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By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 17, 2022
After our review of the Portent G3 baseball bat a couple days back, we were reminded we’ve yet to put up Combat Bat Reviews on the other two 2015 performance baseball bats from Canada: The 2015 Combat Wanted and the 2015 Combat Fray Hybrid.
The Wanted is a reprint of the 2014 Wanted from Combat which was well received as Combat’s first foray in the two piece bat market. The 2014 version was well balanced with a remarkable barrel size (which is par for the course with Combat) and has a great feel at contact.
The combat barrel is has dual walls which are separated by a gap. This allows, through some specialized engineering, for two separate sweet spots. One toward the end cap and one toward the middle of the barrel.
On the plus side, however, the price point for a two piece hybrid is the lowest in the business, and the barrel (especially in the 2 1/4 barrel) appears as big as anyone we’ve seen for 2015. Those two shots may give you enough confidence to take some hacks with the 2015 Fray Hybrid.
Pricing is here.
Overall we find the bat easy to recommend for those who prefer two piece bats, are looking for a value purchase, like big barrels and smooth swings. The 2014 version had a few complaints on durability but it’s hard to tell if that is any different than other two piece bats on the market—we would guess it isn’t.
The other two piece bat in Combat’s 2015 line up is the Fray Hybrid. The Fray is a brand new line for 2015. This bat has the same ultra light composite handle as the Wanted, but with an alloy barrel. The ultra light composite handle allows for Combat to attach a very long barrel. Compared to other two piece hybrids the barrel is remarkably long.
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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