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By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 17, 2022
We spent a good amount of time in the cage and on the field with the 2016 VELO. Our 9 year old player, who weighs right at 65 pounds, fell in love with the 2016 VELO drop 12 2 3/4 two piece composite.
The 30/18 has a respectable size barrel and the added weight in the hands increased his contact percentage remarkably when compared to similarly-sized, yet end-loaded bats like the 2016 Voodoo Raw.
The VELO clearly lacks some jaw-dropping power that can be found in other sticks (like the Rawlings 5150) but for many hitters the name of the game is getting the ball in play, not sending it out of play.
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The VELO’s success has come from lowering the swing weight and increasing the barrel size of an average bat. These features can dramatically increase contact percentage. As such, hitters looking for as much bat speed as possible should be considering the VELO.
On the flip side, it should be noted, the VELO’s lack of swing weight is also the reason the bat lacks some gumption at impact. The lack of jaw dropping power doesn’t mean the 2016 Rawlings VELO isn’t recommendable. On the contrary, for a hitter who needs more bat speed and bat control, the one piece VELO could be the perfect choice.
The 2016 VELO single piece baseball bat is found in the BBCOR, 2 5/8 Senior Barrel and the 2 1/4 youth barreled bat. This bat, like the 2015 version, is a remarkably light swinging bat with a hand loaded weight distribution. The light swing is created by a composite end cap that extends itself to well into the barrel of the bat (about 3 inches). This extended composite end cap also allows for a larger barrel when compared to other single piece alloy designs (like the Rawlings 5150 (Amazon $155)).
The two piece composite release in the 2 3/4 line will be an interesting experiment by way of seeing how much market share Rawlings can take from some other very serious players in that space.
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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