The Milwaukee Brewers fell to 0-2 on the season following their 20-9 blowout loss to the New York Yankees on Saturday. Nestor Cortes, who was acquired by Milwaukee from New York in exchange for two-time All-Star closer Devin Williams this past winter, gave up eight runs and five home runs in just two innings of work. He became the first pitcher in Major League history to give up five home runs and five walks in a game in which he faced less than 35 batters.
He faced 17.
Additionally, Cortes gave up solo home runs on each of the first three pitches he threw, making him the first pitcher ever (since such stats started being recorded in 2000) to do so.
But during the game, Brewers fans were made aware of a modification that the Yankees had made to their bats, and many questioned their legality.
Milwaukee Brewers Fans Are Furious at the Changes New York Yankees Players Made to Their Bats
During the game, the Yankees broadcast team highlighted a slight modification that New York had made to their bats. “The Yankee front office, the analytics department, did a study on Anthony Volpe and every single ball, it seemed like, he hit on the label,” Michael Kay said. “He didn’t hit any on the barrel. So they had bats made up where they moved a lot of the wood into the label so the harder part of the bat will actually strike the ball.”
When Kay’s comments were highlighted on social media, Brewers fans were furious given the lopsided nature of the game:
Are these allowed? https://t.co/U6wdxg2ClA
— Sam Dekker (@dekker) March 29, 2025
Brewers Twitter is now 2 for 2 in cheating scandals this season.
– Grisham hat
– Illegal batsBonus:
– Pop fly into right and… it’s a home run! https://t.co/n8LHiLITob— The Pride of Wind Lake (beast) (@PrideofWindLake) March 29, 2025
How is this legal? https://t.co/m7evNI1mI1
— Joshua (@JoshuaHowsam) March 29, 2025
this needs to be investigated immediatly. The Yankees historically has cheated and bent the rules… Cashman admitted as much when I was in a repoter scrum back in 2008. The commish needs to see the legality of this especially for a team that is desperate after the offseason. https://t.co/qWYtlWJDAc
— Talkin Mets Podcast (@TalkinMetsNoG) March 29, 2025
Yeah I’m sorry barrel manipulation should not be legal. If there’s legitimate data surrounding how certain barrels perform better, then that barrel should be consistently used across the league. This isn’t like a custom knob or something, this is affecting balls put in play. https://t.co/UFbegToyh0
— Anthony Schorling (@aschorling34) March 29, 2025
I noticed this in game one. I wonder how long it takes for everyone else to follow suit or the league to do something about it. https://t.co/4g9MZ3lDe8
— American Family Field Pigeon (@FieldPigeon) March 29, 2025
Despite the outrage, though, the bats are, in fact, legal. The only question now is whether the Brewers and the other MLB teams will try using the same kind of bats or if the league itself will move to ban them.
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