Bat Blog – Bat Digest

By Jon Zayle [Jon Zayle is a baseball dad from New Jersey who owns way too many bats. He declares himself a bat expert, similar to the way Michael Scott declared bankruptcy. He is currently working wi …

Are you looking for the best bat for a specific age? For starters, you’re asking a great question because the first trick in getting the right bat is realizing that your best bat bet is not one someon …

We spend much time talking about fastpitch and baseball bats—even more time reviewing and ranking them. But we haven’t spent much time getting bare and discussing their differences. But, it turns out, …

The 2024 Hype Fire drops this week. Or is it next? Or was it last? We can’t keep track as the buzz around this bat is at fever-pitch levels. Easton’s Instagram said June 1st direct and June 6/7th at s …

Looking to buy your first serious baseball or softball bat? You’ve come to the right place. Over the years, we’ve bought hundreds of bats. We’ve also coached several into their first serious bat buy a …

BBCOR bats have been used in college and high school baseball for quite some time, but there is still quite a bit of buzz about its introduction. “What is BBCOR, and what does it stand for? Why was th …

If you talk to any bat manufacturer, one of the biggest shifts in youth baseball bats has been the increase of drop 8 bat purchases over the last few years. The growth in popularity of drop 8s has mad …

We’ve had a lot of traction on our scientific way to hit home runs article over the years and are a bit surprised we’ve never put together a similar scientific approach to improving your swing speed. …

Over the years, we’ve tracked the bat usage of NCAA baseball and fastpitch teams. Our results are below. Sponsorship Bat Deals Many college-level programs have agreements with major sports brands for …

One question or complaint we hear a lot is about bat rattle. That is, when you shake the bat, it sounds like a small piece of plastic or metal is shaking around in the bat’s barrel, and, as such, it s …

Recent Illegal Bat Announcements Not a lot in baseball and fastpitch has yet been deemed illegal in since August of 2022. In May of 2023, our last update of this list, it all looked pretty good. Slowp …

We won’t claim to know precisely when it started, but at spring training in 2008, when Josh Womack warmed up by flipping a bat in a 360 horizontal turn mid-swing, a seed was planted in a generation of …

We get asked a crazy ton of questions about bats, and we’ve written thousands and thousands of words over the years answering them. With the recent advent of Large Language Learning Models, we thought …

Is a Baseball Swing Analysis worth it? Our general experience is, for most serious players, yes. Although swing analyses done by a third party hitting instructor or a gadget and app will never substit …

Curious about why MLB players use wooden bats? Let’s explore the reasons. In short, the reason the MLB uses wood bats is because they are required to use them. MLB regulations mandate wooden bats. It’ …

JustBats is a leading online baseball and softball bats, gloves, and accessories retailer. As a popular destination for sports enthusiasts, it is no surprise that customers are always looking for ways …

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a baseball bat is its balance. The Balanced vs. End Load Fallacy We must understand that the range from light to heavy swing is a spectrum, …

The Marucci CAT X and DeMarini Voodoo One have a few technical differences. The CAT X uses a multi-variable wall design and has a sting-dampening gel in the knob, which raises the price by about $30. …

Deciding between wood and metal can be tricky when choosing a baseball bat. Here are five reasons why you might want to consider using a wood bat: Why Wood over Metal Tradition and Preference 1. Many …

What percent of MLB players are from other countries?Baseball is often called “America’s Pastime,” but it’s a sport with a global reach. Major League Baseball (MLB) is home to players worldwide; from …

Week of Mar 01, 2023Fastpitch ChartsBBCORUSAUSSSAFastpitchThe Top 20 Most Sold Fastpitch Bats of the WeekRankBat NameIn Top 20In Top 10In Top 5Change1Easton Ghost Advanced 2020 (-10)48481602DeMarini P …

