Amid concern from fans about a potential competitive advantage with the new bats, an MLB spokesperson told The Athletic's Chris Kirschner that "the shape of the bat does not violate the rules." The 2025 MLB rulebook requires bats to be single pieces of solid wood no longer than 42 inches long.

The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood. We'll see if this trend catches on with rival clubs.

Instead of "normal" bats, they wielded bats that were fatter on the barrel towards the label and thinned out towards the tip. They looked somewhat like bowling pins. Longtime Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay explained why they were using those bats during the YES Network broadcast and revealed the team actually custom-made those bats to improve hitting for those who tend to make contact closer to the label than the true barrel,