Wood Bats

Victus x50 axe handle. I am sure he will find something more expensive.

I ordered a American Batsmith MT27 in birch a few weeks ago for my son. Should be arriving sometime next week. He still uses his Baum for cage work. There is also a small bat maker in SW Texas, Panda Bat Co, that we ordered a couple of models from, C271 and an AP5. My son likes the C271. The AP5 is too much bat for him.

All this after he ordered two nice Dovetail DT71 Axe last year. He used one for a couple of games and the other one he used in about one or two cages sessions and then never saw the light of day after.

@ARCEKU21 posted:

I ordered a American Batsmith MT27 in birch a few weeks ago for my son. Should be arriving sometime next week. He still uses his Baum for cage work. There is also a small bat maker in SW Texas, Panda Bat Co, that we ordered a couple of models from, C271 and an AP5. My son likes the C271. The AP5 is too much bat for him.

All this after he ordered two nice Dovetail DT71 Axe last year. He used one for a couple of games and the other one he used in about one or two cages sessions and then never saw the light of day after.

Is the C271 more balanced? I'm worried the FT23 I ordered is going to be too much. It is commonly compared to an AP5. He's been trying to take swings with other kid's bats at the cage but they are either the same JC24 or longer/shorter than what he uses.

C271 has a slight end load, but not as much as the AP5.

My son has always received great wood from Phoenix Bats.  Check them out...they even have a return policy on your first bat if you dont like the way it feels.  My son is now swinging the NP13 and really likes it.  The site has great descriptions of all the bats and of course you can customize.  

https://phoenixbats.com

Rawlings 271 Ash feels great to me and surprisingly has held up well. I used the Marucci Jr7 before but it doesn’t feel the same anymore.

i made a deal with the son that if he hit a particular lifting goal (4 plate conventional deadlift), I'd take him to birdman to get a bat.  coincidentally, the bat he was using all summer and fall broke (a game bat from a former MLB player that he was instructed to use, not keep) so, when he finally hit that lift, he had an idea of what specs he was looking for.

birdman's shop is down the street from my work and they're really great guys, so i called them up and they said to bring him down with the broken bat.  Son felt all of their models and said that he liked the balance of one and the handle of another.  long story short, they combined the two and gave it his "own" model number.  Now, in wood, he swings an uncupped 33.5 AS405.  also, they gave me the "local discount" so it was still pricy but not near what a "custom" model would be at their normal prices. 

https://mastacbat.com/

Owned by a veteran that is a current high school coach.  Good quality bats!

Son really likes Odin. https://www.odinlumber.com. Great guy, solid company, great products.

He also enjoys Slugger maples.

Both in 271 turn.

As an aside, fascinating article in The Athletic about wood bats. Paywall, but The Athletic is truly an amazing read on  a daily basis for baseball. https://theathletic.com/256425...n-holding-them-back/

Great article @Senna. I read it last night. My son has used Maxbat, Sambat, Slugger, and a couple others not worth mentioning. He loves training with wood in the offseason and would like to use it in season too but it can get pretty expensive and I dont think that he gets quite the same pop as a good aluminum or composite.

The last bats purchased (that are his new favorite) is the Sambat Pro Select 4-pack. It is relatively inexpensive at $399 for 4 pro level bats (they did not have the 6-pack Pro Select when we got them last fall). They are all slightly different...some with thicker handles, bigger barrels, or different knobs, etc and you get an assortment at whatever length you order. Our only request was no bats with the thickest handles (1"+) as he does not like very thick handles and they sent everything less than 1". We got 4 bats and he really liked 3 of them and then sold the 4th to a buddy for $100. $100/each is a rock solid deal for pro-level bats imo.

https://sambat.com/collections...cts/pro-stock-4-pack

Mike Diaz, Pirates OF and I conducted "baseball clinics" in Northern California. His nickname for the Pirates promotions was "RAMBO"!

Mike is a very good teacher of hitting. We discuss his wood bats, his game bat was 35" 33 ounces, however his special bat against Dwight Gooden was 33" 31ounce. The moral of the story a hitter adjusts to the pitcher, the weather, the ballpark and the wind.

My son is the SSK Promotions Director and he sells the SSK bats to the MLB teams.

Bob

Used Victus JC24, Victus Axe, B45 Pro Select VV1, Trying out Holtz this summer and probably will want to go over the Chandler and try out their bats and am sure he will find something there that he just has to have lol. He absolutely loved his first Victus JC 24 bat but after it broke he didn't get the same feel from subsequent JC24 so thus the search for the perfect bat!!!

@ARCEKU21 posted:

I ordered a American Batsmith MT27 in birch a few weeks ago for my son. Should be arriving sometime next week. He still uses his Baum for cage work. There is also a small bat maker in SW Texas, Panda Bat Co, that we ordered a couple of models from, C271 and an AP5. My son likes the C271. The AP5 is too much bat for him.

All this after he ordered two nice Dovetail DT71 Axe last year. He used one for a couple of games and the other one he used in about one or two cages sessions and then never saw the light of day after.

Same here, just received an American Batsmith MT27 Birch for my son. Love the Pine Tar look!

HS season ends on Friday so he will start swing it this weekend.

@fly996 posted:

Same here, just received an American Batsmith MT27 Birch for my son. Love the Pine Tar look!

HS season ends on Friday so he will start swing it this weekend.

How does your son like it so far? Did it you get it compressed?

@ARCEKU21 posted:

How does your son like it so far? Did it you get it compressed?

He likes the look and it feels good based on a few test swings. The first real test will be a full round of BP this weekend. Yes, compressed (without question).

Also, the weight is spot on and this has a much bigger sweet spot when compared to his C271's from Victus and LS.

My son has tried many bats (sorry don't remember the models) and decided on using Chandler for several years.  The way he explained it to me (non-technical) is he loves the feel, durability and results.

My son has found that in birch he likes swinging Trinity wood. Prices for Trinity are fairly reasonable and has held up really well. Tried a few other brands in birch and Trinity was noticeably better.

For Maple he has had the best luck with Old Hickory.

@bruins11 posted:

My son has found that in birch he likes swinging Trinity wood. Prices for Trinity are fairly reasonable and has held up really well. Tried a few other brands in birch and Trinity was noticeably better.

For Maple he has had the best luck with Old Hickory.

Interesting...exact same experience as my son. 

If you desire the appearance of a "longer" bat do you turn the trademark down or up?

Bob