It makes sense, then, that the talk around Major League Baseball after Opening Weekend concerned not a player or a team, a play or a result, but a piece of lumber: the torpedo bat. After speaking on Monday with various front-office personnel,

The torpedo bat has taken the baseball world by storm. What are the players and experts saying about this new piece of hitting technology?

While other types of modified bats, such as corked bats, are strictly forbidden in the major leagues, MLB has already confirmed that torpedo bats are legal and allowed; the league itself has even released news articles highlighting them. This could pave the way for a new era of baseball, one in which home-run hitters take precedence.

Using a strikingly different model in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin, the torpedo bat has become baseball’s latest

Torpedo bats drew attention over the weekend when the New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers in one game.

But let’s also not rule out — if the hitters can use “accessories” (talc, sticky stuff) to assist with their grip in at-bats, why can’t pitchers?