Week of Mar 01, 2023USA ChartsBBCORUSAUSSSAFastpitchThe Top 20 Most Sold USA Bats of the WeekRankBat NameIn Top 20In Top 10In Top 5Change1Marucci CAT -11 545454022023 Easton ADV 360 -10 49381903Marucc …

Week of Mar 01, 2023USSSA ChartsBBCORUSAUSSSAFastpitchThe Top 20 Most Sold USSSA Bats of the WeekRankBat NameIn Top 20In Top 10In Top 5Change1DeMarini CF -8 WTDXC8Z2154301202DeMarini CF Glitch -5 WTDX …

Week of Mar 01, 2023BBCOR ChartsBBCORUSAUSSSAFastpitchThe Top 20 Most Sold BBCOR Bats of the WeekRankBat NameIn Top 20In Top 10In Top 5Change12022 Louisville Slugger Meta 545430022023 DeMarini Voodoo …

We intended to develop the most reliable bat size chart on the internet. To do so, we needed real user data. We also needed to see what tables were already out there. We found some weird stuff. And so …

Want to hit more home runs next season? We spent hours looking through scientific journals (it is the offseason, after all). What did we find? 5 Ways to Hit More Home Runs What Pitch to Hit Batter’s B …

We spent this entire year playing with and using baseball, fastpitch equipment, and related devices and items. This comprises our favorite gadgets, gear, and things for our best gifts for baseball pla …

2022 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Baseball Deals are here! We are tracking them (and fastpitch, too). We look for deals and update this page as we find new deals that hit the wires. Sites Deals Secti …

Are you deciding between a one-piece or two-piece bat? We’ve tested and hit just about every bat from 2015 through 2023; from that experience, we know there are only four functional differences betwee …

41 New Bats were added in August of 2022. Manufacturer Model Serial Length 0 0 5 for 5 bats D5C71 D5C71 NaN 1 1 5 for 5 bats D5M10 D5M10 NaN 2 2 5 for 5 bats D5TXL D5TXL NaN 3 3 Adidas EQTBlastCF AMC2 …

We track the Little League World Series bat usage yearly at the regionals. Our findings are reported here. Jump LLWS – 2022 Bats LLWS – 2019 Bats Method For 2022, we watched 75% of all regional LLWS g …

Related Little League World Series Bat Tracker The great irony of making a field and bat standard that allows fewer home runs is that it overvalues the kids who can hit home runs. Instead of creating …

Below are each of the USA-approved bats. We took these from the USA bats site and we update it often. Compare this with our

We measured the swing weight of every BBCOR bat. Comparing those numbers with the available sizing options, the lightest BBCOR bat in 2018 is the 29/26 Louisville Slugger 618 Solo. The Solo swings 9.5 …

It would help if you did not use performance bats in cold weather. The issue is not a cold bat but a cold ball. Cold weather, according to most manufacturers, is sub 60 degrees. Cold Weather Bat Recom …

 Dear Bat Guy, Looking to buy one bat only, broke it down between usssa cf (black and gold) and the Rawlings Quatro Pro (cherry bomb) recommend one to me please so I can stop trying to find videos of …

Here’s a question we got from a reader I’m looking for a good first BBCOR for a 5’ 10’ 155 lb 8th grader. Because of cold weather in Ohio, He has swung mainly hybrids in the past and a few one-piece a …

We’ve spent more time buying used baseball bats than anyone. Really. Over the last five years, we’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on hundreds of different bats from no less than two dozen differ …

USA vs USSSA Bats (This is an article taken from our advice section). My son will be playing for the local 9U travel team (Stow, Ohio). He is 4’6” and approximately 85 lbs. He has been playing basebal …

Marucci, in partnership with Diamond Kinetics, released a “Smart Bat.” This is a Marucci maple wood bat with a hole bored in the knob, allowing for placement of the DK swing sensor that comes with the …

DeMarini Baseball did not release a CF9 in baseball for the 2017 season. Instead, the marquee baseball brand will take the CF series and split it into two different bats. They are: (1) an end-loaded t …

