Let’s Talk Bats - Best BBCOR of All Time

They did not have BBCOR back in my day so I'll relay what my son has used. A few years ago in 7th grade he swung a 32" Rawlings Velo. He hit it well, but he never really liked the bat and was always trying other bats. The way he was hitting it I thought it was a great bat. His teammates loved it.

He didn't play 8th grade ball this year because of COVID, but he's preparing for freshman ball now and I just ordered him a Marucci CAT8 Connect Black. Back in travel ball he hit a CAT7 USSSA bat and loved it so I'm hoping he's happy with the CAT8 he finds under the Christmas tree this year.

Does anyone have an opinion on the Omaha 517? ITT seems a lot of FSU players use it, including freshman

The red one? My kid still refuses to give up his 32, so there could be something there

Baseball Bat Bros just did a comparison between the Easton B5 (new old green bat) and the old yellow Easton XL3. The XL3 was the clear winner. Look for there to be a run on that bat on eBay.

@2022NYC posted:

The red one? My kid still refuses to give up his 32, so there could be something there

Yep. That’s the one. I never see it mentioned on these lists but always see FSU guys using it year after year

So I always wondered how many people actually pay $1k or more for the red Meta. Apparently a lot. Took my son to his hitting yesterday. A bunch of D1 players and commits were using them. It was strange to not see them using wood for the first time in a very long time. Out of 15 or so dudes, there was 1 The Goods and 1 old Easton. The dude using the Easton was absolutely destroying balls. Exit velo routinely in the 100's.

So I bought my 18 yr old a 33” 30oz Stinger Nuke for Christmas and took it out to field a couple days ago to just take some swings off the tee and all I  can say is wow!!!!!  First swing and a little smile came on his face....that  never happens lol.  The bat is definitely endloaded but he says it swings extremely smooth.  The handle is pretty thin and tapers to a nice sized knob...just the right size to whip the bat through the zone.  He wanted to just have some fun and take some daddy swings at the field and hit 2 that went 385’...he marked them off.  He said he was swinging about 85% effort and since it was cold outside, the ball didn’t carry as much as in Warner temperatures.  If your son is looking for an endloaded bat that has high performance then this might be the bat for you...and it is a little over $200...unbelievable deal!

Another swing

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

So I always wondered how many people actually pay $1k or more for the red Meta. Apparently a lot. Took my son to his hitting yesterday. A bunch of D1 players and commits were using them. It was strange to not see them using wood for the first time in a very long time. Out of 15 or so dudes, there was 1 The Goods and 1 old Easton. The dude using the Easton was absolutely destroying balls. Exit velo routinely in the 100's.

Every now and then you’ll see a red meta on a local travel team but national teams are a different story. Couple kids have them on every team at higher level tournaments.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

So I always wondered how many people actually pay $1k or more for the red Meta. Apparently a lot. Took my son to his hitting yesterday. A bunch of D1 players and commits were using them. It was strange to not see them using wood for the first time in a very long time. Out of 15 or so dudes, there was 1 The Goods and 1 old Easton. The dude using the Easton was absolutely destroying balls. Exit velo routinely in the 100's.

My son has the red Meta (bought it when it first came out). He also has the black The Goods. He is set on The Goods. I keep shoving the red Meta in his bag when we go hit, but he always pulls out The Goods instead. He has even told me to sell his red Meta. But I am afraid that once the season starts he is going to want to use his Meta again.

@ARCEKU21 posted:

My son has the red Meta (bought it when it first came out). He also has the black The Goods. He is set on The Goods. I keep shoving the red Meta in his bag when we go hit, but he always pulls out The Goods instead. He has even told me to sell his red Meta. But I am afraid that once the season starts he is going to want to use his Meta again.

I’m afraid to buy one and then it getting banned. The LS rep at the Wilson Premier says no chance that would happen with a 3 year old bat though

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

I’m afraid to buy one and then it getting banned. The LS rep at the Wilson Premier says no chance that would happen with a 3 year old bat though

Perfect Game just recently went back to the 2017 model CF Zen (green drop 5) and banned it for youth going forward....never say never......

@22and25 posted:

Perfect Game just recently went back to the 2017 model CF Zen (green drop 5) and banned it for youth going forward....never say never......

Wow! That’s crazy. Imagine how much money has been spent on those in the second-hand market. Why would they wait 3 years? Wonder if so many have been altered they just decided to ban all of them.

