The Best Baseball Bats – Awards
Looking for the best baseball bats?
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Bat Testing Stats
Time Spent
3,500 Hours
Swings
85,000
Bats Tested
350+
We Use 5 Metrics to Rate the Best Baseball Bats
30% of our rating comes from barrel performance measured by exit speed tests.
30% of our rating is directly from player’s feedback after hitting.
20% of our rating is based on a Bat’s Demand. This is our trust the public stat.
15% of our rating is based on the bat’s fit appeal. Bat’s with fewer sizing and unique swing weights don’t appeal.
5% of our rating is based the bat’s tech inovations. We encourage bats which push the limits.
Here is a Barrel Performances Example Video:
See the more details on our scoring system.
Diamond Bats score within 10% of a perfect ranking. They are a good to perfect fit for almost every hitter.
Platinum bats score between 10% and 15% of a perfect score. They are a perfect fit for some and a good fit for many.
Gold bats score between 15% and 20% of a perfect score. They are a perfect fit for a few and a good bat for many.
Diamond Awards
Diamond awarded bats come with our widest recommendation. They score at the top of our most important categories (performance and feedback), and at least close to the top in the smaller three categories (tech specs, relevance, popularity). While other non-diamond bats might be great fits, too, Diamond rated bats are the most widely applicable and are recommendable in most every situation.
BBCOR Diamonds
- Easton ADV 360 (See Rating)
- Easton MAXUM (See Rating)
- Louisville Slugger Omaha (See Rating)
- Louisville Slugger Meta (See Rating)
- Rawlings Quatro Pro (See Rating)
- Marucci CAT 8 (See Rating)
USSSA Diamonds
- DeMarini CF (See Ratings)
- Marucci Posey28/CAT 8
USA Diamonds
- Easton ADV 360 -11
- DeMarini CF (See Ratings)
- DeMarini Voodoo Balanced
- Louisville Slugger Solo
- Louisville Slugger Omaha
- Rawlings Quatro Pro (See Ratings)
Platinum Awards
Platinum level baseball bats must score very well across all the major categories. Unlike Diamond, where they succeed in nearly everything, Platinum bats usually fall short in one of the smaller categories like relevance, popularity or tech advancements, but still garner great performance and player feedback marks. For example, Platinum level bats may lack popularity or may not have changed much from last year, but they still rake, feel great and fit a wide number of hitters.
BBCOR Platinum
- DeMarini CF (See Ratings)
- DeMarini Voodoo Balanced
- DeMarini Voodoo One
- DeMarini The Goods Two Piece
- Louisville Slugger Solo
- Marucci F5
- Easton Alpha
- Easton Fuze Hybrid
USSSA Platinum
- Combat B2
- DeMarini Voodoo Balanced
- Easton ADV 360
- Easton Maxum
- Louisville Slugger Prime
- Louisville Slugger Solo
- Rawlings VELO ACP
- Rawlings Quatro Pro (See Rating)
USA Platinum
- Easton ADV 360 -10
- Easton Fuze Hybrid
- Easton Speed
- Marucci CAT USA
- Mizuno Hot Metal
- Mizuno PWR Alloy
- Louisville Slugger Select
Gold Awards
Gold Best Baseball Bats are often perfect fits for the right type of hitter. To qualify for Gold, bats must at least do spectacular in one of the major categories (Performance or Feel) and reasonable in the others. Bats with a Gold rating may have great technology, come in a wide variety of sizes (relevance) and get great performance ratings. But for whatever reason, the bats aren’t terribly popular and receive good, but not unbelievable marks in player feedback and feel. These bats can be golden in the hands of the right hitter.
BBCOR Gold
- Axe Avenge
- DeMarini The Goods One Piece
- Marucci CAT 8 Connect
- Mizuno Hot Metal
- Rawlings VELO
- Louisville Slugger Prime
- Louisville Slugger Select PWR
- StringKing Metal
- Victus Vandal
USSSA Gold
- Axe Elite One
- Axe Avenge
- DeMarini Voodoo One
- Easton Alpha
- Easton Fuze
- Louisville Slugger Prime One
- Louisville Slugger Omaha
- Marucci F5
- Rawlings 5150
USA Gold
- Axe Avenge
- DeMarini Sabatoge
- Easton Alpha
- Easton Fuze
- Rawlings Threat
- Rawlings VELO
- True T2
Best Baseball Bats
We keep track of the best baseball bats in several different ways. This page represents our industry wide, recognized awards for major categories of baseball bats. Our rating system also provides specific, and sometimes more useful, rating systems, as well as specialized awards as listed below.
High School Bat of the YearTM – Louisville Slugger Meta
The 2020 Louisville Slugger defines what it means to set the trend in a class of bats. Since its release in 2019, the bat has taken the high school game by storm. Every hitter we talked to loves it. The swing weight, length options and barrel size make it appropriate for about every high school hitter. The price point, ridiculous as it is, hasn’t kept parents from putting the bat out of stock everywhere. Exit speeds for two piece composites don’t get better than the Meta. In reality, although never to be admitted by competitors, every two piece composite BBCOR bat for 2020 is trying to be what the Meta already is. The High School Bat of the YearTM is the 2020 Louisville Slugger Meta, and, as expected, it tops our best BBCOR bats list, too.
See the winning scores of the 2020 Meta.
