Bluegrassrivals

I posted this in the High School thread since we will all be faced with this in 2012.

GAINSEVILLE, Fla. -- Who better to ask about college baseball's newly mandated, less-lively metal bats than a player who not only got to swing one on Opening Night, but also got to pitch to them as well? Florida sophomore Brian Johnson, an All-SEC lefthanded pitcher and DH, belted a pair of doubles and pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, in the No. 1 Gators' 7-2 victory over South Florida at a packed McKethan Stadium.

On the field after the game, Johnson said, "The change in bats is going to be a factor this year, but you can't think about it. I will still pitch the same way I've always pitched, trying to throw strikes and keep the ball down. And as a hitter, I think one thing we saw (Friday night) is that outfielders don't have to play as deep as they used to with the old bats. Before you instructed your outfielders to play deep and not worry about the ball that drops in front, I think now the emphasis is going to be the opposite."

In other words, to drive the ball deep, a hitter's got to legitimately square the ball up. The sweet spot on the new bats is much smaller than the sweet spot on the restricted metal bats used last season, and a far cry from the composite metal weaponry (outlawed a year ago) that caused a spike in college power numbers for the better part of the past decade.
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncaa/insider/...AHeadlines

Stardust Wrote:I posted this in the High School thread since we will all be faced with this in 2012.

GAINSEVILLE, Fla. -- Who better to ask about college baseball's newly mandated, less-lively metal bats than a player who not only got to swing one on Opening Night, but also got to pitch to them as well? Florida sophomore Brian Johnson, an All-SEC lefthanded pitcher and DH, belted a pair of doubles and pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, in the No. 1 Gators' 7-2 victory over South Florida at a packed McKethan Stadium.

On the field after the game, Johnson said, "The change in bats is going to be a factor this year, but you can't think about it. I will still pitch the same way I've always pitched, trying to throw strikes and keep the ball down. And as a hitter, I think one thing we saw (Friday night) is that outfielders don't have to play as deep as they used to with the old bats. Before you instructed your outfielders to play deep and not worry about the ball that drops in front, I think now the emphasis is going to be the opposite."

In other words, to drive the ball deep, a hitter's got to legitimately square the ball up. The sweet spot on the new bats is much smaller than the sweet spot on the restricted metal bats used last season, and a far cry from the composite metal weaponry (outlawed a year ago) that caused a spike in college power numbers for the better part of the past decade.
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncaa/insider/...AHeadlines

Thank goodness for the new bats. IMO, they have been too long in coming. As the father of two sons that both pitched in college, I am elated to see the change in the bats. I have seen them both get lined drived on the back, arms, sides, legs and even the head, time and time again. Thankfully they were never seriously injured, but I can see where it could easily happen with the previous springboard effect bats. This is a rule that I am glad to see come along. It's also going to be nice to see the return of small ball tactics to the game.

It will be very interesting to see total runs per game compared to last year... I understand the need for safety, but if you look at the toal number of games played in all of baseball in college, D-1 D-2, D-3 and NAIA and look at the number of times that a pitcher has been seriously harmed, it's very few. I also know that NCAA wanted colleges to go to wooden bats, but I don't know how many teams can afford to keep buying wooden bats when they break.... Just my opinion..

Navajo4life Wrote:It will be very interesting to see total runs per game compared to last year... I understand the need for safety, but if you look at the toal number of games played in all of baseball in college, D-1 D-2, D-3 and NAIA and look at the number of times that a pitcher has been seriously harmed, it's very few. I also know that NCAA wanted colleges to go to wooden bats, but I don't know how many teams can afford to keep buying wooden bats when they break.... Just my opinion..

I can't see it happening either. Just the demand alone, IMO, would be to much for the Bat industry to keep up with.
I agree 100% with the new rule at the College level. But, I'm still around 50/50 for high school and below. I'm sure that will change though after dealing with the new bats some this season and for sure next.

It is mandatory for high schools to go with the new BBCOR bats for next baseball season..

Navajo4life Wrote:It will be very interesting to see total runs per game compared to last year... I understand the need for safety, but if you look at the toal number of games played in all of baseball in college, D-1 D-2, D-3 and NAIA and look at the number of times that a pitcher has been seriously harmed, it's very few. I also know that NCAA wanted colleges to go to wooden bats, but I don't know how many teams can afford to keep buying wooden bats when they break.... Just my opinion..

This was not the NCAA who pushed for the rule change, this came from MLB. MLB has pressed for bat changes for the last several years as they have brought "power hitters" from the college ranks to being guys who hit the ball to the warning track at best.