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By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 29, 2022
Few bats were anticipated more than the 2022 DeMarini Voodoo One in BBCOR. The bat has reached epic hype proportions despite the average to good reviews received by its 2017 through 2020 predecessor (which it hasn’t changed from).
Resellers have sensed blood in the water with this 2022 version. They saw the sold-out 2021 version reach upwards of thousands of dollars on the secondary market and are quickly buying up inventory in the hopes they can resell the bat for healthy returns come the holidays. Affiliate marketers on social platforms are pushing the bat as an impossible find and a ‘must buy’ right now kind of product.
None of that makes the bat terrible; it is plenty good. But the hype is nothing more than hype.
Our hitters like the single-piece feel and the light swing. They do wish the barrel profile was larger and the bat didn’t hurt as much on mishits, but the better the hitter is the less that stuff seems to matter.
The 2022 Demarini Voodoo One is a BBCOR only bat that is a single-piece alloy built with a light swing and smaller barrel profile. But, the light swing and good sound can create some great exit velocities with the right hitter. The bat is not better than the BBCOR test, but many new hitters using a light swinging BBCOR bat are finding the swing weight ideal. There are plenty of bats that fit this mold, but the Voodoo One is clearly the leader of pack in terms of overall appeal.
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The single-piece, stiffer feeling bats built for a light swing has plenty of options. We think a bat like the Easton Maxum Ultra is its best competitor—it has a bigger barrel, swings light, and hits the crack out of the ball. Other bats like the Easton Alpha ALX and Rawlings VELO are reasonable alternatives too. However, no bat gets the pub like the Voodoo One.
The only change from 2021 to 2022 is a new endcap on the 2022 Demarini Voodoo One. The bat doesn’t feel much different (if any) from previous years) so we aren’t sure what the point was of changing the end cap. But, nonetheless, the 2022 Voodoo One has a new end cap. The bat, effectley, has not changed from its 2017 release.
The 2022 Voodoo One is a single-piece alloy bat with a light swing and a smallish barrel. Here is the writeup from DeMarini:
Play with fire. Introducing the 2022 Voodoo One (-3) BBCOR Baseball Bat, the bat built for an unrivaled combination of elite swing speed and power. 2021’s hottest bat in BBCOR, Voodoo One returns its signature X14 Alloy Barrel, revered for soul-crushing performance and maximum pop, and its new paint job marks the homecoming for Skully — a DeMarini legend. A new lightweight Tracer End Cap enhances bat speed and barrel performance, and the one-piece alloy construction delivers unparalleled exit velocity and maximum stiffness. It’s the bat of your dreams – sure to give pitchers nightmares.
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.