As the torpedo bat craze stormed Major League Baseball to start the 2025 season, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge were both asked about making the switch. “I’m very satisfied with my current bat,” Ohtani told the Japanese press after an April walk-off home run.
“What I did the past couple of seasons speaks for itself,” Judge said the morning after the Yankees hit a franchise-record nine home runs, including three by the captain himself. “Why try to change something if you have something that’s working?”
Turns out the sport’s two reigning MVPs and biggest stars use the same bat brand owned by Yoenis Céspedes, who spent nine seasons in MLB and knows a bit about hitting dingers, as a two-time Home Run Derby champion.
“2012 me would’ve just laughed,” Céspedes said in an interview when asked about being an entrepreneur after just defecting from Cuba. “I was focused on helping the A’s win. Owning a bat company? Then buying another one? A glove company too? That would’ve sounded crazy, but it is a beautiful thing. It means everything to me now.”
Chandler doesn’t have the name recognition of MLB’s official bat brands, Victus and Marucci, or Louisville Slugger, which was the official provider between 1997 and 2024. But MLB players know Chandler.
“Our business is really skewed towards the professional athlete, and that is inherent in the DNA of Chandler Bats,” Ben Chase, Chandler Bats CEO, said in a phone interview. More than 60% of their business is from people who get paid to play baseball, Chase said, adding that the company prides itself on meeting the customization needs of players when it comes to knobs, weights, cup depths and cup diameters.
Chandler’s MLB player market share was 10.4% on opening day, according to Bat Digest. It ranked fourth behind Victus (27.8%), Marucci (20.4%) and Louisville Slugger (15.2%).
Still, fourth is a miracle. “Chandler bats, the brand, effectively went under, and we had to rebuild everything from the ground up,” Chase said. “What good is a bat that you can’t get out the door?”
Chandler Bats was founded in Norriton, Pa., in 2009, and Céspedes used the brand during his big league career. In 2017, Céspedes loaned the brand’s parent company, RxSport, $700,000, and then acquired all its assets, including Chandler, in July 2019 after RxSport filed for bankruptcy protection. “It was a very challenging time to get into the bat business,” Chase said, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, which cut the 2020 season and limited clubhouse access, and the 2021 MLB lockout, which also canceled the winter meetings.
Chandler shut down production in mid-2021 and trucked everything from Pennsylvania to its new home base, Port St. Lucie, Fla., where Céspedes lived and still does. “It was triage for a number of years,” Chase said.
Céspedes, who made an estimated $130 million in playing salary during his career, infused more capital into the business to spur its rebound. Chandler expanded with the acquisition of Emery Glove Co. in late 2021. The company has focused on reducing delivery times in its consumer business. What used to take six or seven weeks from the time of order for a full custom has now been whittled down to 30 days or less. (Chandler offers a “rush production” option for custom models on its website for $50 extra.) The company has same-day shipping for in-stock models.
The direct-to-consumer business is up 5x since 2021 through its website. Distribution also continues to increase through its network of retailers, including Better Baseball, Hit Over Hit, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Bases Loaded; meanwhile, the torpedo bat mania triggered April sales to surge more than 100% versus the prior year. Chase wouldn’t disclose annual revenue.
Céspedes says his favorite part of the business is testing new products and working with his team on custom models. “That’s where I get hands-on to make sure everything we produce is the best,” he said.
Judge has been aligned with Chandler since the beginning of his career, which has seen him hit 346 home runs and win two MVP Awards. The company sells a pair of Judge bats, the AJ99 and AJ99.2, both listed for $239 on the company website. “We’re honored to have that level of trust, even as the company has gone through so many different transitions and hardships, and we don’t take that lightly,” Chase said about the Judge relationship.
Chandler sent Ohtani some custom bats during the 2022 offseason for him to try. Ohtani was intrigued by what Judge was doing, which included an American League record 62 home runs in 2022, according to Chandler Bats rep Chuck Schupp, who previously had long stints at Marucci and Louisville Slugger. Ohtani tested them in Japan and broke them out in games during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
It’s proven a good fit, as Ohtani has since posted by far his two best seasons for OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage), and he’s on track for a third straight year over 1.000. The Japanese superstar also won his second and third MVP awards while swinging Chandler bats. The company does not sell an Ohtani model.
Baseball equipment manufacturers pay MLB players to wear their apparel, batting gloves, cleats, gloves and helmets, but bat deals are unique, as players are rarely paid to swing a bat.
“Bats are just a different animal,” Schupp said in a phone interview. “It’s such a custom product that players want to feel comfortable with. Part of this is player comfort, part of it is trust, and part of it is relationship.”
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