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Home > All Reviews

2017 Easton Z-Core Speed Review

By Bat Digest

Updated November 17, 2022

2017 Easton Z-Core Speed Review Featured Image
A monster-sized barrel with a light swing in the single-piece alloy space, like the Z-Core Speed, is hard to come by. But, we'd definitely look closely at the 516 from Slugger (our 516 reviews) before pulling the trigger on the Z-Core Speed. The lighter swing weight and the bigger barrel in the Z-Core, if that's what we wanted, would be plenty of enough reason to pull the trigger in Easton's direction.
Price Check
2017 Z-Core Speed Video

2017 Z-Core Speed Models

The Z-Core Speed from Easton has been in our possession, and cage, for nearly one month. We've observed a number of hitters hitting with the bat. We also reviewed our 2016 Z-Core Speed write-up last year, as that bat is basically identical to the 2017 version. As well, we spent well over an hour, searching the internet for information on the new Z-Core, exchanging emails with folks at Easton, and reading user experience with the previous year's bat. Armed with that background, we write this 2017 Easton Z-Core Speed Review.

General Recommendations

We would buy the 2017 Z-Core Speed if we were

  • a power hitter who wants a light swing
  • a legit high school or collegiate player with sound mechanics
  • happy with honest feedback on every hit and the occasional hand sting
  • looking for a large barrel for a single-piece aluminum alloy
  • willing to spend the money
We would price shop. Starting here (Amazon). We would look for new, in wrapper, warrantied bats from trustworthy vendors in a 2016 model, as there isn't a significant difference with the 2017 version. We might also consider the Whiteout Z-Core speed in the event we wanted a bat with more flash. We would not buy the Z-Core Speed if we were
  • looking for an endloaded bat
  • in need of buttery smashes of two-piece composites or hybrids
  • not in a BBCOR league
  • still in the growing phase and our mechanics weren't perfect (we'd prefer a balanced bat in the two-piece composite space)
  • on a serious budget or looking for used (aluminum is the hottest out of the wrapper)

Reviews By Model

Previous Bats

Like last year's 2016 Z-Core, the 2017 version is a single-piece aluminum alloy bat with a light swing weight. The barrel is the exact aluminum barrel found in the Z-Core speed lines. For at least a couple of years now, Easton has used an inner sleeve in the bat's design to increase the size of the barrel and sweet spot. It is the largest barreled single-piece alloy on the market. Our measurements showed this bat swings about 10% heavier than the MAKO. It is about 10% lighter swinging than the XL series of bats from Easton. It should be categorized as a lighter swinging balanced bat. There is only a design feature change from the 2016 version. Which, it turns out, was just color up from the 2015 version (called the S3Z). They did add the word "Speed" to the barrel and name.

2017
Easton
Z-Core Speed
1