I received our refund from Wilson and looking at getting a replacement for the banned Meta Prime. We are limited to Wilson products. My son has swung the Demarini Voodoo and prefers something balanced …

We just can’t help but notice how perfectly adorable tiny baseball equipment is. Easton has made a t-ball bat that is 24 inches long and, get ready for this, a DROP 13.5! The bat weighs all of 10.5 ou …

After hundreds of hours of testing, our group of professional and amateur hitters has an opinion on the best bat for home defense. The right stick, we conclude, depends on the type of apocalypse and t …

Before Bat Digest was Bat Digest, it used to be called JustBatReviews. Although uncommon, we sometimes get emails about bats people think they purchased on our site. Roughly once a quarter, we get an …

[Last Updated: 6:22am on 7.12.2022] We looked through every 2022 Prime Day Deal in the baseball and fastpitch space to find the deals we like. Our favorite deals are below, but you might like looking …

We spent more time than we’d like to admit watching the 2022 College World Series and tracking the bat usage. We did this for the 2021 College World Series too. Below are our findings. See our disclai …

We have finished our 2022 NCAA CWS Bat data. Below is our 2021. We’ve tracked the bats of the college world series for several years. We’ve put that data into 7 charts. In good faith, we also put the …

We spent way more time than we’d like to admit designing our Louisville Slugger Custom Fastpitch 2017 LXT Hyper bat. The range of custom colors, options and imagery (like the Custom DeMarini site we’v …

By Ian RandlesThere is an abundance of baseball training aids on the market, and the price range varies greatly. It’s hard to know what is worth your money and what you’re better off passing in favor …

As a player, I was always looking for ways to keep my swing locked in. But over the course of an eight month season (or longer when I played Winter Ball) there were peaks and valleys when it came to m …

We asked 700+ people in the performance bat space about their experience with shaved bats. The responses were anonymous and revealed a great deal about bat shaving and its prevalence. We also did a si …

Over the years, we’ve captured 10,000+ exit speeds on any number of BBCOR, USSSA, USA, BESR, and Fastpitch bats. This data collection effort, we believe, is the largest in history (at least that isn’t …

We took some hacks with the Swingrail, had a few hitters try it out, and read every online review we could find about the device. Generally, we think it an above-average tool when compared to the numb …

If you’ve followed us at all you’ll know there are two things that trigger us: first, the idea that there are “must have” bats; second, the notion that, save the hallucinogenic effects of magic mushro …

We have nightmares about a question we get all the time. Here it is: How good is that bat? For a site built on the idea that we can help people fitting the right bat, you’d think we’d welcome that que …

Over the past few tournaments, there has been yelling, drama, more yelling, followed by explanations and then bouts of disbelief. And that is just at the snack shack. The field, and backstop fence, ha …

We tracked bat usage and the at-bat results of more than 30 NCAA baseball teams at the start of the 2021 season. Our hope was to find themes in the dataset that lent commentary on BBCOR bats. Data Hig …

We have yet to hear anyone claim they purchased such a bat because they love the end cap. It’s the least sexy part of any bat. While the end cap gets put in the crapper, things like barrel size, brand …

If you’re looking for info on what bat has the most pop, you’ve come to the right place. Some argue BBCOR and BPF standards have leveled the playing field for top-shelf bats, implying any particular m …

A few years back, I read The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. The book tells the story of, among other things, the 1893 World’s Fair. One exhibit at the 1893 Fair (as far as I can remember from …

We’ve reviewed bats here since 2014 and we’ve seen a lot of innovation (and reprinting) in the bat space. From spinning handles, soft barrels, and bats filled with helium—all have tried to convince …

We followed the picks (and highlights) of every 2020 MLB first-round draft pick. We are interested in what bats these players swung in College (or high school). We’ve put here everything we could find …

