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By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 17, 2022
In 2006 and 2007 the hottest baseball bat on the planet was the double walled aluminum Techzilla from a small company named Anderson.
It was their first foray into the metal bat space and it was a smashing (both literally and figuratively) success. The ’06 and ’07 Techzilla hit more baseballs into the Mariana Trench than any other bat.
That is a made up ‘fact’, but our point stands: the 2006/2007 Anderson Techzilla was (and is) the daddy of bomb dropping double walled baseball bats. If you can pick up one of these relics on ebay (and they usually run at quite a premium for an 8 year old bat) then it’s worth putting a bid or two–actually don’t because we want to buy them.
The 2015 Techzilla, also in true fashion, does not yet come in a big barrel or BBCOR size. We hope that will change one day soon as we think an endloaded one piece aluminum BBCOR bat (or dual walled) bat would fill a serious gap in the current little league and highschool offering. But until then, those who want to swing the namesake of one of the original gangster bomb droppers need to be in a 2 1/4 league.
Overall we are excited to see Anderson Bat company producing legitimate bats for every level of baseball and we think and hope in the years to come the offering will be broader. We think the 2015 line does fill a serious need in the highschool range of those looking and needing the lightest swing possible. The one piece aluminum bats in the Senior League are also great price points for a well made stick.
You can buy the 2015 Anderson models are here.
After Anderson’s remarkable success circa 2007, and once regulation creeped in the metal bat space, the Anderson bat company struggled to live up to the hype of its earlier versions–although the 2008+ Anderson bats got less play than they deserved. Regardless, the company struggled to compete with the deep pockets in the space and, in the end, the family run Anderson bat company was purchased by new ownership in 2013.
The new ownership is committed to once again making the best bats on the planet and reviving the Techzilla to its rightful place on the must swing list. And, in justbatreviews’ opinion, their first iteration is a step in the right direction.
They have pared down their baseball catalog into the bats they know work. They are categorized into two brand names: The FLEX and the Techzilla.
The Flex is a single walled aluminum bat with a fantastically low swing weight. In fact, in the BBCOR version, we can’t find any bat with a lighter swing weight. Even the much hyped BBCOR CF7 from DeMarini measures out a 5% heavier swing weight (at least according to our calculations). We think this strategy plays well into the highschool hitter who prefers the lightest swing possible (for the fastest bat speed possible). The fact Anderson has done this in a full aluminum bat is remarkable.
In addition to the BBCOR, the flex also comes in a drop 10 in a senior league (both 2 5/8 and 2 3/4). These bats also grade out the lightest swing weight in their class with the Marucci Hex not far behind. These bats are also one piece aluminum bats. The barrels, for aluminum bats, are well formed and large.
The 2 3/4 Senior League Flex bat is probably our favorite of the entire line: Huge Barrel, great aluminum ping; great price point for a legit bat. Little leaguers who can swing a 2 3/4 and want the most plate coverage per bat speed should have the Anderson Flex 2 3/4 at the top of their Christmas list.
The Flex name is also on one youth version (2 1/4) bat but it is a full composite single piece bat.
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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