Axe Avenge Reviews

Avenge Comparables

1. 2019 919 Prime

After hitting with the 919 Prime from Slugger in four games and several hundred hits in the cage, among a few different players, this is our 2019 Louisville Slugger 919 Prime Review. Generally, the bat feels much like it did last year.

Our Review

Price Check

2. 2019 Quatro PRO

Rawlings looks to improve upon the durability of their flagship bat with the 2019 Rawlings Quatro Pro. The BBCOR version of the bat was our favorite bbcor bat in 2018.

Our Review

Price Check

3. 2019 Project 3 ADV

See the Project 3 ADV Review

Easton’s top end bat for 2019 is called the Project 3 ADV. The ADV comes with a few features we’ve yet to ever see on other bats including a Power Boost knob and an improvement in the connective piece.

Our Review

Price Check

2019 Avenge Construction

Our measurements showed the Axe Avenge as tied for the lightest swinging two piece composite bat in the BBCOR 33/30 space. The 618 Solo was a bit lighter, but it runs a single piece aluminum and is a much different bat.

Charged Carbon

Axe added a resin with charged particles in the composite structure of the barrel. Hard to tell from cage work among several hitters how this “Charged Carbon” changes performance from the 2018 version. Only a season full of feedback from across the country will tell. But, so far feedback about performance has been positive.

We have extolled the virtue of the Axe handle since we first reviewed their bats in 2015. We liked them even before guys like Pedroia and Mookie Betts heard of them let alone were swinging them in MLB games (on Victus Bats).

The idea of a handle built for the shape of your hands to produce a better swing path would make sense even if there wasn’t any data to back it up. (But, there is). The fact a host of MLB guys have used it in games (including folks like Harper, Correa and Swanson) gives credence to the claim. This isn’t just hype and faddish.

Old timers and those who sell bats for other companies will tell you the Axe handle is hokey pokey. While there have been plenty of marketing hoaxes in the industry the Axe handle just isn’t one of them. It’s a legit addition to a bat and something we’ve written about since the genesis of this site. If Axe didn’t have a secure patent on the idea then we have no doubt the aluminum and composite bat space would be all over this.

That said, there are a number of fantastic bats on the market these days. The two piece composite BBCOR space is chalk full of laser making baseball bats. Without a doubt in our minds, after years of hitting everything, the Axe is on that list, too.

The 2019 Axe Avenge in USA is actually referred to as an Axe Avenge One. It is a single piece composite USA Bat that we review elsewhere on the site.

2018 Avenge Construction

Like previous years’ Avenge bats, the 2018 version is a two-piece composite bat built with a mid to light swing. The two-piece construction delivers a more gentle bang on the hands at contact but still helps deliver power to the ball.

The principle’s behind a two-piece composite bat have been well documented on this site. We have no reason to think any company, including Axe, has figured out any trick the others have not. This feels and acts like a two-piece composite.

Of course, the major constructive commentary is reserved for the knob and end cap, which include above.

Two years ago Axe extended the length of the barrel and took weight out of the end of the bat by decreasing mass in the end cap. They did this by shortening the length of the barrel on the non-hitting side of the bat. This feature is called the “hyperwhip” and is now a feature on every performance bat Axe makes, including the Avenge.

This is only possible because of the bat’s asymmetric knob which predicts the offensive side of the bat. The barrel of the bat is reinforced for durability on the offensive side.

2017 Avenge Construction

Very generally speaking, the 2017 Axe Avenge, like its 2015 and 2016 predecessor, is a two-piece composite bat. Four noteworthy construction elements make up the 2017 Axe Avenge. In no particular order, they are: (1) The Asymmetric Knob, (2) The EndoGrid Knob Cover, (3) The Directional Barrel Insert, and (4) the Asymmetric End Cap.

The EndoGrid Knob Cover

New to the 2016 Axe Avenge, we cover the reasons for the change in knob design in our 2016 Axe Avenge Review.  More information can be found there. In short, the new knob improved the feel through contact by absorbing any mishit vibration.

The Directional Barrel Insert

Predictive hitting may be the most important feature any Axe bat brings to the table. The ability to foresee which side of the barrel’s significant contact will be made is a godsend to engineers. This predictive impact gives unique opportunities for bat design that can affect the sweet spot’s size and durability. Axe adds a directional barrel insert within the bat to increase durability and the sweet spot’s size.

