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By Bat Digest | Last Updated June 15, 2022
Our hitters liked the stiffer feel, the sound and general sense that every ball they hit was like a bat out of hades. The stiffness in the handle felt great for long drives. We didn’t find a single hitter, of the 4 that tried it, that had anything bad to say. There is a reason this bat has made our best fastpitch bats article for a few years running now.
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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In the fastpitch space there are plenty of decent options. A few good ones. For 2018 the LXT from Slugger as well as Easton’s Ghost X Double barrel. You might also take a closer look at the CFX in Fastpitch although those sound a bit different.
The biggest change from 2017 to 2018 is the end cap. Slugger upgraded the cap to take a little more weight out of the bat. But, honestly, the Xeno has been fantastic since 2015 and there really isn’t much they could, or should, do to make it better.
The Xeno is a two piece composite bat built with a stiff transition and a good sized barrel. Expect to feel great hits out of the box.
The new addition this year is the end cap. It helps lower the swing weight a bit on each model.
The overall rating uses seven different weighted metrics to determine our overall score. Half of total rating comes from the player and our exit speed tests (Player Rating: 25%, Performance: 25%).The other categories are Relevance (20%), Demand (10%), Durability (10%), Resell Score (5%), and Tech Specs (5%).
*: When a bat is denoted by a star (*) it is a preliminary rating. Expect it to be updated as we learn more about the bat and gather more data.
(PlaRa) Player Rating: We measure player rating from user reviews. Those users include our own hitters that we test at the lab as well as reviews we find online.
(ExVe) Performance: Performance measures the exit speeds and distances we capture in our hitting lab with HitTrax using these bats.
(Relv) Relevance: We measure the number of sizes and the MOI of the bat. Bats with a wider range of options get a better score.
(Dmnd) Demand: Demand is measured by consumer sentiment and the buzz around the bat.
(Drb) Durability: A bat’s durability is measured by user reviews as well as feedback from manufacturers.
(ReSl) Resell Score: Based on the price the bats go for used. Higher prices mean greater user demand which means, generally, a better bat. A resell value closer to its original price means a higher score.
(Tech) Tech Specs: We rate the bat on its technological advancements from previous years and compared to the industry at large. This is our chance to reward companies who are trying to innovate.
MOI
MOI or Mass Moment of Inertia is a measurement of bat swing weight. This quantifies how difficult it is to swing a bat. The industry often refers to this as things like End Load or Balanced but those words have been overused to the point of meaninglessness. We measure the actual swing weights of each bat we test using the industry-standard pendulum period, balance point, and scale weight. You can read more about that here.
Price
The price is the original MSRP price of the bat.
Type
The types of bats are single-piece alloy (SPA), two-piece composite (TPC), single-piece composite (SPC), hybrid (Hyb.), and wood (Wood). Hybrid bats are made of composite handles and alloy barrles.
Date
The estimated date the bat began distribution.
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