Youth Bat of the YearTM – DeMarini CF USSSA
DeMarini’s CF (Zen) defines the USSSA space. For the last six years, other bats in the space have done nothing but try and catch up. Try as they might, the gap is still considerable. Consider this, just counting composite barreled USSSA bats, the CF line is more popular than all of the others COMBINED. The drop 10 is the perfect blend of balance and power, the drop 8 is dreamy (our favorite of the bunch) and the drop 5 is legendary. It is a relevant choice for 100% of serious USSSA players. Their parents eat its inventory alive.
Read enough reviews online and you’ll find experiences where the bat breaks in what is believed too short a time. Fair enough. We are not convinced the bat breaks more than other composite barrels trying to push the limits of what’s possible. But, we are convinced its popularity makes it the most talked about. It hasn’t broken more than other bats because it’s less durable, it has broken more because it outnumbers the composite competition by a factor of ten. The Youth Bat of the YearTM is the 2020 DeMarini CF, and, as expected, it tops our best USSSA bats list, too.
See the winning scores of the 2020 USSSA CF.
Youth Bat of the YearTM – Easton ADV 360 Drop 11 USA
In full disclosure, we almost made the mistake of lumping the drop 11 ADV 360 USA bat with its yellow drop 10 USA counterpart. As a last minute addition, we ordered the drop 11 via Baseball Express and put it in our testing pool. In three words: We. Were. Shocked. Did Easton crack the USA composite barrel code with the “Ultra-Lite Lauch Comp” version in the 2020 ADV 360 USA bat? The bat swings like a drop 10 (in terms of swing weight—so don’t oversize it). Maybe there’s a physics sweet spot to a drop 11 two piece composite (almost unheard of in the baseball bat space) that allows for the perfect blend of barrel compression and balance which absolutely destroys baseballs. The Drop 11 ADV 360 dominated our performance tests, had the highest rated feel by all our hitters, and for the first time since the dawn of USAbats, finally beat the aluminum barrels in exit speeds.
This is the exact type of bat that gave Easton the market share in a world where orange Makos reigned supreme. They lost serious market share to drop 11 aluminum bats and a few other two piece composites since the USA change. It took a few years to get there, but Easton once again has the best bat in that area of youth baseball. Long live the King of Little League. The 2020 Easton ADV 360 Drop 11 is the Youth Bat of the YearTM in USA bats. It also tops our 2020 list of Best USA Bats.
Innovative Bat of the YearTM – Axe Avenge – Pro Handle
To say that Axe Bats has “just improved” bat design is like saying Thomas Edison improved candles. They didn’t just change an end cap or foam insert and call it a better bat. They thought beyond a round lathe. For 2020, Axe improves its ergonomic shaped handle on some BBCOR models to improve the grip for adult hands. Building on feedback from several MLB guys who use Axe, they rounded the bottom hand to a better fit. It’s a subtle, but useful change. If you’ve never tried out an Axe bat, you have no excuses. If you have and didn’t quite like it, then do yourself a favor and check out the Pro Handle version. Combine that improvement with a barrel designed for direction, their storming of the Big League levels, and we think Axe is the most innovative BBCOR bat for 2020. Hence, the Innovative Bat of the YearTM Award.
Wood Bat of the Year™ – Victus V-Cut
It’s hard to differentiate between wood bats. No company, it turns out, has a patent on growing trees. Maple bats dominate the MLB game and are creeping into the more amateur ranks as well (although birch, ash and bamboo do really well, too). Back in July of this year, a columnist for the New York Times reached out to us, looking for insight on V-Cut bats. We had hit them just a few weeks before and she was put on the scent because they had so much success in the MLB these last couple years. They obviously make great bats, but what do they do with all the bats that are perfect in everything but a cosmetic blem? In short, they call them V-Cuts and sell them to us mortals. Of all the wood bats we hit in 2020, the Victus V-Cuts were our favorite for their quality, price point and muscle.
See the ratings that made the Victus V-Cuts our Wood Bat of the YearTM.
Rating System
We capture objective measurements such as exit speeds and swing weights to help us categorize performance. We also gather feedback from players, measure the bat’s popularity and demand (which accounts for its price point), quantify the bat’s relevance (how applicable are its size offerings and swing weights) as well as determine how the technology in the bat helps shape and define the space. Each of these items are weighted differently for our total composite score.
Performance, as in what the ball does when it flies off the bat, is weighted at 30% of the total score. We measure performance through radar and slo-motion cameras. Much of the data we capture is for purchase on our data speed chart.
Player Feedback is weighted at 30% and is gathered from real players concerning the bat’s feel before, during and after the swing. We capture this data during real use, as well as from our industry wide survey capturing thousands of insights from real bat users around the country.
Relevance is measured by how useful the bat is to the league as a whole. Bats that appeal to a wider player audience through useful swing weight and size options do well here. This category is weighted at 20% of the total score.
Demand is weighted at 15%. How much the consumer clamors for a bat isn’t always a testament to its usefulness. However, wallets usually do a good job of casting votes for bats that perform well. Measuring demand also generally proves the bat’s price point is in line with how the market values them.
Tech Specs measure how the technology within the bat defines and pushes the limits of its space. It is weighted at 5% of the total score. This metric accounts for barrel size as well as improvements through unique and innovative ideas to improve the hitting experience.
Independent Research
Our results are independent. We do not sell awards to any bidder and no one who works for, or has business or family connections, can be a judge. Our results are our own, born out of necessity because we play ball, too. We aren’t just testers, we are users. We follow our own advice.
