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By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 17, 2022
The 715 is considered by Slugger as a three-piece hybrid bat: a composite handle, graphite connective piece and high grade aluminum barrel. The technology in the connective piece is referred to as Tru3 as in, I am guessing here, truly a third piece in the bat.
In a move that gets high marks from us, since its partly our job to keep track of all these bat names, they have put some thinking behind the bats title: 715 Select. The 7 refers to the same series of gear that Slugger makes (Series 7). The 15 is the release model year: 2015. The Select refers to a line of their wood bats (MLB Select) used often in the minors. It might sound like a silly thing, but the names that are actually informative to the consumers, in our opinion, are a step in the right direction.
We do not Recommend the 715 Select for any of the following hitters: Those who prefer composite barrels. Those who need or prefer a very light swing. Those who enjoy the sting and feel of single piece bats. Those on a limited budget.
The 715 is a new iteration of the 2014 Louisville Slugger RAID bat. The only difference is an improved durability in the connective piece. Otherwise, the bat is unchanged with the obvious exception of the paint job and name.
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.