Baseball bat manufacturers had little evidence to suggest a spike in sales was just around the corner when Major League Baseball’s newest season opened last week.

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

Developed by a physicist, these bats have their widest part, called the barrel, closer to the player's hands to offer a better chance of hitting the ball on their "sweet spot"