There’s a lot of (mis)information out there about overload underload programs. The genesis of weighted bat training is justified in a clinical research paper in the Journal of Strength and Condition f …

Blog > Opinion What an exciting day in Bat Land. It’s been a while since a bat ban has taken place with such a harsh, polarizing social media response. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 2020, it …

We’ve measured the vast majority of USA swing weights since 2018. Swing weights are a measurement of how difficult it is to swing a bat. Bat’s with the same stated weight (like all 30/20s) do not feel …

We’ve measured the vast majority of USSSA swing weights since 2018. Swing weights are the most determining factor in predicting exit speeds. More critical than barrel performance, model, or brand, the …

We measure the swing weight of every fastpitch bat we test. Most of our data is completed on 32/22 bats. We’ve found fastpitch bats have a very close grouping of swing weights with a few exceptions. W …

After measuring thousands of exit speeds, we’ve found swing weight as the most important factor in predicted exit speeds. To be sure, swing weight is the most important feature of the bat, but not of …

We compared the 2021 and 2020 DeMarini CF in BBCOR, USSSA drop 10, 8, and 5. In short, the bat is EXACTLY (but a paint job and serial number) the same. And that’s not a slight on DeMarini. They are no …

Bat compression test results describe the amount of pressure required to compress the barrel of a bat. A higher compression result (usually stated in terms of pounds per area) means a barrel’s walls a …

As we mostly sit around and wait for the little league world series (and the barrage of baseball bat releases that come right after that), we find our selves with a bit of time on our hands to show yo …

Mizuno makes everything, and they tend to make everything well. They happen to make a pretty impressive wheeled bag. As travel ball becomes more and more popular, parents look for a convenient one bag …

Zepp Labs lost a patent infringement case against Blast Motion. As such, they can’t sell the Baseball Bat Sensor in the United States anymore. However, you can still find them online or in the used ma …

With the new USA Baseball Bats changes starting in 2018, we were reminded of this article we wrote in 2015 discussing the difference that BBCOR bats made on the BESR approved college and high school b …

The Blast Motion Sensor for baseball and softball is a device that attaches to the bottom of your bat with a rubber mount. It sends, via Bluetooth to your smartphone, data points that capturing the pe …

We’ve used Lizard Skin grips on bats for the last five years. Although they now have competition, they are still our go-to and dominate the youth, collegiate and MLB market. If you have never put on a …

In conjunction with our exit speed bat testing and our barrel size measurements, we weigh bats and compare them to the stated weight. We found that stated bat weight is rarely what a bat actually weig …

My sons last year of little league was last year and he’s moving to a junior high league that requires USA bats. He swung a 31 inch drop 10 Easton beast hybrid and 31 inch drop 8 Rawlings machine last …

Dear Bat Guy, My son, age 9, is currently swinging the 2019 Slugger Prime -10 (*28/18). He is roughly 50″ tall and only weighs 52 lbs. At times, the bat seems too heavy for him, so would you recommend …

Dear Bat Guy, Having a difficult time deciding whether to purchase a new 2020 USA Bat or stick with the 2019 Solo we already have. Player is 10, 4’5” 65 lbs. Have been looking at a two piece composite …

Dear Bat Guy, Soon to be 9-year-old son will play 9U in USSSA. He will be going up in size from a Cat 8 27” to a 28”. Trying to decide on the new Cat 9 that’s soon to come out or a DSB SWAG. How do th …

Dear Bat Guy, I’m a big fan of your videos. My son is turning 11 in February. He swings a -10 Posey Marucci USSSA bat in club ball. He’s starting little league in a month and have no clue what USA bat …

My [son] plays USA ball in the spring and USSSA in the fall. He is 8 years old, 4′-4″ and 60 pounds. He has played every year since 4, started taking hitting lessons 1 year ago and is a solid contact …

My 10u son plays LL, so he has to use a USA bat. He is currently using a 2019 Rawlings Threat. He swings the bat very quickly. Two years ago, he used another Rawlings bat, which he was able to swing, …

