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By Bat Digest | Last Updated June 15, 2022
For 2020, DeMarini has released the Prism out of its D-Labs and into the broader market. They also added a drop 11 to its very popular drop 10 status. For the drop 10, it is the same bat as the 2019 version. For 2019 it had a limited release. No matter what you call it, the Prism is the same double barreled light swing with a massive sweet spot, fantastic feel and a balanced swing. See DeMarini’s D-Labs where the Prism was born. In its original release, due to unexpected demand, the Prism was hard to find in stock. These days its pretty available at just about every major, serious outlet.
We’ve tested this bat, and every 2020 Fastpitch bat on the market today, with several different hitters.
The Prism bat is highly recommendable. The double-barrel sounds great feels great on hits and mishits, and appears to have a massive sweet spot. If budget isn’t much of an issue it comes highly recommendable. In terms of overall feel, we think the best on the market. Other stiffer bats tended to perform a bit better but that was with bigger hitters that could drill the ball. We recommend the 2020 Prism for almost any drop 10 hitters looking for a real balanced swing and is very serious about fastpitch.
You might also like DeMarini’s D-Lab CF-XD.
The bat is more expensive than most upper-end fastpitch bats. At $399 retail it’s hard to get yourself to pass up the best fastpitch bats which are, at most, at least $50 less.
| 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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| 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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In terms of construction, Easton’s 2018 Ghost Double Barrel is a reasonable comparison. Both bats are two piece composites and built with a double wall barrel. However, the Ghost Double Barrel swings considerably heavier than the DeMarin Prism. Expect a swing that is 10% heavier with the Ghost.
In terms of balance, look for the Slugger LXT. The LXT has a sort of modified double barrel in a floating ring they use within the barrel of the bat. The principle behind the ring is similar to that of the dual walls in the Prism. That is, it expands the sweet spot, increases performance at slower pitch speeds and improves durability all within the allowable standard. As well, the LXT is also a two piece composite bat. It is a reasonable comparison to the Prism.
The 2019 DeMarini Prism is the first year of the bat. There is no previous year 2018 model to compare it to.
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.
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