Quick Take
Supply shortages have led to overpriced resales of top bats like The Goods and Voodoo One. Equally competitive and readily available alternatives—such as the Slugger Select PWR, TRUE HZRDUS, Omaha, and Solo—perform comparably without exceeding their original MSRP.
If you’ve followed us at all, you’ll know two things trigger us: first, the idea that there are “must-have” bats; second, the notion that, save the hallucinogenic effects of magic mushrooms, there would never be a reason to buy a bat in the secondary market for more than its MSRP price.
Those are part and parcel of the same disdain. It’s absurd to believe a bat is so good compared to its peers that, if it sells out, it demands a price above its original.
Enter 2022.
Our barf meter has doubled over the last few months as supply chain issues have pushed graphic designers to work overtime producing ‘Out of Stock’ signs.
Bats like the Voodoo One and The Goods have struggled to stay in stock for minutes, let alone days. Luckily, as we suggested, it should have happened back in November, when retailers began limiting orders for these high-demand/low-supply bats.
But that hasn’t stopped the onslaught.
Today, you’ll struggle to find The Goods One from DeMarini and the Vandal from Victus. Rumor has it that Marucci’s lines, like the F5, might be next.
Despite what you might be told, there is good news if you can’t find one of these ‘hot’ bats. More precisely, the bats people on mushrooms are buying are good, but they aren’t unbeatable. More than a few readily available bats compete daily with the 2022 crop of disappeared bats.
The Goods Replacement
The best replacement for The Goods is the Slugger Select PWR or the TRUE HZRDUS. Both scored great in our exit speed tests, competed right in line with The Goods, have the same swing weight, and priced out at least a bit better.
We don’t think any bat has entirely captured the feel of the Goods. But, as we say, feel isn’t performance until we are blue in the face. Neither is sound. So, while DeMarini has dialed in an unrivaled feel and sound, it has yet to beat the BBCOR test.
The Voodoo One, Goods One, and Victus Vandal Replacement
The Voodoo One, The Goods One, and the Vicuts Vandal are all single-piece alloy bats with a light wing. There are more than a few very similar bats that you can find on the cheap, and they will perform as well as any Voodoo One, regardless of what some tell you. There are many options in the light-swinging BBCOR space, even with these three juggernauts very hard to find in stock.
Slugger Omaha
If it were us, and we were swinging a 32-inch bat or shorter, we’d start with the Omaha. The bigger sizes swing heavy, but the dynamic swing weight in the Omaha line makes for some light swinging 29 through 32-inch sticks.
Slugger Solo
Another gem is the 2022 Solo, but any year will work. Although the barrel profile is small, it isn’t any smaller than the Voodoo One, and our exit speeds always put the Solo up top.