Have you checked this bat out? I believe it’s only offered at Justbats.com. It seems to be very well-liked. I would like to hear how it compares to the Maxxum 360 BBCOR. Thanks, Anna (This is adapted …

Hi, this would be for USSSA 12U Majors. He is 57 inches tall and weighs 135lbs, muscular build.My son currently is swinging a 31-8 Easton Beast X or Ghost X but also has been swinging a Phoenix Bats D …

Dear Bat Guy, Our summer league gives the option of USA Bat or BBCOR. If weight is not the deciding factor. Is there a difference in ball speed between the two in general? ~Tim (This is adapted from o …

We bought a new -3 (drop 3 BBCOR) two piece bat. Will it hurt the bat using it in a batting cage with rubber balls? ~JR (This is adapted from our advice section) We avoid hitting dimple balls with hig …

Here are the illegal DeMarini CF Zens: 2017 Green/White Drop 8 2 5/8 USSSA 2017 Blue/White Drop 10 2 3/4 USSSA 2017 Custom and Zero Dark Designs in the Above Sizing Here are the legal CF Zens: 2017 Gr …

Little League Age Chart for 2020 (and 2019) follows. These cut-off age rules affect players born in August of 2002. Those born before are no longer eligible for “Little League” as they are too old. No …

We’ve seen more than 1,000 bats come and go. After heavy work with the bats, we usually ignore considerable ball marks and ball scuffs. But, now and again, we want to remove ball marks and clean the b …

Little League International and PONY baseball changed the birthday cutoff from May 1st to August 31st. Within Little League, this rule is gradually implemented starting from 2016 through 2019. PONY ba …

One industry secret to getting serious deals on big time bats is finding a blem bat. These bats are just what they sound like—functional but with a blemish, usually a cosmetic imperfection that occu …

We took our Rapsodo hitting device and tested pre and post-break-in exit speed velocities on a brand new out of the wrapper 2018 Rawlings Quatro in a 31-inch drop 10. We found a slight increase in bal …

If you are deciding which type of bat to get, then the following should be informative. The differences between a Composite, Aluminum, Hybrid, and Wood bat may be obscure, but the following makes it s …

If you have yet to hear, starting January 2018, bat standards for Little League (14 and younger) will change to a more restrictive bat with BBCOR like pop. The bats’ barrels can be 2 5/8– just larger …

Is bat shaving and bat rolling illegal? Our short answer is probably for rolling and flat out YES for shaving. There are some arguable exceptions and we discuss the reasoning behind our answer below. …

When Wilson bought Slugger a few years back it made it on our most important bat developments of the decade. Not 11 months into the new decade, who would have thought the industry already accomplished …

We’ve spent at least 20 hours in the cage collectively with the MAKO TORQ brand of bats—including the BBCOR, Little League (youth) and Big Barrel versions of the bat. We’ve also seen the bat at the …

We, baseball parents/players, live in a world of composite vs. alloy, USSSA vs. USA, USA vs. Wood, and the lists go on. There is typically little, if any, the discussion around composite wood bats. We …

There are a lot of small wood bat companies. Of course, you have the usual suspects like Louisville Slugger, Marucci, Rawlings, and Sam. Newer guys, like Victus and Tucci, have hit the big time too. B …

We’ve been asked more than a few times to compare the exit speeds of USA Bats and wood bats. We took up the challenge. Three different hitters of differing ability took over 300 swings with two compet …

Very few “deal days” are actual “deal days.” (ahem, Harbor Freight). If every day is a deal, how can any particular day be a deal? We digress. Wilson’s Glove day is a beautiful exception. It’s deal-da …

We’ve been writing about baseball and fastpitch bats for a long time. Since everyone else seemed to be writing about the decade in review, we thought we could look through old emails, traffic reports, …

