The 2019 DeMarini CF Zen continued the tradition of excellence in youth baseball with its balanced two-piece composite design. Known for its massive sweet spot and buttery smooth feel, it helped countless young hitters find consistent success.
Models Overview
Available in drops from -11 to -5, each CF Zen model featured Paraflex+ Composite construction and DeMarini's 3Fusion Connection. The balanced swing weight across all models made it accessible to hitters at every skill level.
Construction & Technology
The 2019 CF Zen is a two piece composite bat built with a big barrel and balanced swing weight. It sits on the easier side of the isle in terms of swing strength and the higher side of the isle for barrel size. The connective piece, called the 3-Fusion, is used on their other high performance bats. Some argue it is the perfect combination of stiffness and give for that butter smash all day long.
Performance Comparison
Our experience with the two bats pushes us towards the 2019 version--especially in the drop 8 and drop 10. The 2018 version was, in large measure, a repaint on the 2017 CF Retooled CF Zen.
The 2019 Zen in the drop 5, drop 8 and drop 10 are all new bats from the ground up and you won't find that dampening ring inside the barrel to make it legal.
Comparable Bats
If you are in the two piece composite light swinging big barreled bat space then the CF Zen has some company. In 2019 the crop consists of Eastons new ADV, Rawlings Quatro Pro and Slugger's 919 Prime as well as their Meta Prime. Axe bats also makes a two piece composite in the Axe Avenge.
Each of those bats, with the exception of the Meta Prime, price out about the same. In terms of performance and feel it just depends on the league we are talking. We think any company is hard pressed to meet the performance standard DeMarini has set in the USSSA space. But, in the USA and BBCOR world we often feel like your guess is as good as ours.
Overall grade: B
Overall grade: B+
Overall grade: B
