Quick Take
Composite wood bats offer durability and performance not found in traditional single-piece wood bats, making them popular in minor leagues and youth baseball. Brands like Baum, DeMarini, Axe, and Mizuno are leading the charge, providing bats that mimic wood's feel while enhancing longevity.
Composite wood bats are categorized into a large selection of wood bats not made from single-piece billets. They aren’t merely shaved down from a tree to form a single piece of maple, ash, or birch. Composite wood bats are multi-piece wood bats or sawdust from bats pressed, glued, and combined. Often, composite (plastic) pieces help form the inside, while some type of wood, wood pieces, or sawdust includes a bat’s exterior. These bats are illegal at the MLB level, but many minor leagues allow them. Most of them are approved for leagues like BBCOR and USA too.
Why Use a Composite Wood Bat?
The answer is durability. Since the composite wood bat is not cut from a single piece of wood, you will most likely not have to deal with the possibility of hidden defects in typical wood bats.
Are There Youth Composite Wood Bats?
Yes. Youth composite wood bats are typical and make a lot of sense due to their durability and cost compared to single-piece wood bats. Composite structures also give manufacturers more liberty in making light-swinging bats.
What is the Best Composite Wood Bat?
Of course, we have an entire article dedicated to testing and ranking the best composite wood bats today.
Composite Wood Bat Brands
More than a few companies are producing composite wood bats. We mention and highlight a few of them below. You can also find many with an Amazon search like this.
Baum Bats
Baum Bats is the originator of the composite wood bat. In 1993, the company designed a composite wood bat that hits like wood, feels like wood, and reacts like wood. The game-changer – the bat was an estimated 400 times more durable than a traditional wooden bat. Baum bats are offered from a 30″ to a 35″ with a -5 or -3 weight. Most of the bats sport a 2 1/2″ barrel. They are offered for almost immediate shipment if you choose the base color of black, but there are multiple color options that will change the delivery date.
DeMarini Composite Wood Bats
I am sure you know someone who owns a composite wood DeMarini baseball bat. This brand is nationally known for making smokin’ hot bats (sometimes too hot).
The Pro Maple Model of their bats all come with a large barrel and are slightly end-loaded. These are a great option if you are looking for a composite wood bat. These are meant for more advanced swingers as they start at 31″ and are only offered in a -3.
If you would like to read a little more about DeMarini composite wood offerings, you can read about it here.
Axe Composite Wood Bats
The Axe wood bat has been made popular by many Major League Baseball stars such as Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, and the recent World Series MVP George Springer.
Axe bats incorporate the Axe Handle, which is designed for the biomechanics of your swing. With a more natural swing and improved range of motion, you’ll achieve better bat speed and control. The L180 series of the Axe bat seems to be one of the top composite bats on the market. Take a look at an in-depth review of this bat here.
Mizuno Composite Wood Bats
From the maker of a vast line of MLB-level equipment comes the MZMC 243 and 271 from Mizuno. These bats include a carbon-reinforced handle along with a composite maple hitting surface. This bat looks excellent and is engineered to hit just like a real maple bat.
Composite Wood Bats | Additional Brands
Here is a short list of other companies that make composite wood bats.
I would assume that as the popularity of the wooden bat increases along with the hatred of the USABat standard, the composite market for wooden baseball bats is going to heat up over the next few years.
As always, if you own a bat, take a minute to review it on this site. If you decide to go with a composite wood bat, that would be even better!