For the 2020 season NCAA baseball (not High School Baseball) is implementing a couple bat rule changes. They include details on the White Bat Ban as well as compression testing before each game. Compr …

We spent weeks scouring eBay, Sidelineswap and used good forums trying to track down every BBCOR DeMarini Voodoo ever made. They went back to 2011. Eventually, we were successful. (Although the 2019 V …

Was Yoenis Cespedes’ Throw the Greatest? (Since the below was posted the blog sphere continued to erupt over details concerning the greatest throw ever. Those with a more sophisticated (read: accurate …

Bat throwing into the stands makes for some interesting photos. The one above most recently made famous by a boy who was more concerned about his clash of clans season then this fly Sam Bats baseball …

Our second day at the Perfect Game Series Classic brought on some highlights and lowlights. We learned that umpires are late no matter how expensive the tournament, Pitch Smart Rules are stringent and …

We’ve all seen the posts on the internet claiming which is the best bat in each category.  Usually this is referring to performance, which is what most players are concerned about and rightfully so.   …

A few years ago we discussed the effect of BBCOR bats on offensive performance. We found, as many did, the implementation of BBCOR standards pushed offensive performance to all time lows. We were not …

Starting in at least 2014, the two most popular baseball bats on the market include the DeMairni CF and the Easton MAKO series. 2017’s models introduce the Easton MAKO Beast and the DeMarini CF Zen. W …

Under our Best At-Bats section, we compile data from auction houses on bat sizes of past and present greats. That aggregated data shows some insights worth sharing. In particular, the sheer range of b …

At the end of October of 2016, Bauer Performance Sports Group, who acquired Combat Sports Group in 2013 and who also owns the Easton brand, stated they would be filing to restructure their debt under …

Marucci Sports, a major player in the baseball bat space, announced today they have acquired Victus Sports. Victus, a mid level player in the pro-bat market who produced bats for Bryce Harper, among o …

Any chat room or discussion group surrounding DeMarini’s 2017 CF Zen in the 2 3/4 size contains at least one thread on its durability. Justbatreviews has received at least a dozen questions about the …

DeMarini’s CF Zen and Slugger’s 917 Prime are similar bats. We have hit with both bat lines extensively, spoken to manufacturers about the lineup at length and discussed the bats with parents and play …

What may be the two most popular bats this year in a number of baseball categories are the Marucci CAT 7 and the Easton MAKO Beast. Both bats come from respectable institutions with a history of produ …

Wood bats have been around since the beginning of baseball—in fact, they were the beginning of baseball. Today, there are many different species of wood used to make bats. Each species has its benef …

Every successful hitter from Little League to the Major Leagues has three common traits. Good Mechanics Solid Mental Approach Good Timing These are the three pillars of great hitters.  Without even ON …

I have been training baseball players since I was a pro player myself. Something like 30 years at this point and I’ve seen big changes in the Youth, High School and College games. Back in the day, we …

So you’re trying to decide between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini? That’s a difficult decision. The Easton Ghost X and the DeMarini CF Zen are the top of the line bats and their price tags reflect it. Of …

Over my long playing career I played for all kinds of different coaches with various types of personalities. Many of them had their own way of “motivating” players to get the most out of their talent. …

As I look back on my playing career, I realize that I was EXTREMELY lucky to be born into a baseball family where I was taught at an early age the proper fundamentals of the game—especially hitting. I …

To go along with our best youth baseball bats, we thought it appropriate to make a list of the worst bats ever made. Forbid we leave out the other end of the spectrum! For reasons we explain below, ea …

When I was in Little League around 9 years old, my dad, a former MLB catcher, was our coach—and he stole the other team’s signs EVERY game. He knew the obvious indicators like the bill of the cap or s …

One of the most popular fast pitch questions asks to explain the difference between the Louisville Slugger LXT and Xeno. Below is a head to head comparison. Why Choose the XENO over the LXT? Find this …

