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Top 3 Bat Brands Swung by MLB Stars (and the Brands Chasing Them) (2013)

top-mlb-baseball-bat-brands-most-popular

UPDATE: THIS IS AN ARTICLE FROM 2013.  CLICK ON EACH OF THE FOLLOWING YEARS FOR A REPORT ON THAT CATEGORY FOR THAT SEASON:

To follow up our previous post breaking down the type of wood used by MLB stars, here’s our breakdown of the most popular bat brands in the MLB.  Because we’ve only profiled the top players or rising stars in the league (so far), this is the perfect cross-section of what the best of the best are bringing to the box with them.  Again, this is not about contracts or endorsements, this is the MLB star’s choice.  These are the bat-makers that the top players in the world count on when it matters.

Louisville Slugger

Number of WPW-Profiled Players: 20.25

Here’s Louisville Slugger’s roster:

Marucci

WPW-Profiled Players: 14.75

Marucci’s roster:

Old Hickory

WPW-Profiled Players: 6

Old Hick’s Roster:

Sam Bat

WPW-Profiled Players: 5.5

Sam Bat’s roster:

MaxBat

WPW-Profiled Players: 3

MaxBat roster:

Chandler, Rawlings

WPW-Profiled Players: 2.5

Chandler’s roster:

Rawlings’ roster:

Mizuno, Trinity

WPW-Profiled Players: 2

Mizuno’s Roster:

Trinity:

Tucci Lumber

WPW-Profiled Players: 1.75

Tucci’s Roster:

SSK

WPW-Profiled Players: 1

SSK:

You might have figured it out, but the way we tallied them up was 1 point for an exclusive swinger and then fractions of a point if the player swung multiple brands (example: Freese swung 4 brands so each one got 0.25 points).

If you’re a frequent reader of this site, the top two names probably didn’t surprise you.  Marucci has been stalking Louisville for the last few years and the “#1” badge has been thrown around by both companies.  Since players change bats so often and there’s no standard measurement, its hard to know who’s #1 for sure.  What is not up for debate, however, is that Slugger has never had such strong (and numerous) competition as it does today.  Chuck Schupp, Slugger’s salesman to the pros remarked to WPW recently that when he started in the 80s, “there were something like six companies, now there are 28.”  Despite the mob, Slugger has managed to fight them off, at least by WPW’s measurement, and Schupp believes the competition has made them better.  This is great news for all of us.

Marucci is still the most tenacious young competitor for Slugger’s MLB market share, capitalizing on an extremely effective “advisory board” of superstars like Jose Bautista and David Ortiz.  These guys act as consultants to better the product, own a portion of the company, and (naturally) advocate for the brand in the clubhouse.  Think about that.  You’re a young kid, just got the call, and a bear of a man known as “Big Papi” walks up to you in the clubhouse and offers you a dozen of his own custom Maruccis, are you gonna say no?

Didn’t think so.

The third company is one without much fanfare but boasts a stable of young, influential studs.  I’ve never seen Mike Trout swing anything but his Old Hickory J143M, and even though Trout could probably hit .300 with a rolled up newspaper, you have to believe that, if Trout is this loyal, Old Hickory is quietly making some of the best wood bats in the country.

Source: Jeff Gross/Getty Images North America

Source: Jeff Gross/Getty Images North America

Rounding out the top 5 is Sam Bats, the pioneer of the Maple bat—swung by the Best Hitter on Earth—and MaxBat.  MaxBat, swung by ROY Wil Myers, offers custom Maple bats with your choice of barrel, handle and logo color with engraving ($99) for well under the price of a stock Louisville Slugger ($120), Marucci ($120), or Old Hickory ($110).

On the opposite end of the affordability spectrum, the most hyped bat of the 2013 season, Chandler is being swung by three of the most exciting young players in the game and is poised to win plenty of Big League business.  Manny Machado looked like he had completely converted by the end of the season, while Bryce Harper swung Chandler for a good chunk of the season before mixing Marucci back in towards the end.  Chandler’s numbers jumped after their coming out party, the Home Run Derby finals, where both Harper and Yoenis put on a show with Chandler wood.

Rounding out the group are a couple of standard baseball names, Mizuno and Rawlings, along with a couple of young companies that have made a splash lately.  Tulo swung Tucci Lumber exclusively last year, a company founded by former first round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays, Pete Tucci.  Another company just recently breaking into the Bigs, California’s Trinity Bat Co., has gained a foothold with local sluggers Mark Trumbo and Adrian Gonzalez among others.  SSK, though only represented consistently by Elvis Andrus lately, has had bigger names on and off throughout our last two seasons of research, including Pablo Sandoval (who wears their glove) and Robbie Cano.

Be sure to check out your favorite players for their specific turning model and find out if their bat is available to you online.

14 comments

  1. I own 2 old hickory bats myself… its about to be 3 old hickory bats

    1. What models are your old hickory bats?

  2. I swing marucci and its great. But I am thinking about trying old hickory. Does anyone recommend sticking to marucci or trying old hickory?

  3. Personally I prefer my Utley Marucci over my J143 Old Hickory by a slim margin but by the end of my season I even preferred my Cabrera model Sam. Sick pop and sounded like a shotgun! I’d actually really like to try out Tucci as well.

    My personal ranking right now would be:

    1: Sam
    2: Marucci
    3: B45
    4: Old Hickory
    5: Louisville Prime Ash

  4. Tulowitzki and Donalson swing Rawlings too.

  5. Matt Holliday uses Old Hickory and Louisville Slugger and Kolten Wong uses Chandler.

  6. Alfonso Soriano swings Sam Bat btw

  7. Evan gattis swings Mauricci too

  8. Does anyone still use BWP bats?

  9. I saw that on jurickson profar’s profile it says he uses trinity bats but here it says louisville slugger and marucci. Just making an observation

  10. anyone ever try MPowered bats, they really rock

  11. If any of you guys have used a chandler before you would now they are the best on the market. ALl their bats are custom made to your specification any color, and any model. If you go to the factory in norristown they will actually make you your own model based on your preference, Also thye are known for putting the highest quality wood into their bats for all their customers not just the pros.

  12. Pedroia, Napoli, Hanley R now all swing the Axe. Stanton might be next after breaking hamate bone.

  13. What did BONDS,AARON AND MCQUIRE USE

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