How Will The New Bats (77% Smaller Sweet Spot) Affect Georgia Tech Baseball And Its Usual Slugfest?

by Winfield Featherston on Feb 16, 2011 10:27 AM EST in Georgia Tech Baseball

One of the greatest differences between college baseball and the professional leagues is the baseball bat. Wood vs. Metal. *Crack* vs. *PING!*.The NCAA began regulating bats in 1998 and has made a new decision beginning this year which will begin to move the game closer to the wooden bat-level. Gone is the Ball-Exit-Speed-Ratio (BESR - That thing we all saw on our bats but never knew what it meant) and in comes something called the Batted Ball Coefficient of Resolution, or BBCOR for short. Essentially the BBCOR shrinks the sweet spot of an aluminum bat from 22 inches to only 5 inches (77%). The BBCOR is all about ball speed after making contact with the baseball bat. As the sweet spot gets smaller, the ball bounces off in a lesser manner.

What this change means first and foremost is that the college baseball game is safer, both for the fans and for the players. We've all seen enough games where somebody gets rocketed by a baseball hit off a metal bat and the chaos that ensues. It also means that the advantage is going to swing more in favor of pitching and defense while only the best hitters in college baseball will continue hitting like they had in the past.

California baseball coach Dave Esquer (who has bigger issues to deal with than bat regulations):

"Ninety feet might not be what it used to be...Teams might play a little bit smaller. They can’t wait for a double or a home run." source: AP/ Rivals

Not all coaches are happy about the change. After all, it drastically changes the strategy of the game that so many coaches have used to win and succeed

"I feel we've taken this too far," said Paul Mainieri, who led LSU to the 2009 title. "I'm very concerned that we are going to create the type of game that is not very appealing to our fans.

"One of the things that separates college ball from the majors is we have more offense, and that gives us a niche. If we have a lot of 3-1, 2-1 games, I'm worried how the fans will react."

Other coaches fear it could hurt the game with the fans as the game goes more "old-school" and it could potentially lose an excitement factor.

"The thing that frustrates me is in one breath everybody involved in college baseball talks about how popular it is," [Ole Miss Baseball Coach Mike ]Bianco said. "You have all these stadiums and attendance and more games on TV, a new Omaha (College World Series) contract with ESPN and people love it. Then in the next breath, they tell you the games are too long and too many runs are scored and you're driving people away."

How will these new bats affect Georgia Tech? The Yellow Jackets have always played with a "hitting first. pitching second" mentality. When this combination aligned, the Jackets have been near unstoppable. But the dependency on a great offense has also been the crutch Georgia Tech, especially during the postseason. A great debate amongst the baseball fans has been why Danny Hall does not implement more "small ball" techniques and add some bunts and steals into the offensive strategy. With these new bats, he may just have to.

Georgia Tech opens the 2011 college baseball season against the Kent State Golden Flashes this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium. Individual tickets are now on sale and more information, including schedules can be found here.

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Shouldn't be an issue

From what I understand the new bats should not be a problem for Tech. I’ve been told that the bat manufacturers foresaw the impending rule change. Rawlings (which I understand is not known for their bats) is the official supplier to Tech. Supposedly, Rawlings decided not to waste money on bats that they would have to scrap after a year or 2 and supplied Tech with bats that they can still continue to use this year under the new restrictions. Some of the Rusty C regulars may have noticed the sound difference last season from a select group of hitters. In fact, over the weekend I paused by the field to catch a little bit of practice and I saw Esch (not exactly a power hitter) hit a homer. I can only assume it was with a regulation bat.

by Yellow Jackette on Feb 16, 2011 11:44 AM EST reply actions

With respect... You're wrong

No company started making the bats before this year. Why would they? Explain why a company would make a lesser bat and try to sell it when the rule was just changed after this past season. The difference between the bats is like it says in the article. The size of the sweetspot.

They give a player a round bat and throw a round ball and say to hit it square. Well now they are talking about even a smaller margin for area to be able to hit the ball square. Elite players that consistently make solid contact will not be AS affected by the new bats. But their power numbers will drop. Balls are still going to leave the yard and guys are still going to hit above .300. But guys who in years past have hit homeruns without making their best contact are no longer going to be able to get away with it. Guys who are .240 hitters with 20 homeruns are going to become .220 hitters with 8-12 homers.

The goal of the new bats was the make the pace of play faster. Which was a problem on the West Coast where teams DON’T hit many homeruns. They play small ball and bunt and steal and throw a thousand pickoffs every game to prevent someone from stealing. The coach gives 50 signs with no one on base and 2 outs. I believe the new bats oculd actually decrease the pace of play for these schools. Whereas the rest of the country will have average time from right under 3 hours drop to between 2 to 2.5 hours per game.

I’m not a big believer in the safety factor. I know it does happen and when its does its terrible and tragic. However, I have played in 158 games at the D-1 college level and another 300 at the high school level and I have never seen a pitcher get hit in the head by a batted ball. And by making the bats more equivalent to wood bats….. Who is claiming that pitchers in the majors and minors dont get hit in the head by batted balls. A close friend of mine was hit by a line drive in the face in AAA. He had reconstructive surgery came back and got back in shape only to get hit by yet another line drive in AA trying to rehab. Things like this are going to happen regardless of what precautions are taken minus making there be a wall or making the pitchers wear helmets. Perhaps making players hit with rolled up newspaper?

