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2017 Marucci Pure Fastpitch Review

By Bat Digest | Last Updated June 15, 2022


Our 2017 Marucci Pure Fastpitch Review comes on the heels of a few hours cage work, discussions with the manufacturer and reading every user rated review available on the internet. We found, on the whole, the bat performed as well as any performance fastpitch bat we’ve seen in the space. Our players in the 2, 3, 5 and 6 spots in the line up preferred it’s balanced swing and sting dampening to other heavier swinging bats.


Price Check


2017 Pure Video

2017 Pure Video

2017 Pure Models


We recommend the bat to good and great fastpitch players who need as much performance from their bat as possible. Those willing to try a relatively new bat in the balanced two-piece composite fastpitch space will feel right at home.

Fastpitch –10
Fastpitch –11

General Recomendations

We would recommend the 2017 Marucci Pure to hitters who fit in at least one of the categories below:

  1. Prefer or need a light swinging performance fastpitch bat.
  2. Are you willing to afford a high-performance fastpitch bat market pricing?
  3. Hit in the 1, 2, 3 or 5 holes in a traditional line-up.
  4. We are comfortable with a new product with some new technology (SDX) from a company known to produce high-quality gear.
  5. Need maximum production from a bat in a long season (35+ games).

Model Recommendations

MFPP10

Fastpitch Drop 10 Review

Pure Fastpitch Drop 10 Ratings (key)
1 4 4 2 4 1 3 3 3 2
MOI Tech Drb Flx Prof ReSl PlaRa ExVe Relv Dmnd

OVERALL/10
Sizing: 30, 31, 32-inch
Release Date: October 1, 2015
Serial: MFPP10
Bat Type: Two Piece Composite
Barrel Size: 2 1/4
MFPP11

Fastpitch Drop 11 Review

Pure Fastpitch Drop 11 Ratings (key)
3 4 4 3 4 1 4 4 5 2
MOI Tech Drb Flx Prof ReSl PlaRa ExVe Relv Dmnd

OVERALL/10
Sizing: 30, 31, 32, 33-inch
Release Date: October 1, 2015
Serial: MFPP11
Bat Type: Two Piece Composite
Barrel Size: 2 1/4

Comparable Bats

You have no shortage of bats comparable to the 2017 Marucci Pure. As we mentioned above, every major player in the performance softball space has a two-piece composite fastpitch bat with a focus on a balanced swing and an over-sized barrel. Easton, for example, has the MAKO. DeMarini has the CF9. Louisville Slugger is the XENO and LXT Hyper. Worth makes a 2 Legit. There are likely some others.

We often get dizzy deciphering between them all.

If your hope is to find a performance bat, with their accompanying price tag, in the two-piece composite fastpitch market who has a focus on a large barrel and a light swing the Marucci Pure is 100% on that list.

Construction

The Marucci Pure is constructed of two pieces: handle and barrel. Both are composite material. The barrel is as long as they allow in the fastpitch space. It is connected to the handle similar to how the 2017 Marucci CAT Connect does their connection. Which is, the handle screws into the handle. The threaded material making the connection is designed to dissipate vibration between the barrel and handle.

Other companies fuse the two pieces of the bat together somewhat differently with the same intent: minimize hand sting on mishits and encourage a buttery feel on big hits. Our batting cage time confirmed this is true with the Marucci Pure. Their connective design (which they refer to as SDX) does a very good job of producing creamy jacks on dead center hits and dampens vibration on mishits. Better than other performance designs on the market we are not so sure—but as good as anything we’ve tested to date. (And we’ve tested a lot).

Notes: Fastpitch Two-Piece Composite Comparisons

Every serious performance bat company playing in the fastpitch space has a two piece composite designed bat as their flagship stick. Some differences are noted in three areas:

  1. Swing weights: Some of these bats have a balance point more towards the hands (often called balanced) while other put the balance point more towards the end cap (often called end-loaded).
  2. The length of the barrel is similar in all two-piece performance bats, but the real measure of a bat’s impressiveness is in the performance of the barrel along it’s length. Better bats perform as well outside the middle of the barrel as they do in the dead center of the sweet spot.
  3. How a companies fuse the handle and barrel together often differs wildly. Each attempt to dampen sting on mishits while still delivering appropriate energy to the ball through a finely tuned transition.
Overall Ratings

The overall rating uses seven different weighted metrics to determine our overall score. Half of total rating comes from the player and our exit speed tests (Player Rating: 25%, Performance: 25%).The other categories are Relevance (20%), Demand (10%), Durability (10%), Resell Score (5%), and Tech Specs (5%).

*: When a bat is denoted by a star (*) it is a preliminary rating. Expect it to be updated as we learn more about the bat and gather more data.

(PlaRa) Player Rating: We measure player rating from user reviews. Those users include our own hitters that we test at the lab as well as reviews we find online.

(ExVe) Performance: Performance measures the exit speeds and distances we capture in our hitting lab with HitTrax using these bats.

(Relv) Relevance: We measure the number of sizes and the MOI of the bat. Bats with a wider range of options get a better score.

(Dmnd) Demand: Demand is measured by consumer sentiment and the buzz around the bat.

(Drb) Durability: A bat’s durability is measured by user reviews as well as feedback from manufacturers.

(ReSl) Resell Score: Based on the price the bats go for used. Higher prices mean greater user demand which means, generally, a better bat. A resell value closer to its original price means a higher score.

(Tech) Tech Specs: We rate the bat on its technological advancements from previous years and compared to the industry at large. This is our chance to reward companies who are trying to innovate.
MOI
MOI or Mass Moment of Inertia is a measurement of bat swing weight. This quantifies how difficult it is to swing a bat. The industry often refers to this as things like End Load or Balanced but those words have been overused to the point of meaninglessness. We measure the actual swing weights of each bat we test using the industry-standard pendulum period, balance point, and scale weight. You can read more about that here.
Price
The price is the original MSRP price of the bat.
Type
The types of bats are single-piece alloy (SPA), two-piece composite (TPC), single-piece composite (SPC), hybrid (Hyb.), and wood (Wood). Hybrid bats are made of composite handles and alloy barrles.
Date
The estimated date the bat began distribution.

Download our data.