A bat shaped like a bowling pin could change baseball forever

For those without the patience for baseball, a sport where hitting the ball 30 per cent of the time makes you a star, some news: the torpedo bat is here.

The New York Yankees tied a Major League Baseball record last weekend after hitting 15 home runs in their first three games of the season.

Their not-so-secret weapon is a bat that looks more like a bowling pin and is tailored to each hitter.

The trick is to do away with the typical design in which the diameter of the bat increases all the way from the handle to the barrel, to move the weight closer to the hands, and to add width where the batter tends to make contact with the ball.

The bat was invented by Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT physics grad, and conforms to league rules on diameter and length.

But even if the bat catches on, there may still be room for old-school slugging.

Another Aaron (Judge) hit three of the Yankees’ nine home runs on Saturday. He did so with his normal bat.

Photo credit: Pamela Smith/AP