chris Paddack feels well-prepared for his first appearance on a big league mound since just before last year’s All-Star break. He did all that duck and deer hunting over the winter, after all.

Temperatures are expected to be in the low 40s on Monday when Paddack starts against the White Sox in Chicago, “so I might have an advantage over most guys because I’m used to the high winds [and] cold mornings out on the hunt.”

Actually, his biggest advantage is probably the return of his ability to hit the corners, blow high strikes past hitters and not worry about further damaging his surgically repaired shoulder and elbow.

The secret, he hopes, is more regular low-impact throwing in order to keep his arm prepared for the intensity of a major league game.

The surgeon who performed Paddack’s second Tommy John elbow surgery in 2022, Dr. Keith Meisner, “told me whenever I take time off, even just a couple of days, my body doesn’t respond very well to ramping back up. I have stiffness or arm fatigue the next time I get on a mound,” Paddack said. “It sounds crazy, but he convinced me of the idea of having a backyard catch like when I was a kid, throwing three of four times a day with my dad or brother. Or throwing a football around for a while, or just long-tossing. So I do something every day, just to keep the shoulder and elbow moving, just flexing the joints.”

It seems to have worked over the winter, between hunts, and Paddack says he feels better than he has felt in years.

“I’m excited. I feel like the last six days have gone by really slow,” he said. “Now that the games matter, there are a few more nerves. So let’s get the first one out of the way so I can settle in.”

When Rocco Baldelli walked out to home plate before Thursday’s opener, he got more than the usual how-ya-doings. The umpiring crew reminded both managers of a new MLB policy: Any pitcher, catcher or batter who taps his head in reaction to a ball/strike call would be subject to ejection at the umpire’s discretion.

Why? That’s the signal to challenge the call, a system that teams tested during spring training. Now that the regular season has begun, the system is no longer in use, “so we were told that any [gesture] like that would be considered” an attempt to mock the call, Correa said. “Showing up the umpire. I get it.”

• Every MLB player and coach found a gift awaiting them at their ballpark on Opening Day: a pair of AI meta glasses, capable of recording videos, accepting phone calls and playing music or podcasts, among other things. It’s a freebie worth several hundred dollars apiece.

• Another sign of Harrison Bader‘s enduring popularity among St. Louis fans: A collector’s shop inside Busch Stadium offered 3x4-foot photographs of Bader in a Cardinals uniform, autographed with the message, “Thank you, St. Louis,” for $175 each. They’ve sold “quite a few of them this weekend,” a clerk said.

• The Saints were rained out at home against Indianapolis for the second day in a row. The teams will play doubleheaders April 23 and 25 at CHS Field.