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Rawlings VELO Bats

The Rawlings VELO is one of the longest-running bat lines in the baseball space. Its origins are pre-BBCOR days, and it’s never really left its roots as a single piece of aluminum with a light swing.

They’ve added technology to extend a composite end cap into the barrel, and, occasionally, some refer to more recent versions of the Velo as a hybrid. Traditionally speaking, though, the bat is a single-piece aluminum. We’ve hit this bat since its BBCOR inception and have our reviews below.

Although the bat hasn’t changed much over the years, its demand has. It has gone in and out of favor for any number of factors. Since demand is a small portion of our grading system, you’ll see some variations in the ratings below.

Bats denoted with an asterisks(*) are “Reviews in Progress.” See the definition of the ratings here. Click column headers to sort.

Score Year League Bat Drop Model Price MOI Relevant Sizes Demand Player Rating Tech Specs Performance Stiffness Durability Barrel Profile Resell Diameter Sizes Type Serial Release
2021 BBCOR 3 Rawlings Velo 350 Light+ 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 2 5/8 31, 32, 33 SPA BB1V3 10/01/20
2019 BBCOR 3 Rawlings Velo 350 Light+ 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 2 5/8 31, 32, 33, 34 SPA BB9V3 10/01/18
2019 USSSA 10 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 5 3 4 3 4 4 4 2 3 2 3/4 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 SPA UT9V10 10/01/18
2019 USSSA 8 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 2 3 4 3 4 4 5 2 3 2 5/8 29, 30, 31 SPA UT9V8 10/01/18
2019 USSSA 5 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 3 3 2 4 3 4 5 3 3 2 5/8 30, 31, 32 SPA UT9V5 10/01/18
2019 USA 10 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 5 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 3 2 5/8 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 SPA US9V10 10/01/18
2019 USA 5 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 3 3 2 4 3 4 5 3 3 2 5/8 30, 31, 32 SPA US9V5 10/01/18
2019 USA 11 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 5/8 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 US9V11 10/01/18
2018 BBCOR 3 Rawlings Velo 300 Light+ 4 4 5 3 5 4 4 2 4 2 5/8 31, 32, 32, 33, 33, 34 SPA BB8V3 10/01/17
2018 USA 10 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 5 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 3 2 5/8 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 SPA US8V10 10/01/17
2018 USA 5 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 3 3 2 4 3 4 5 3 3 2 5/8 30, 31, 32 SPA US855 10/01/17
2017 BBCOR 3 Rawlings Velo 300 Light+ 5 3 3 4 5 4 5 3 3 2 5/8 31, 32, 32, 33, 33, 34 SPA BB7V 10/01/16
2017 USSSA 12 Rawlings Velo 250 Light 3 3 3 2 4 4 3 3 3 2 3/4 27, 28, 29, 30 SPA SL7V12 10/01/16
2017 USSSA 10 Rawlings Velo 284 Light+ 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 2 3 2 3/4 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 SPA SL7V34 10/01/16
2017 USSSA 10 Rawlings Velo 284 Light+ 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 2 3 2 5/8 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 SPA SL7V10 10/01/16
2017 USSSA 5 Rawlings Velo 200 Light+ 3 3 2 4 3 4 5 3 3 2 5/8 30, 31, 32 SPA SL7V5 10/01/16
2016 BBCOR 3 Rawlings Velo 250 Mid+ 5 3 3 4 5 4 5 3 3 2 5/8 31, 32, 32, 33, 33, 34 SPA BBRV3 10/01/15
2016 USSSA 12 Rawlings Velo 200 Mid+ 3 3 3 2 4 4 4 3 3 2 3/4 27, 28, 29, 30 SPA SLVR12 10/01/15
2016 USSSA 10 Rawlings Velo 200 Mid+ 4 3 4 3 4 4 5 2 3 2 5/8 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 SPA SLVR10 10/01/15
2016 USSSA 5 Rawlings Velo 200 Mid+ 3 3 2 4 3 4 5 3 3 2 5/8 30, 31, 32 SPA SLVR5 10/01/15
2016 USSSA 11 Rawlings Velo 200 Light 5 3 4 3 4 4 4 2 3 2 1/4 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 SPA YBRV11 10/01/15
2015 BBCOR 3 Rawlings Velo 250 Light+ 4 4 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 2 5/8 31, 32, 33, 34 SPA BBRVB 10/01/14
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.

Download our data.