Last weekend at a game, it was 38 degrees here in Northwest Ohio or as we call it “the start of Spring baseball.” As we remember and learn every year, it is going to be cold the first month or so of o …

We watched just about every 2018 College World Series plate appearance. This includes all the games up to the finals (to be played this week between Arkansas and Oregon State) and amounts to 980 docum …

We measured the exit speeds of a BBCOR composite bat pre and post rolling. We found rolling did increase the bat’s average exit velocity but not by much. In our focused test (one bat, one hitter, 20 m …

Thinking of attending the Cooperstown All Star Village and want to know what to expect? You’ve come to the right place! One of our readers spent a week at the tournament and put together the most impo …

Designing the best team trading pin for your Cooperstown trip is no small task. It requires planning, organization and finding the right fit to represent your team. Below you will find: 5 quick and ea …

The finals of the LLWS are this weekend. The USA and International Championships are on Saturday. The finals are on Sunday. All via ABC. If you are just catching up, here are 7 things we’ve noticed af …

Thinking of buying a bat in September or October? 10/10 Only: DeMarini is doing an 50% sale. 10/10 Only: Louisville Slugger Doing a 50% Sale. Probably not. But that is just the point. It is officially …

Looking for a HitTrax Batting Cage near you? We spent time in the Dick’s Sporting Goods (Henderson, Nevada location) with their HitTrax setup to do some bat fitting and a home run derby. Here’s what w …

If you want even more updates, check out our twitter feed. Updated 6/27/ 11:15am MST Well, we made it back from the 2019 CWS. The Vandy boys pulled it off (again). It was a fun run. Here’s our video o …

Here’s what you need to know about the new NOSCAE Catcher’s Gear requirement for high school and college ball. For 2020 high school baseball requires a NOCSAE certified chest protector. The NCAA pushe …

By Jon Zayle and Brian Duryea What are BESR Bats? BESR was the baseball bat certification requirement for NCAA and high school baseball play between 1998 and 2011. Short History – BESR was implemented …

Baseball is back. It seems like a year ago that the 33” 2020 Meta was banned, causing players and parents all over the U.S. to lose their minds. I mean, if a kid doesn’t have a bat that has been on th …

If you know that the total weight of a bat means virtually nothing when considering the usefulness of it at the plate, then you will want to know what the swing weight is. We show you how to get the s …

After measuring every barrel in the 2018 lineup of baseball bats, and categorizing them by type and length, we have found the Easton Ghost X as the bat with the largest barrel in more categories than …

Exit speed testing and results have some SERIOUS issues and we ask you to consider them before running off to assume that exit speeds and the “best bat” are one and the same. Our biggest fear is we mi …

We have long argued that bat companies could put to bed much of the argument in the industry around their bat’s exit velocity by simply releasing the data they get during BBCOR certification testing. …

As we measured the barrel sizes of baseball bats, we also measure the size of fastpitch barrels too. We found DeMarini’s CF Zen in the drop 11 (as well as the CF-XD) to have the longest barrels.  The …

Let us guess, you were watching a game on TV and you noticed an MLB batter’s thumb ring. Wait, you asked, is there such a thing as a baseball thumb guard? Yes. Specifically, its a Pro Hitter’s Basebal …

Running a baseball and softball bat site brings with it a few perks, not the least of which is speaking with ancillary baseball products. Chinook Seedery is one of our more recent finds. They make, as …

JustBats started a bat knob contest that could land you $200 and some notoriety. We thought it cool enough to share here. The 3 Steps to Enter 1. Create a custom bat knob here. 2. Post it to FaceBook …

The backspin tee is a hitting device that hangs a baseball over the plate to reveal the part of the baseball that should be hit. The pro model also puts the ball at an angle like it would if it were b …

Easton’s Jaw Guard was made popular during the LLWS due to its visibility. And, turns out, it likely saved a kids teeth from very serious injury. We recorded that video, which went viral, and put it o …

