What Wood Would Wood Bats Be Made of, if Wood Bats Could Choose their Wood?

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 benefits, lending it toward a specific hitter’s needs. We have compiled information on some of the most popular species of wood used to make bats to help you decide from what spirit tree your wood bat should descend.

You might also like our reviews on wood bats or our comparison between aluminum, composite, hybrid and wood bats. Looking for cheap blem wood bats?

Maple

Sam Bat was the first to bring maple wood to bats in the MLB. Today, Maple is the most popular wood bat type in Professional Baseball.

Since its appearance on the market in the 90’s, maple has been one of the most popular species of wood made into bats. It is a very hard, dense wood, making it difficult to break while creating more pop off the barrel. The density is created by a closeness of the grains within the bat. The closeness of the grain also creates a hard bat, which helps with durability.

See our Sam Bat Reviews.

Ash

Ash is the second most popular type of wood bat used in the MLB today. Before maple, it was the go-to wood.

Ash was one of the first species of wood used, and is still often used today. It is very flexible and has very thick grains. The flex provides for a trampoline effect when the ball hits the bat, and this helps create pop off the barrel. There are a few downsides to Ash Bats, though, as the flex of the grains will cause them to pull apart, causing the bat to splinter over time. Also, the grains dry out more easily, also contributing to splintering. If you want the extra pop that ash bats provide, and are willing to replace your bat every few months, then ash is the perfect option for you.

See our Marucci Wood Bat Reviews.

Birch

Birch wood tries to capture the audience looking for a good combination of maple and ash.

Birch is a relatively new wood species in bats on the market today, but it has already made a good impression. It feels like a mix between maple and ash. It is a lighter wood species and has the flex of ash, but also boasts the hardness of maple. Birch is a great way to marry the benefits of maple and ash if you can’t choose between the two.

See our Custom Slugger Wood Bat Reviews.

Bamboo

Bamboo, technically a grass, is the cheap alternative to wood (not legal in the MLB), but gives a good option to budget conscious amateur players.

Bamboo is also one of the newest choices on the market, providing a cheap alternative to wood bats. It is a great choice for younger, growing kids who won’t swing the same size bat for very long, as well as older players. These bats are made by compressing bamboo strips into billets, and the billets are compressed together to make the bat. That process makes the bats extremely strong and very hard to break. Though they’re not technically wood, they perform the almost same as a wood bat.

See our Mizuno Bamboo Wood Bat Reviews and our Bamboo Wood Bat Reviews.

Hadden Grant is from from a small town in Southwest Missouri. He grew up in baseball, fell in love with it, and still loves it today. When he’s not around baseball or writing about baseball then he’s usually lifting weights or playing pool.