@Buckeye 2015 posted:

My son was a 2015 HS grad.  He had a Marucci Cat 5 his last 2 years of HS and loved it.  For a small kid, 5'10, maybe 160 he hit 4 HR's his senior year with it.   His college had Rawlings...he was not a fan

Cat 5 (squared?)was banned in 33 and 34 in college and HS.  I'm not sure why it wasn't anything special. Almost no umps seemed to know about it.

@Buckeye 2015 posted:

My son was a 2015 HS grad.  He had a Marucci Cat 5 his last 2 years of HS and loved it.  For a small kid, 5'10, maybe 160 he hit 4 HR's his senior year with it.   His college had Rawlings...he was not a fan

Do college teams force players to use specific brands?

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Wow! That’s crazy. Imagine how much money has been spent on those in the second-hand market. Why would they wait 3 years? Wonder if so many have been altered they just decided to ban all of them.

@TerribleBPthrower At one of the more recent PG 13u tournaments in Vegas, one of the top teams in the country at the 13u level had a 2017 cf zen and balls were flying like crazy. 2-3 homeruns in the same game at BLD(300 foot fences) going over the 80 foot netting behind the fence. Opposing teams claimed that every player had their own 2017 cf zen but they all kept passing one around. Most claimed that it was shaved since the end cap popped off after of of these homeruns over the netting behind the fence. This is probably why they barely banned it. From firsthand experience, it can get EXTREMELY dangerous playing 12-13u baseball on the small fields when a big kid comes up with a Cf Zen. Would hate to see someone fake bunt with a CF Zen and slash one over to third. Crazy to see 100 MPH exit velocities from 13 year olds using the 2017 CF Zen. IMHO should have been banned years ago.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

There was a conversation between some pros the other day about the best BBCOR bats that they used to mash with. It was interesting and funny to hear them argue about it. What were the best bats when your kids played?

My son has only been using BBCOR for a couple years, but during that time I’d say the 2019 red Meta has been the best. Although the Demarini The Goods may take its place.

The meta prime in blue was actually banned in 33".  Same bat as the red meta prime as far as I could tell.  They were selling for $1500 on eBay at one point point.   There is also a meta pwr prime that was very good but didn't get banned.  Meta is hands down the the best for smaller kids but they go dead over time.  If you have more size the one piece metal voodoos were good. I hear the newest Cat is very good.

Some will say it's the shooter not the arrow but there are definitely bats that were better than others.  The previously mentioned  -5 and -10 USSSA Zens and other Demarini CFs were lethal weapons.  I read a story about a guy in Texas who used a tool they use to find hot bats in softball tournaments  and college WS who said that the off the shelf Zen was hotter than a shaved bat.  I've seen them explode on contact. They were legendary, and dangerous.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

I’m afraid to buy one and then it getting banned. The LS rep at the Wilson Premier says no chance that would happen with a 3 year old bat though

PG also just banned the 2015 CF7 and XL1, 5 going on 6 year old bats. I think there is still a possibility,

@KennieProton posted:

The meta prime in blue was actually banned in 33.  Same bat as the red meta prime as far as I could tell.  The were selling for $1500 on eBay at one point point.   There is also a meta pwr prime that is legal and very good but didn't get banned.  Meta is hands down the the best for smaller kids.  If you have more size the one piece metal voodoos were good. I hear the newest Cat is very good.

Some will say it's the shooter not the arrow but there are definitely bats that were better than others.  The previously mentioned  -5 and -10 USSSA Zens and other Demarini CFs were lethal weapons.

Not only BBCOR going for $1,500, old teammate payed 1,750 for a new in wrapper 2017 CF Zen. Only got to use it for about 5 months before COVID hit and bat was deemed illegal

@KennieProton posted:

The meta prime in blue was actually banned in 33".  Same bat as the red meta prime as far as I could tell.  They were selling for $1500 on eBay at one point point.   There is also a meta pwr prime that was very good but didn't get banned.  Meta is hands down the the best for smaller kids but they go dead over time.  If you have more size the one piece metal voodoos were good. I hear the newest Cat is very good.

Some will say it's the shooter not the arrow but there are definitely bats that were better than others.  The previously mentioned  -5 and -10 USSSA Zens and other Demarini CFs were lethal weapons.  I read a story about a guy in Texas who used a tool they use to find hot bats in softball tournaments  and college WS who said that the off the shelf Zen was hotter than a shaved bat.  I've seen them explode on contact. They were legendary, and dangerous.

