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By Bat Digest | Last Updated August 3, 2022
For 2021, releases a 3rd iteration of the new Prism fastpitch line. The bat hasn’t changed much from its release as a D-Lab bat for 2019. It is still a big barrel, light swing, flexible feel, and a high-end performance fastpitch bat. They have added some sizing options for 2021, and it competes for head to head with its sister bat, the CF, and bats like Easton’s Ghost Advanced and Louisville Slugger’s LXT and META.
We’ve tested this and every 2021 Fastpitch bat on the market today with several different hitters. The Prism bat is highly recommendable. The double-barrel sounds great, has no hand sting 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 better, but bigger hitters could drill the ball. We recommend the 2021 Prism for almost any drop 10/11 hitters looking for a real balanced swing and is very serious about fastpitch.
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 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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| 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| MOI | Tech | Drb | Flx | Prof | ReSl | PlaRa | ExVe | Relv | Dmnd |
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Louisville Sluggers 2021 LXT is a reasonable comparison in terms of construction. Our sense is DeMarini was trying to recreate the success of the LXT with the Prism. But, no doubt, the market has more than a few excellent two-piece composite bats for the fastpitch world.
The 2020 DeMarini Prism is the second year of the bat. There have not been any changes worth mentioning from the 2020 to 2021.
The DeMarini Prism for 2021 comes in a drop 11 or 10, has a balanced feel, and is a two-piece full composite fastpitch bat. It uses a double barrel design to help pass the test but still has a big bounce with lower impact speeds. Hence, it works for younger and smaller players. It’s a light bat built for hitters that want as much bat speed as possible.
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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