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By Bat Digest
Updated September 21, 2023
We'v spent years hitting, reviewing, and writing about alloy and aluminum bats. Your best will depend on your league and if you want a smoother feel of a hybrid or the stiffer feel of a single piece. Overall, we think the best alloy/aluminum bat is the CAT X for BBCOR, The Echo DMND alloy for fastpitch, and the F5 for USSSA and USA.
If you're seeking the top aluminum bat, it's likely because you 1) prefer a stiff feel, 2) play in cold climates and/or need durability, or 3) desire high performance without the composite cost. Accordingly, we've consolidated the leading aluminum bats from our BBCOR, USSSA, and USA rankings into this list. In our opinion, the CAT X in BBCOR, the Marucci DMND in drop 12, and the F5 for both USSSA and USA stand out as favorites. You can see our best composite bats list here.
As always, the best bat is the one that fits the best, not a particular model. So, pay particular attention to the right bat size. You can see more details on getting the right size bat here.
Pros most likely don’t use metal bats because (1) that’s the rule in professional baseball; (2) although BBCOR standards keep the bat from performing better than a ‘wood’ bat, the swing weight and sweet spot size give a big advantage to a metal bat; (3) it has long been tradition to swing a wood bat in the pros and if baseball is anything, it is about tradition.
Yes. The vast majority of metal bats are legal. Some governing bodies from BBCOR and USSSA have banned some bats. But, in recent memory, metal bats are perfectly legal in baseball, fastpitch and slowpitch. Be sure, though, to make sure the bat’s approval type is in your league.
In short, there is no difference between bats referred to as aluminum or metal. In today’s market, every metal bat on the market is made of aluminum. This aluminum is manipulated to perform better by additional chemicals. The addition of these elements within the aluminum, like scandium, is why many officially call aluminum bats aluminum alloy bats. But, at its core, aluminum bats are simply metal bats just like composite bats are simply plastic bats.
There are a number of general benefits to aluminum metal bats when compared to composite and wood bats. We discuss that here. Also, you might find it helpful how some vendors make their bats sortable by aluminum metal only.
Aluminum metal bats provide the distinct advantage of a hot out-of-the-wrapper performance—meaning, there is no work in period like composite requires. That hot out-of-the-wrapper performance provides confidence from swing one that you are getting the most out of your bat. As well, aluminum bats almost always cost less than their composite counterparts.
On the other hand, alloy bats (another name for aluminum bats) struggle to swing light–especially when used for younger age groups. It follows that manufacturers need to keep the barrel profiles smaller than composite bats so growing kids can swing them as well.
We have tested every performance bat since the genesis of this blog in late 2014. Those tests involve both simple approaches and more complicated ones. Measuring the swing weight, comparing it to previous models seeing where the bat fits in the grander scheme of things, and discussing the aesthetics of the bat constitute more of our superficial approaches. We also use the bat in games and practices, as well as have multiple-player feedback on each bat.
More recently, we have driven ball exit speeds and barrel-size testings on our bats too. This more quantifiable data gives added insight into which bats really do perform best. Add that information to conversations with real players, an obsession for reading real reviews on a bat’s performance, and dialog with major vendors and manufacturers, and we start to formulate data on what the best aluminum metal bats actually are.