The LS rep told me the only difference is the paint and the connection piece due to the red Meta having some breaking issues. The 2021 Meta is much different. They had to put some type of rings on the inside the barrel to meet the specs.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

The LS rep told me the only difference is the paint and the connection piece due to the red Meta having some breaking issues. The 2021 Meta is much different. They had to put some type of rings on the inside the barrel to meet the specs.

You can feel the effects of the rings also. The new Meta swing weight is definitely different than the red and blue models.

When I asked him straight up comparing the new Meta to the old ones, he grinned and said I may want to look at other LS or Demarini models

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Do college teams force players to use specific brands?

Typically yes, if they have a sponsorship from a particular brand.  The good thing is that they were free lol, which was kind of nice after 9 or 10 years of buying bats

Anybody here know of anyone swinging a LS LTD Select? Looks like a decent bat but nobody seems to have it in stock.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Anybody here know of anyone swinging a LS LTD Select? Looks like a decent bat but nobody seems to have it in stock.

What size does your son swing? Sites only have it in 34/31.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Anybody here know of anyone swinging a LS LTD Select? Looks like a decent bat but nobody seems to have it in stock.

This must be really limited run bat. I only see it on LS's website. There are a couple on ebay also (34"). I don't see a 32" or 33" floating around anywhere.

Is this bat the updated LS Select 719?

@2025prospect posted:

What size does your son swing? Sites only have it in 34/31.

He needs a 33. The only site I can find any of them on is LS. No retailers have it. Weird.

@ARCEKU21 posted:

This must be really limited run bat. I only see it on LS's website. There are a couple on ebay also (34"). I don't see a 32" or 33" floating around anywhere.

Is this bat the updated LS Select 719?

It is the updated Select series. I'm going to email LS to see if they are releasing more. It would be nice to see at least one review on it (besides the Bat Brothers fellas)

JustBats says it is exclusive to LS and wasn't offered to retailers.

Just picked up a 33 The Goods for tbpt jr. Told him he’d have to show me he can swing it as good or better than the 32 blue Meta. The Goods bat speed is definitely a tick slower than the Meta. Exit velo using a Stalker Pro 2 is exactly the same. Tough to make a scientific comparison because of the different lengths, but when he bulks up a little more I imagine the 33 TG will outperform the Meta. For now though he’s going to use the Meta

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Just picked up a 33 The Goods for tbpt jr. Told him he’d have to show me he can swing it as good or better than the 32 blue Meta. The Goods bat speed is definitely a tick slower than the Meta. Exit velo using a Stalker Pro 2 is exactly the same. Tough to make a scientific comparison because of the different lengths, but when he bulks up a little more I imagine the 33 TG will outperform the Meta. For now though he’s going to use the Meta

I noticed the same thing on our end with The Goods and Meta. He has the black The Goods and the red Meta. He wanted so bad to use The Goods. It was fine with average pitching but you could tell he was a tick slower than he was with the Meta. By chance, I ran into a new Voodoo One. That is now thee bat. Light swing weight and still packs a punch on the ball. It’s the first time he has used a one piece bat but it fits him better than both The Goods and Meta.

@ARCEKU21 posted:

I noticed the same thing on our end with The Goods and Meta. He has the black The Goods and the red Meta. He wanted so bad to use The Goods. It was fine with average pitching but you could tell he was a tick slower than he was with the Meta. By chance, I ran into a new Voodoo One. That is now thee bat. Light swing weight and still packs a punch on the ball. It’s the first time he has used a one piece bat but it fits him better than both The Goods and Meta.

I wish I had seen this post 4 days ago, lol. Someone told me last night about the Voodoo as well. He said it’s super loud but his kid loves it

Justbats says it’s the same model as the 2020, just different paint

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

I wish I had seen this post 4 days ago, lol. Someone told me last night about the Voodoo as well. He said it’s super loud but his kid loves it

Justbats says it’s the same model as the 2020, just different paint

Baseball Bat Bros said the same thing, same bat just new paint (which is not all that different from last years paint job).

My son got a new bat for Christmas-Stinger Nuke. Due to an injury, he has not been able to swing it until today. He loves it!!! Probably , more due to Mental Confidence , than anything else. But that doesn't matter. Confidence at the plate, is half the game. It's slightly more end-loaded than his's old Easton bat ( same weight and length -33/30). Therefore it may send the balls a little deeper, than his "balanced" bat. We'll see. I haven/t checked his exit Velo , off the T yet, as he is still recovering from a hip avulsion fracture. I'll up-date the metrics when he's at 100%. So far, though, he loves his Stinger!

P.S. : Sound is a bit different-more like a wood bat sound .