In our 2015 Axe Avenge review, we discuss the thinking behind the asymmetric knob. This feature is present in the 2017 Avenge too. We would refer you to that article for a more detailed discussion. As a reminder, the asymmetric knob shaped like an ax handle allows for a more ergonomic swing. This better hand positioning allows for better bat control and speed.

2016 Avenge Construction

Three unique features grace the 2016 Axe Avenge baseball bat:

Asymmetric Handle: We’ve discussed, at length, the benefits an asymmetric handle brings to your game. As a primer for some and a review for others, the asymmetric handle creates an ergonomic method for proper swing mechanics. Namely, the ability to drive the knob of the bat to the baseball more easily. Such movement is proven to increase swing speed and forces the barrel of the bat into the swing plane sooner—allowing for better hit balls and more opportunity for contact.

Asymmetric Handle (continued): An asymmetric handle also forces contact on a single side of the barrel. This allows engineers to drive technology to the hitting side of the barrel. For example, the 2016 Axe Avenge uses a directional insert (ACR Insert) within the bat to support the barrel’s contact side for more consistent performance and durability.

Upgraded from the 2015 Axe Avenge, the casing on the knob comes in a wire-framed design, dampening the sting on mishits. Axe Bats refers to this as the Endogrid knob. We tested this out side by side with the 2015 Axe Avenge, and we definitely felt a difference.

2015 Avenge Construction

Now for logistics. The 2015 Axe Avenge bat has a middle range swing weight comparable to the 2015 Slugger 515 Omaha or Adidas EQT X1. It is a two piece composite bat in the class of the S1, CF7 and 915 among others.

All in all the Axe Avenge makes for a very enjoyable hitting experience. The Axe bat with its ax handle shape is not a hoax or gimmick. It is not just another exercise in baseball bat hypchanics. The handle is a true innovation in the bat space and measurably improves the hitting experience. Those looking in the top shelf bat space should sharpen up their short list by considering the Axe bat.

The best place to purchase will be here. In the mean time, you can order on the Baden Sports Web Site here. Bats started shipping on 10/1/2014.

It is with that backdrop that I picked up an Axe bat, from Baden Sports, for the first time. The bat, as you can tell from the pictures, has a handle that is shaped like the handle of an ax. In theory, and in the data, the ax handle shape on a bat allows a hitter to pull their hands through the zone faster, giving a batter increased bat speed without decreasing the mass moment of inertia (MOI) of the bat. In other words, an ob-longed shaped handle, they propose, makes players hit the ball harder. Sounds like another drop in the river of hypchanics.

BUT here is what I discovered when I took the BBCOR Axe Avenge to the cage: It works. No really, it does. And not some placebo, hope-it-worked, sell-bats-for-the-company hypchanics. I have swung just about every 2014 and 2015 BBCOR metal bat on the market and have a pretty good feel for what getting my hands inside the ball looks and feels like. And this much I can say with certainty: the 2015 Axe Avenge Bat forces your hands to come inside the ball faster and, as a result, increases your bat speed. Such increased bat speed (without sacrificing the swing weight) creates a better hit ball. No hypchanics, no marketing spin. It actually improves your bat speed.

But would faster bat speed be worth the awkward shaped handle possibly compromising my swing? Not a problem, I found the bat to be much easier to adjust to than I expected…although I do think I was holding it backwards for a minute until I took a couple of practice swings. The ob-longed or oval shaped handle actually starts to feel normal after just a few hacks and within a matter of minutes it felt like a natural extension of the bat. Oddly enough, when I picked up a normal shaped bat after about 50 cuts with the Avenge in the cage, it was actually the traditional shaped handles that felt awkward.

Another easy to miss benefit comes from the fact that a handle shaped like an ax forces you to hit with only one side of the barrel. Baden Sports (who makes the Axe Bat) refers to this as one sided hitting. They claim, and this actually makes perfect sense to a layman engineer like myself, that the ability to predict where contact will happen on a baseball bat dramatically improves an engineer’s ability to maximize durability and pop. Think of it like this – If you know exactly where the enemy will strike, you can focus your forces at the point of attack. Hence the reason a bat with one sided hitting can be more effective than one that needs to be prepared for contact everywhere. In a world of BBCOR regulations this seems like a serious competitive advantage.