Bat Drama Continues

Couple of interesting things happened this weekend.

Logan actually went down to a 16 ounce bat to start off the tournament.  Trouble is, the 16 and 16.5 ounce bats we have are the worst bats we own.  No technology in them.  Just aluminum bats.

Logan hit a ton with the 16 ounce in practice.  So, whatever.  He's not a kid who swings a big, heavy bat, anyway. 

First game he went 3 for 3 and had one really impressive deep shot.  Second game, though, he went 0-fer and hit one inside pitch that rattled the heck out of the bat and his hands.

One of the biggest differences in bats these days is that they have composite materials and there's usually a transition between the hitting area and the handle.

I told him that with one of the other bats, he couldn't get so much handle vibration and that inside shot probably would not have hurt so much.

He went with the 17 ounce Excalibur bat the rest of the tournament.

Second day, went 1 for 2 in the first game.  Not bad.

Second game, they faced the best pitching team we've seen all year.  Both pitchers we faced threw well and faster than anybody we've seen all year so far.

Logan only had 2 at bats.  First one went down swinging.  Second one, though, he went deep into the count and fouled off 2 pitches.  He tipped his 3rd strike, but it was caught.

So, I don't think a 17 ounce bat is too heavy for him.  If he can catch up to those kids, he can catch up to anything. 

I really would like to see him transition to a big barrel bat.  My cousin's husband (hitting instructor, multi-year pro player in the minors) says they're a huge advantage and he isn't the kind of guy to blow smoke about that sort of thing.

I've already got a 19/29 (19 ounce 29") bat for him to try, but it is too heavy.  Logan's swing started getting big, slow and looping. 

We've got probably the best 17/29  bat on the market.  The only problem is it's not a big barrel.  Logan was able to catch up to the fast pitcher with it.  If he'd have had a big barrel bat, one of those foul balls might have been put in play.  Probably would have been pounded into the dirt or popped up but it'd be in play.

The trouble with big barrels is that if I get a 17 ounce bat, it will come in a 27 ounce length.  The manufacturers, for the most part, don't make anything lighter than a drop 10.  (Drop is the difference between the length in inches and the weight.  So, drop ten would be 27-17.)

Now, here's where the physics comes in.  It's not necessarily true that a big barrel 17/27 would be the same swing-weight as a normal barrel 17/29.

There are two key differences.  One, the big barrel would create more wind resistance.  Two, the shorter bat would require less torque to start the swing and thus have lower MOI (moment of inertia.) 

So, it's entirely possible that a big barrel 17/27 produce a faster swing than a standard 17/29.  It's also possible that it would not.  There's no real way to tell.

We're amassing a ridiculous bat collection.  Sometimes the local stores will let you take one home if you keep the plastic on it and only hit wiffle balls or tennis balls with it.  We did that with one bat:  used the pitching machine and wiffle balls to see if my son could hit it.  He did fine.  Took it and threw some live pitch, he did fine.  Did fine through his coach's batting practice.  Then, when he had to face some live pitch from kids his age, I saw signs that the bat was too heavy.

So, frankly, there's just no way to tell how your kid will do with a bat until you've seen him swing it a lot.  Great if you can borrow one before parting with the money, but sometimes that's just not possible.

I do think losing 2" is not great.  However, I suspect that the additional benefit of the big barrel may help.  He's got a big barrel 17/27 on the way.  Because of the physics I described above, he will probably swing it about as well as he swings his current 17/29 and maybe a bit faster.  He may be able to handle a 18/28, which I'd feel better about in regards to length.

I still haven't found an 18/28 that I feel good about.  I paid full retail for a couple of bats this year, and just can't keep that up.  So, unless it's a monster screamin' deal on e-bay, I will probably hold off.

He's got a bat he hits just fine with.  I'm just trying to gain him a tiny bit of extra advantage.