By John Raffel
The bats are new for Michigan high school baseball players this season. There’s a reason for the change, but not all coaches are happy about it.
“The new standard for non-wood bats,” said Mark Uyl, assistant director at Michigan High School Athletic Association, which administers baseball for the state, “is basically we’re following the lead of the NCAA. The NCAA changed their bats to go to this new standard last year. Essentially what it does is that the old bat had a ball exit speed ratio (BESR).
“For a bat to be certified BESR meant that the fastest the ball could come off the bat in perfect conditions was 98 miles per hour. That far exceeds what a wood bat is. The new standard, which is BBCOR (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution), has now greatly reduced the speed the ball comes off the bat. What the test has shown is the non-wood bats that are now legal for high school and college play is the ball comes off them the same speed it comes off the wood bats. The performance is like wood but is still a non-wood type of material.”
The new standard, Uyl said, is now in the low 90s.
“At 98 is if everything is aligned perfectly for the ball to come off that,” he said. “The new standard has greatly reduced that. We’re following the new national federation rules that all non-wood bats have to beat the BBCOR instead of the old BESR standard. The national federation is a year behind the NCAA when they moved to that standard. All the testing was done by the NCAA because they’re the ones with the money.”
Uyl has received feedback from coaches on the changes resulting from the new bats.
“Offense is down and what they’re finding is that the good hitters are still good hitters,” Uyl said. “The average hitter and maybe the below-average hitters, the balls with the olds bats they would hit, a blooper that would fall into the outfield, this year it’s a soft line drive or a groundball where they’re picking it up and throwing them out.
“Offense is down. For some, it’s not a criticism to where they actually like a return to a focus on more pitching and defense.”
The main merit, supporters of the move say, is to avoid a injury to the pitcher and the corner infielders.
“The price difference isn’t a whole lot from what people, schools, and parents were paying for the old bats,” said Uyl, a current Big Ten and Big East baseball umpire.
“I’ve been able to watch the impact the new bat standards have had on the college game the last two years, and it’s been interesting to see how it plays out on the high school level this year,” he said.
Uyl expects the current standard to remain for years to come.
“I think we found the place where a lot of people are happy,” he said.
Are the coaches happy? It depends on who you ask.
Rollie Carman of Ithaca likes the change. “I feel the BBCOR bats are much safer than the aluminum bats. Batting averages have dropped,” he said. “I have seen a lot less home runs this year than in previous years. There are [several] ways to get on first base and I feel it is an advantage for coaches who teach their players how to get on base in other ways than just getting big hits.
“The new bats bring a new and different game. The bats are dead and reduce the number of extra base hits. Too many well-hit balls were turned into routine fly balls,” said Matt Hynes of Montabella. “It made the batters actually learn how to hit and they were not rewarded with hits that were caused by technology. I did not support the bat change at the JV level. With the economic problems many schools have faced, it was hard buying new bats for two programs.”
Hynes said he actually hasn’t seen a difference in the safety factor or on batting averages.
“The doubles just turn into singles,” he said.
Michael Varye, baseball coach at Saginaw Arthur Hill, said averages have dipped somewhat, especially the extra base hits. He supports the idea of a new bat but wasn’t sure about the move because of the financial impact to the program.
“MHSAA should have worked with bat companies so they can modify BESR bats for a more inexpensive rate, especially with the noncomposite bats,” Varye said. “This was done quite a few years ago with ASA softball. Pretty much the same companies make softball and baseball bats. Also, umpires should be more educated and still inspect bats pregame. We had an illegal bat used against us. It was done accidentally, but it delayed the game because the umpire wasn’t sure, and I had to show him the listing.”
Marc Yenkel, Clare’s coach, said the new bats have had a huge impact on batting averages. He also noted that New York City went back to wood bats for high schools a few years ago. He feels that the new bats “are too expensive, like the old ones, and we should just go back to wood bats. Some wood bats have more pop than the BBCOR.”
