2015 Rawlings Trio Review

By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 17, 2022

In 2014 Rawlings proudly introduced a bat with three distinct pieces: a composite handle, 5150 alloy barrel and composite end cap. All three were welded together in a new bat line for the behemoth company and was christened, fittingly, the Trio.

Price Check

2015 Trio Video

2015 Trio Video

2015 Trio Models

The bat was very well received among Rawlings lovers and those looking for a light swinging bat with good barrel size.

The Trio was received so well , in fact, Rawlings reprinted the bat with updated graphics but left the design largely intact for the 2015 Rawlings Trio.

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General Recomendations

This doesn’t mean we don’t like the bat. The Trio is a legit stick with great plate coverage and a butter like swing. Those who like a light swing with massive plate coverage and also want the ping of traditional aluminum at contact should have the Trio on their short list. The fact there were virtually no changes in the 2015 version coming from the 2014 model forces reason to buy this one instead of this one.

Model Recommendations

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Comparable Bats

In practice, however, we are not convinced that the design is, in and of itself, particularly advantageous over the list of other high end bats in the market–especially the two piece bat market which have, like the Trio, a balanced feel with composite handle and aluminum barrel (S2, Vexxum). We are not convinced the composite end cap plays any significant advantage over its peers in lowering the swing weight or extending the length of the barrel–at least the eye and cage test of other high end two piece bats give the TRIO an above average barrel size and below average swing weight.

Construction

Rawlings has done a lot to market the idea of an advantage of three distinct pieces forming a single baseball bat, and in theory the idea is nice enough. A composite handle and end cap to produce the right amount of swing weight and the aluminum alloy barrel to produce the traditional ping and pop of old school bats.

Overall Ratings

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.