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Home > All Reviews

2016 Easton MAKO TORQ XL Review

By Bat Digest

Updated November 17, 2022

2016 Easton MAKO TORQ XL Review Featured Image
We've spent over 10 hours in the cage collectively with the MAKO TORQ brand of bats---including the BBCOR, Little League (youth), and Big Barrel versions of the XL version. We've also seen the rotating handled bat at the plate at least one hundred times and have spoken to nearly anyone we've seen who uses the bat, about their experience. Additionally, we've spent time on the phone with Easton employees discussing the intricacies of the MAKO TORQ.
Price Check
2016 Mako Torq XL Video

2016 Mako Torq XL Models

The 2016 Easton MAKO TORQ XL is a new iteration to Easton's 2016 MAKO line and takes the end-loaded feel of a traditional two-piece composite bat (like the 2015 Easton XL1). It also increases the barrel size by including the MAKO specs (like the 2016 Easton MAKO) and adds the rotating handle made famous on the 2015 Easton MAKO Torq. In terms of pure performance, the 2016 Easton MAKO XL TORQ is a top-shelf premium bat---no doubt about it. The barrel size is gigantic by any standards and the bat is a true end load. If a player is willing to become accustomed to the spinning handle---or is so already---and needs (or really wants) an end-loaded performance bat then the Easton MAKO TORQ should be on top of the list. If they can forgo the rotating handle we think there are better options.

General Recommendations

As such, we'd recommend the 2016 MAKO XL TORQ to those who are sure they love the traditional Easton XL1 (or the 2015 Easton MAKO XL) as an end-loaded two-piece composite and also believe they'd benefit from the larger MAKO barrel and the rotating handle's potential for better inside plate coverage. If that isn't you then we believe there are plenty of performance bats in this price range which will suit your fancy.

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Previous Bats

Easton did not produce a 2015 MAKO XL TORQ. They did, however, produce both a 2015 Easton MAKO TORQ and a 2015 Easton MAKO XL. They took both of those technologies and added them together into the 2016 Easton MAKO XL TORQ. There are no particular upgrades to the individual technologies found in the bat---instead simply a combining of the two ideas. The 2016 MAKO TORQs do have a new grip (TORQ TAQ). We found it to be a bit sticker than last years.

Construction

The 2016 Easton MAKO XL TORQ is a two piece composite bat built on the chassis of the very famous Easton MAKO---whch has been around since 2014. The XL version of the MAKO is an end loaded version akin to the Easton XL1 of days gone by (and the Easton MAKO XL of 2015). The TORQ's defining feature is the bottom four inches of the handle which spins freely around the handle. This rotating feature lends to its name: TORQ. Easton uses the same connective technology (CXN) in their MAKO XL TORQ as they do in their other performance two piece bats. CXN is a marketing term for the welding technology that connects the barrel of the bat with the handle of the bat. In the baseball space, it is a rather stiff transition and what most hitters prefer. Easton has been using this design since the XL1 and S1 from 2012. The barrel of the 2016 Easton XL TORQ, made from Easton's THT Thermo Composite, is built to be gigantic and is akin to the barrel size on any of the MAKO barrels.  The handle of the bat is also constructed from Easton's composite THT composite. The MAKO XL TORQ is meant to be a heavy swinging bat in the performance space with a two-piece composite design built for big hitters.

2016
Easton
Mako Torq XL