Kip Harris of Midland Dow said that the new bats have impacted averages quite a bit for the average player, but not much for the better hitters.
“They are bad,” he said. “I understand the reasons for the change, but I’m not sure they needed to go as far as they did in slowing down exit speeds. Extra base hits are way down. This wasn’t a change that I thought was necessary. I didn’t fight it, but I also didn’t fight for it.
“We just had a pitcher take a line drive off the head this week. The nature of the game will always have someone or some situation in which danger is present, no matter the exit speeds of the bats. Overall, [the bats are safer.]”
Dave Mammel of Coleman said the dropoff in averages isn’t quite what he expected.
“I think that they are just fine. Playing field is equal for all so no problems. Best hitters are still the best hitters,” he said. “There must have been enough evidence for the National Federation to decide that, for the safety of the players, changes had to be made. My biggest complaint would be that the cost of having to change over to the new bats at roughly $300 per bat and then dealing with the damaged bats and waiting until the replacements arrive and so on has been a challenge.
“There seems to be a noticeable reduction in the quickness that the balls are coming off the bats this season. That would therefore provide for a much safer environment for the fielding team.”
Steve Hoyle, the JV baseball coach at Mount Pleasant, said he hasn’t seen an impact on batting averages.
“It has limited the distance that the ball travels, and I’ve not seen any balls hit over the fence,” he said. “I’ve not seen any injuries resulting from the old bats but I know they have occurred. I would not have been that concerned with the change in bats. We had no injuries due to the old bats and we have not had any injuries with the new bats. I guess there is no change.”
Mike Scott, Lansing Catholic coach, hasn’t noticed a change, either.
“Our good hitters are still hitting the ball well. Our hitters that are struggling were struggling with the old bats,” Scott said. “If you hit a ball well, it is still a well-hit ball. What has changed is that with the old bats, you could get away with not hitting it well. You could bloop one in over the shortstop when hitting the ball off the end of the bat. This is no longer the case with the BBCOR bat.
“They are not as forgiving as the BESR. The kids have not struggled with making adjustments to the new BBCOR bats; the struggle has been how are we going to afford to purchase enough BBCOR bats to accommodate two to three teams this spring. They are not well built. We broke our first BBCOR bat on the second day of using it. We have broken a total of five BBCOR bats over the course of the spring so far.”
Scott added that he hasn’t seen anything different in the safety aspect of the new bats.
Bill Kirkpatrick, the interim coach at Saginaw, has seen positive aspects in the new bats. “The bats worked very well. There were different sizes for different players. They look appealing and sound great when striking the ball,” he said. “The bats were in serious need and were used every day of practice or game.
“As an interim coach I do not know about the safety compared to previous years, but these bats seem to be safe for the athletes. There were no complaints of stinging hands. The athletes have shown progress in the batting late in the season. There were some games where the students had extra base hits. I was asked to take over the baseball program for the last three weeks of the season. I can’t fully answer these questions, but the bats are good.”
Erik Schunk, Farwell’s coach, said the new bats tend to make a coach rethink when certain players should bunt.
“Safety is always important in athletic competition, as well as the fact that the players that are the real hitters are able to shine through, while the ones who were getting by punching it over the infield are left behind,” Schunk said. “Science tells us that they slow down the ball down to help pitchers and corner infielders protect themselves. Averages have come down a little bit, but good hitters are still putting up good numbers.”
Ben Wright of Chippewa Hills makes it very clear what he thinks of the new bats. “I actually love the new bats; they are very true to the skill set of the players,” he said. “I do support the change;, there were many times in the past where people were getting hurt. Also, the old bats gave a false notion of the actual talent level of some athletes. No bat is safe, but the exit velocity of the new bats gives the fielders a fighting chance.
“People are using the new bats as an excuse for poor performance, but I am opposed to that. Hit a ball on the screws and it will go.”