offensive numbers with new bats vs old

[Coach34]

from the game today- this is from the 14th week of the season in both years

Team Average: 2010- .305...2013- .274

Runs per game- 2010- 7.0....2013- 5.3

HR's per game- 2010- .93.... 2013- .41

Sacs per game- 2010- .58.....2013- .75


The lack of HR's and extra base hits are hurting college baseball...I agree with Kyle they need to change the ball some to help give the sport more offense. Going to the minor league ball would also help scouts evaluate talent better

[Todd4State]

I agree. You hit 10 home runs, you are pretty much leading your team in most cases. It has gone from the gorilla ball extreme to the total polar opposite extreme. It needs to be somewhere in the middle.

I like the idea of using the minor league ball, but I also think it would be good if they just went ahead and used wood. Especially if wood is better than the metal bats that they are swinging now. Or at least allow certain conferences- SEC, ACC, PAC 12, Big 12, sigh...Big 10 use it for conference games and then use metal for non-conference games. If a SEC and an ACC team played each other, they could agree beforehand whether they wanted to use wood or metal for the series. That might lead to better non-conference match ups because coaches might want their hitters to get used to wood before conference play. And heck, I wouldn't be surprised if some hitters just used wood bats all year long.

[Coach34]

I dont think non-BCS schools can afford to go to wood

[FFF]

I dont think non-BCS schools can afford to go to wood

Money and quality are the biggest concerns with going to wood bats. I toured the Louisville Slugger plant a few years back and the tour guide explained how the process and pecking order works with how the bats are made. MLB bats are made from the best quality wood and are run on precision lathes. Minor League bats are the next in the quality pecking order. There are many more minor league players than MLB, so those bats are made to a lesser standard.

So if, for example, only Division 1 went to wooden bats... there are 298 schools... each has a minimum of 27 players each and if each player has 2 bats, that comes to a staggering 16,092 bats for division 1 baseball alone. Then you factor in bats breaking, or maybe a bat isn't balanced correctly or cut correctly, that number goes up even more.

A rough average for a number of AB's a bat lasts in MLB is only about 10. I doubt college would go through bats that quickly, but you see where metal can have a clear cost advantage over wooden.

[Todd4State]

Exactly- which is why I would limit it to the people that actually care about baseball.

Looking at those numbers, I'm not surprised that bunting is up, but I am a little surprised that you don't see more teams steal bases more than usual. Or at least that is my perception. The stats may say otherwise.

I for one, would like to see us steal more. It's like these coaches think that you have to bunt on the first pitch. To me, it's much more effective to vary when you bunt in the count because it increases your chance of getting a bunt hit or reaching on an error. Plus, if you steal second and THEN bunt- either that or steal third after bunting- then you put yourself in a very advantageous position to score a cheap run.

In an ideal world, I would like to see our lead off and number two hitter have at least 20 steals each. And then have our three, four five hitters be 10-15 home run guys, maybe we get lucky and get a special player that can hit 20. The 6-9 hitters, I'm not too particular on- we can make our lineup out based on ability and ask them to do what they can do. Shoot- I wouldn't mind having three Alex Detz type hitters at 6-8. Guys that find ways to get on. After you get through the jack rabbits running circles around you and then the power guy, then you have to deal with guys that work counts and get on base and are productive. I would like our number nine hitter to be a speed guy as well though.

[Todd4State]

Money and quality are the biggest concerns with going to wood bats. I toured the Louisville Slugger plant a few years back and the tour guide explained how the process and pecking order works with how the bats are made. MLB bats are made from the best quality wood and are run on precision lathes. Minor League bats are the next in the quality pecking order. There are many more minor league players than MLB, so those bats are made to a lesser standard.

So if, for example, only Division 1 went to wooden bats... there are 298 schools... each has a minimum of 27 players each and if each player has 2 bats, that comes to a staggering 16,092 bats for division 1 baseball alone. Then you factor in bats breaking, or maybe a bat isn't balanced correctly or cut correctly, that number goes up even more.

A rough average for a number of AB's a bat lasts in MLB is only about 10. I doubt college would go through bats that quickly, but you see where metal can have a clear cost advantage over wooden.

My Dad played right when they were switching from wood to metal. He said that he would go through about 2-3 wooden bats a year. Plus, using metal bats during non-conference games would save a little bit of wooden bats. But the metal bats get worn out and I think most players go through a couple of those each year as well. So, we're talking about using wood roughly 30 games a year and then metal roughly 26.

[WeWillScrewItUp]

Coach I assume that with your idea all teams playing in regionals and beyond would use wooden bats. I would love for it to be that way. I do really miss the "ping" though.