Clearly I am strongly against the new bats. The score of the Championship series games was 7-1 gm1 and 2-1 in 11 innings for game 2. Hardly offensive slugfests compared to the score of 21-14 in 1998 when the last major change was made in the bats. Which comon 21-14 thats a football score. Not baseball. 2-1 is a baseballl score last I checked. and 7-1 isnt far off.

by TCUFAN28 on Feb 16, 2011 12:34 PM EST up reply actions

maybe I should clarify

I completely agree with everything you are saying. I also should mention I don’t agree with the changes either, mostly due to the reasoning behind the changes. I am probably giving Rawlings too much credit when in reality they are just not up to par in bat technology. They did not create as good of a product as some of the other manufacturers in regards to the composite bats that many of the teams adopted. Because of this, the less superior bats that Tech was using will not be as great of a difference maker as it may be for other teams making the switch. Either way, if Tech does see a decrease in the long ball I believe that will be a result of personnel and not the bats.

by Yellow Jackette on Feb 16, 2011 1:06 PM EST up reply actions

Here is a quote about bat manufacturers and the timeliness of the new stuff

from the rivals article linked in the original entry
But no matter what Bianco thinks of the new rule, his team is one of the lucky ones. While Easton rushed about a half-dozen demo bats to Oxford, Miss., and other schools with similar bat deals, some colleges won’t see the new models until right before the season.

Although the NCAA sent out a memorandum to bat manufacturers Sept. 16, 2008, informing them of the change, the transition hasn’t been a timely one.

Louisville — who, as one would guess, uses Louisville Slugger for its bats — has only received one bat built to the new specifications. Due to the lack of BBCOR aluminum, the Cardinals are practicing this fall with the old bats and will hit with wood bats this winter.

UL coach Dan McDonnell expects to switch to the new bats when preseason practice begins in February.

“We took batting practice with it one day, but since we only have one, we decided to wait and swing it later,” McDonnell said. “I don’t blame the Easton schools for using them, since they have them, but we don’t have that luxury.”

Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John HeismanFromTheRumbleSeat

by Winfield Featherston on Feb 16, 2011 1:08 PM EST up reply actions

Makes more sense. Sorry for the previous

Ahh I misinterrepted what you meant about the bats. Rawlings didn’t make a composite bat like some of the other manufacturers. You are correct there but even the non-composite bats from previous years don’t meet the new specifications. I know here at TCU they were given 8 of the new bats in the fall, but they rushed them out soo fast they didn’t have logos and the bats didnt have names. They have had a full supply of the new bats this semester. The guys really hate them. They say that you can’t feel the difference from when you hit a ball square or when you miss it. However, I we played an alumni game on saturday and TCU’s speedster hit a missile linedrive homerun over the rightfield fence. So balls are going to leave the yard. Hopefully this whole situation is overhyped and it doesn’t play much of a factor.

by TCUFAN28 on Feb 16, 2011 5:17 PM EST up reply actions

While I'm thinking about it

I don’t understand Tech’s bat deals. I remember when I was in middle school tech was using Worth bats. No baseball player has ever willingly used a worth bat unless they were playing in a softball tournament. And now rawlings…. Why dont they get a Louisville or Easton or even DeMarini like all the other schools in the country?

by TCUFAN28 on Feb 16, 2011 5:19 PM EST up reply actions

Welcome to a debate that is even bigger than CDH small ball.

I am forever perplexed. But I mean c’mon…we wear Russell for fooball. ;-)

Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John HeismanFromTheRumbleSeat

by Winfield Featherston on Feb 16, 2011 9:52 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks for your response dude

Your talk about speeding up the game brings up a good point that I feel was not addressed fully in the articles that I read while working on this entry. I can only think of one that mentioned a decrease in the length of the games while all of them focused on lack of offensive power and safety issues.

Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John HeismanFromTheRumbleSeat

by Winfield Featherston on Feb 16, 2011 1:16 PM EST up reply actions

Last year we played 63 games and scored 563 runs. That’s over nine runs per game. Our team batting average was .326. Forgive me, please, but that is perverse baseball. And we did not make it out of the Regionals in spite of being the host team.

Hitting has become EVERYTHING for the Jackets in the regular season and it has killed in the playoffs. If changing the bats forces to have a more balanced team, I am all for it.

by orientalnc on Feb 16, 2011 1:56 PM EST reply actions

Unfortunately

Changing the bats doesn’t change the make-up of our pitching staff. Only better recruiting can change that and while I love our guys, it’s been clear that Hall love his hitters and GT has traditionally been a batter’s haven moreso than a pitcher’s paradise. So, if changing the bats truly has an adverse affect on our offensive numbers, then combined with the large amount of turnover and a strong ACC, we might be looking at a less than par season.

However, I’m willing to bet that if we pulled the numbers since 2003 we would easily find that GT has posted some stellar stats offensively and that more than likely a small decrease in said production might not change to overall outcome of too many games. We will probably lose more of the close ones against top level opponents, but the teams we crushed over the years we should still crush.

"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.

by Jesse28 on Feb 16, 2011 3:05 PM EST up reply actions