Are Custom DeMarini Bat Worth It?

If custom DeMarini bats are worth it, it will depend on how early you want access, how important color schemes are to you, and what innovations the new version offers that the old one does not.

If you believe that all BBCOR bats (and USA and USSSA bats) are created equal, then what else is there to pay a premium for but the swagged design?

There are plenty of reasons NOT to customize your bat. For starters, it’s expensive. Secondly, bats break. Other kids grow out of bats rather quickly. Finally, what doesn’t say pretentious coach’s kid more than a bat 10x more expensive than its eBay counterpart? (We kid, sort of).

The fact is, pro players have custom bats. Basically every single one of them.

But many don’t care, live once, and have the money to burn. So, here are four reasons we came up with to justify you dropping an extra hundred or so on your next top-end bat.

(Not sure what bat to get? Try this BBCOR guide).

1. You Get Early Access

Although in years past the custom versions of the bat came out AFTER the release of the bats. These days you get special and early access to the latest and greatest through the custom sites. That is, if you want the next year’s model before everyone else, then you can buy it directly on the custom site. Based on how it went this past season, the bats were available on the custom site a full month before they were available in their stock version on any vendor’s site.

2. Matchy Matchy

You can match your bat up with your particular team’s colors. NCAA teams do this all the time, and you can find their custom-colored bats all over DeMarini’s Instagram page.

Of course, you can also dial in your bat colorway to match your favorite player or team. We’ve seen a few MJ or LeBron-inspired bats on eBay. You can also make an ode to the greats. We’re sure a Babe Ruth-inspired Yankees custom is pretty common through the DeMarini custom shop.

3. Flex

Custom bats are a legit flex. They’re cool, look great, show some swag, and make many folks feel good. And, if you’re going to spend money, shouldn’t it also make you feel good?

4. Confidence

There’s nothing wrong with looking good. There’s nothing wrong with feeling good. The truth is, as much as bat companies try to steer us into thinking something else, there is something refreshing about a company pushing the envelope with design instead of suggesting their bats somehow perform better than the rest. The truth is, most bats in the BBCOR, USA, USSSA, and fastpitch space all perform the same. The only difference is the look and the confidence that comes with feeling good. As any hitter knows, feeling good is the basis for being a great hitter.

So, if you have the cash and are convinced the best-looking bat on the field will drive the most confidence at the plate, then why not?

An excerpt from our first take in 2016 on DeMarini’s Custom Site

We do try and check our hyperbole at the door here at batdigest.com, yet we are actually quite comfortable in saying the custom DeMarini bat approach is the single most innovative thing we’ve seen in the space since we’ve been following it. Hats off, for sure, to those companies trying to improve the performance of top-shelf bats (and DeMarini also falls into that category), but the attempt to let players customize their bats—and a full selection of them in the CF8 and Voodoo Raw—is the only innovation this year we predict will shape the space for the years to come.

In one fell swoop, DeMarini changed the approach of top-shelf performance bats forevermore. They shouldn’t, and I don’t believe will, use the predictable success of these custom bats to hamper their research and development, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t fill a now-obvious void in the market that players around the country will be fist-bumping about for years to come.