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By Bat Digest | Last Updated November 17, 2022
From a swing weight perspective, the bat has a low mass moment of inertia comparable to the S1 from Easton or the G3 from Combat. Not as light swinging as a CF7 from DeMarini or a Senior Air from Rip-It. Nor is it as heavy as an XL1, Voodoo FT, 915, or 715. The Hex Composite is a nice balanced swing weight that most hitters will wield just fine.
If you weren’t paying close attention to the Marucci CAT 6 review we put up a few days ago, or were too distracted by our infatuation with that angelic bat, you may have failed to notice the CAT 6 does not come in anything lighter than a drop 8. Did Marucci just drop the ball and forget about this huge section of the little league world that needs something lighter than a drop 5? Hardly.an 10; Need or want an aluminum barrel.
Overall we are very pleased with this bat. We do wish it had more sizing options (like a 2 1/4 barrel as well as a drop 8 and drop 5), but those looking for a drop 10 balanced swing and prefer one-piece composite bats should have this bat at the top of their list. We feel this bat is a near-perfect combination of emphasis on power hitters and base hitters. While its sizing options are limited, we do feel the bat has the widest appeal a bat of its construction size possibly could.
We recommend this bat for hitters who: Want a one-piece composite bat with a balanced swing; Want a top shelf bat for reasonable top shelf pricing; Are looking for the maximum allowable pop; Are looking for the bat with the largest barrel per swing weight; Need a drop 10 balanced swing.
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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| 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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| 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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Another close competitor in both size and barrel volume is the Combat G3. The G3’s drop 10 swing weight is very similar (almost exact as far as we measured) to the Marucci Hex. However, the barrel coverage on the Marucci is measurably larger than Combat’s flagship bat—especially in the neck of the bat.
This Marucci stick is a full composite bat that comes in only a drop 10 for the 2 5/8 and 2 3/4 barrel size. It will not be released in a BBCOR (as far as I understand) nor will it be in a youth 2 1/4 barrel for the foreseeable future. Marucci’s goal seems to be to produce the best single bat in its class. A welcome approach considering some other companies’ desire to be all things to all people.
What also might be interesting to folks who wonder about this stuff, we found the actual weight of the bat to be the same as the stated weight. Most companies’ bats are a good 1 ounce over stated weight. Some are upwards of 3 ounces over the stated weight. Yet Marucci’s composite Hex bat, as far as we could tell on two different tries, had the same exact stated weight and actual weight.
The most remarkable thing about this bat is its barrel size. The oversized barrel and slow transition neck give it the highest plate coverage per swing weight in the business. Its closest competitor in plate coverage by barrel size would be the Easton XL1 and MAKO–however, the XL1 has a swing weight that is 50% heavier and the MAKO has a price point of $100 higher.
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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