Baseball is certainly rooted in tradition, where sometimes change can be slow, so when something comes around launching baseballs at a record pace, it gets people's attention.

The new torpedo bats some Yankees players used made for many home runs, so many that the Yankees' 15 home runs in their first three games matched the 2006 Detroit Tigers for the most in MLB history.

The Bronx Bombers lived up to their nickname, demolishing baseballs in the opening weekend of the season. The idea is to use physics to their advantage.

"The wood out [at the end of the bat] is kind of wasted. It's not really helping you. They're putting in a place that is more helpful," Pitt mechanical engineering and materials science professor Dr. Buddy Clark said.

It also increases the surface area of the barrel. This can turn a swing and a miss into a foul tip or a foul tip into a base hit. Moving the mass further up the bat makes the bat swing like a shorter bat.

"That means it's going to be easier to swing fast. So, for everything else being equal, the same swing on these newer bats [is] going to give you greater bat speed," CMU associate professor of physics Dr. Matthew Walker said.

If you remember your high school physics, recall that mass times acceleration is force. More force, more potential for home runs. While the torpedo bat made for an exciting opening weekend, it's still a small sample size.

"It could be a little overstated. You can take data from one weekend, and say that's amazing, but we'll see how it plays out," Dr. Clark said over Zoom.

Any time something takes a sport like baseball by storm, there is a pushback. Don't be surprised if pitchers stop pitching inside, which the torpedo bat takes advantage of.

"I think teams are going to have to be able to pitch outside. This may reduce some of the emphasis on the power fastball, so I'm kind of excited to see how the game evolves," Dr. Walker said.

You'll get your chance to see these bats in person when the Yankees come to town for the Pirates' home opener later this week.