The Bat Bros swing 5 different wood bats from Louisville Slugger - all at different price points. With so many different price tiers of wood bats these days, it's tough to figure out what you should be paying in order to get a solid wood bat. Here's what we found:
3-Series Ash 243 ($30): -Very light-swinging -From what we know about wood bats, this one is likely very fragile and will break pretty quickly -Ash barrels are likely to chip away at the barrel after some decent use -TINY sweet spot -Decent pop if you square it up perfectly -It can get the bare minimum done if you're in a pinch and need a short-term bat, but other than that we would not recommend this option honestly.
5-Series Ash 243 ($50): -A very significant step up from the $30 bat -Typical wood bat swing weight (endload) -Two to three times the sweet spot compared to the $30 option -Solid pop across a larger range on the barrel -Still gonna have the flaky chipped barrel issue when using ash - and we've broken a few of these 5-series bats before. -A legitimate good wood bat for only $50 - our #1 bang for your buck option
5-Series Maple 243 ($80): -A slight step up from the $50 option as maple is a slightly better performing material than ash in our opinion -Similar swing weight and sweet spot to the $50 option, but this will be a bit more durable, more stiffness, and have a bit more pop off the barrel. -In the 2-hole for "bang for your buck" - get this one if you can. Really solid bat.
7-Series Maple 243 ($100): -More pop than the 5-series but quite a bit more swing-weight. We preferred how the 5-series maple and ash options swung more than this $100 option. -Going to be a slightly more dense wood which will lead to added durability and more pop, but more swing weight and more $$$. -Probably wouldn't drop $100 on this though
MLB Prime CB35 Maple ($150): -Biggest sweet spot -As light-swinging as the 5-series ash -Almost as much pop as the 7-series maple -Likely going to be more durable than the other options - but it's pure maple, so this bat will eventually break on you, and it could happen sooner rather than later; that's why we like the $50 and $80 options - but if you're looking for the best performing wood bat, this is the option you're gonna want to go with.