We used the Garmin Impact Bat Sensor for several weeks among several different hitters on several different bats. In short, we like it and believe it our favorite bat sensor on the market. Others migh …

The Pocket Radar Ball Coach has been on our holiday gift guide for 2 years running. It might be run off the list this year. Not because we stopped liking it (we use it all the time), but because Pocke …

We put VukGripz on a bat and hit with it among several different hitters to write this review. In short, the VukGripz feel is different than any grip on the market. Small microfibers pointing outwards …

Varo baseball released a new bat grip and it is something we’ve never seen before. It’s like a combination between a Lizard Skin or Vulcan and old fashioned bat tape. It’s made of silicone and therefo …

Out of pure delight, we got access to two real and professionally made college baseball spray charts. Think you know baseball strategy? Here is your chance. Would you shift for the first, second, both …

Batting helmet’s were not used consistently until the 1940’s and were not mandatory until 1983. It would be ridiculous, today, for someone to get in the box without a batting helmet on. How long until …

There are a ton of hitting aid options on the market to help your player become a better hitter, so much so it’s a little overwhelming.  We are going to highlight some of the more popular options for …

If you have seen any MLB games this season you’ve seen a new piece of face guard protection for players. Guys like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper have a new thing on their helmet.  It seems like at least …

The Blast Vision App is software that uses your phone’s camera to plot the distance, speed and launch angles of your baseball and softball tee hits. Aggregating this data at your finger tips for immed …

Repetition, pinpoint accuracy, total control of speed, mastery of pitch type… these are areas that coaches typically struggle with when throwing batting practice. Players take their time in the cage …

So your kid is going to darn the ‘tools of ignorance’?  While this idea can be both exciting and nerve wracking for parents it also comes with a whole new set of logistical issues to take care of.  Th …

By Jason Wilson One of the most precious things in a parent’s life is their child.  When a child plays any sport, there is a strain put on their growing body.  With baseball, one of the greatest strai …

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, there are three traits shared by all successful hitters: 1. Good mechanics 2. Solid mental/aggressive approach 3. Good timing Without even one of these a hitter …

We took a spin with plate crate, the subscription based monthly box of baseball goodies. You pay just under $30 a month and get over $30 of value shipped to your front door. It includes some knick kna …

We spend several hours each week behind the Hitting Vault’s paywall, and over the course of that time, have watched nearly every one of their videos. Two of our sons are in the process of their SwingB …

We have spent over 15 hours with the Rapsodo Hitting Monitor. In that time, we have recorded at least 1,000 hits within indoor and outdoor cages, as well as on outdoor fields. Those hits ranged from l …

By Blake Muir If you’ve ever seen a kid behind the plate with sweet customized catcher’s gear, you may have wondered where to find it and whether it is worth investing the extra cost into the gear. I …

We have now spent time with the Diamond Kinetics Sensor, Zepp Labs Swing Analytics and the Blast Motion sensor. (We cover the general overview in our Baseball Swing analyzer summary.) Our most recent …

Our VARO Baseball bat weight (Amazon Price Check) review comes after 10 hours of use with the specialized bat weight compared to other donuts on the market. The VARO is a high end bat weight that come …

Let’s put this simply. Since buying baseball and softball gadgetry during the last 10 years NOTHING has been more useful, fun and worth it than our Pocket Radar Ball Radar. There, we said it. And afte …

If you are serious about your catcher’s gear then it is likely, indeed recommended, you put Marucci’s catcher gear equipment set on your short list. We spent a few hours behind the plate using the gea …

If you’ve ever met someone who has a Boombah bat bag then you know these bags are LOVED. And I mean absolutely loved. We took three different versions for a spin recently, got some player feedback and …

DeMarini makes a fantastic high end bag for travel players. It has everything you could ever want in a roller bag that converts into a bag pack and individual sleeves for up to 4 bats. [wp_ad_camp_1] …