If you’ve visited USM Baseball Stadium to watch the baseball team in action this spring, you’ve probably noticed a difference in the acoustics.
What was once an ear-ringing “ping” sound coming from the Huskies’ bats, is now a deadening “clunk” reminiscent of the traditional wood bat that is still used in professional and college summer leagues today.
The culprit is a new bat standard implemented this spring by the NCAA for all three divisions, replacing the previous Ball Exit Speed Ratio standard with the Ball-Bat Coefficient of Restitution standard.
According to the NCAA website, the new standard’s goal is for their bats to perform similarly to wood bats, and to ensure a balance between offense and defense.
The new standard, which was announced in September 2008 that it would be implemented in January 2011, caught USM by surprise in the fall.
“It came out of nowhere,” USM Athletic Director Al Bean said. “We received a notice from the NCAA stating any bats that we previously had could not be used anymore and would have to be replaced by BBCOR certified bats.”
Bean also said that while attending the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference meeting earlier this year, he mentioned the bat standard to the president of Division III athletics, of whom was embarrassed to not know what Bean was talking about.
Although it sprung up unexpectedly, it hasn’t taken long for programs in all divisions to get used to the new bats.
Through 29 games this season, the Huskies’ team batting average is a scorching .329, and they’ve recorded 233 runs, 348 hits, 76 doubles, 15 triples, 23 home runs and 523 total bases. On top of that they have compiled a .494 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .403.
At this point in 2010, USM was lower in every offensive category, as they were hitting .321 as a team, with 224 runs scored, 331 hits, 62 doubles, 11 triples, 18 home runs, 469 total bases and slugging and on-base percentages of .455 and .397.
This evidence shows that the shift from the old bat — which employed extreme pop — to the deader new bat has yet to significantly affect the Huskies’ lineup’s production.
One popular theory of why this could affect a lineup’s production, is the fact that fisted-off inside pitches that once dropped in for shallow, outfield bloop singles are now infield pop-ups, hard-hit grounders in the hole are now routine ground balls and deep fly balls that once flew over the fence are routinely caught by outfielders.
This forces teams to play with more of a small-ball approach by using the bunt more, playing the hit-and-run game and being more agressive on the base paths.
“You can definitely tell a difference at the plate,” junior shortstop Anthony Pisani said. “It’s almost a similar feeling when you square the ball up perfectly, but if it’s off the hands or the end of the bat it’s almost worse than wood. The ball doesn’t go anywhere.”
Pisani also mentioned that as a fielder you can tell a difference. Balls that you once couldn’t get to in the hole are very reachable now.
“We thought the game might change a little bit as far as more small-ball execution and running the bases more,” USM assistant coach Bob Prince said, who also serves as the teams hitting coach. “And pitching-wise, our pitchers focused a little more on going inside on guys like you would with wood bats, but we haven’t seen much of a difference so far.”
Of course, a major concern for the NCAA with the old bats — which stressed a -3 drop between length and weight (ie. 32 inches-28 ounces) — was the safety of the pitchers, corner infielders and base coaches.
“If you had a 6-4, 230 pound hitter at the plate, he could really drive the ball and do some physical damage if he hit someone,” Bean said. “So safety was obviously a huge factor in the decision to change standards, and I think it does make a difference.”
USM’s team earned run average is higher right now than it was at this point last season (4.44 in ‘10 compared to 5.02 in ‘11), also inviting proof that the new standard hasn’t affected many other teams either.
Prince mentioned that what it comes down to is that the new bats force players to hit with proper mechanics, and it’s the players who are doing exactly that that are getting hits.
USM seems to have plenty of proper hitting tehcnique so far this season as 11 Huskies have gone yard (senior Mike Eaton is leading the team with ten), and have averaged 8.3 runs over the last ten games.
So for now, the new standard seems to be achieving it’s goal of simulating a wood bat, but isn’t satisfying a balance between offense and defense, as teams still seem to be hitting the ball hard and over the wall, prompting an interesting question: Will the NCAA change the standard again?