Marucci Baseball Bat Reviews
First, yes the Cat 5, 33 inch Adult -3 has been banned as of February 2012. You can read more about that here.
The Marucci Bat Company has a great story behind it. In 2002 Jack Marucci saw his 4 year old son Gino slide head first into home plate at his first T-ball game he knew his son shared his love for the game. However, after two seasons of hearing the “clink” of the metal bat in the backyard, Jack and Gino could bear the sound no more.
Searching for a child-size wooden bat proved to be quite difficult. Marucci, who had inherited some woodworking tools from his late father had been slowly teaching himself the craft of woodworking. He purchased a small lathe and kit of tools and taught himself how to use it to craft wooden baseball bats. Before too long Marucci wood bats were at the MLB level in the hands of Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols and 300 other MLB stars.
Marucci then expanded into the aluminum bat category, with the Cat 5, and quickly generated a lot of buzz in the market. The buzz is quite hot right now and in my opinion is over the top. It reminds me of the insanity about Combat following that LLWS walk off home run in 2007 (and Miken bats before it). That has long since faded and so will the crazyness over the Cat 5. Nonetheless, Marucci has done a fantastic job of incorporating MLB stars into it’s advertising which is helping to stoke the fire.
Here’s what Marucci has to offer in 2012:
Marucci 2012 The Black BBCOR Baseball Bat
The Marucci Black is their new entry for 2012 and brings them into the hybrid category.
It is a two-piece bat with an extra stiff handle and a balanced design. It is made with Marucci’s AZ3000 alloy barrel and an unnamed composite handle. The barrel on the Black is made extra-long which they claim “results in a larger sweet spot and increased trampoline effect”. Like the Cat 5 this will be a bat with a lot of buzz around it. The Adult -3 retails for $299.99
Marucci 2012 CAT5 BBCOR Baseball Bat
A one-piece 100% alloy bat with a stiff handle and balanced design. The big difference between the Cat 5 and most other bats is the thicker handle. Marucci claims this reduces MOI for optimal balance. As mentioned, the 33 inch length is no longer approved for NCAA or High School play. The Cat 5 is insanely hot right now and the Adult -3 retails for $199.99
Check out my recommendations in each bat category here. And… here’s a Marucci video on the Cat 5:
I purchased a 33-30 Marucci Back for my 17 yr old son , who is Ranked in the top 25 Centex HS Baseball players in Texas. THE bat Hits DEAD! I paid $360 for the wood bat presonalized combo. The wood bat is great! So, I sent the blk back and they sent another, same thing! even when other college and MLB prospects on his team tryed it, they could not even get the ball out of the in field. So, I sent it back for a REfUND minus the wood bat of course. The customer service Rep, [CHRIS] was totally unprofessional in every aspect of Service to a consumer and rude! Telling me they were too busy, after saying he had to talked to a mngr, did not call me back 4 days in a row. After the 5th day of me calling for an answer, I was informed that they lost my bat and I could only get an exchange for a lesser bat! And no refund or compensation for differnce. I find this company totally unsatisfactory and DO NOT RECOMMEND MARUCCI AT ALL! Please NOTE!
I purchased the 33-30 Marucci Black combo for my son at Christmas. He didn’t use the bat until his first High School game Tuesday. He hit a 385′ HR with the bat!! He loves it and would recommend it to everyone!
The Chris who posted on March 14th is prolly a troll. Nobody who has tried the Black would ever call it a dead bat. NO ONE! My son is 6’1″ 170lbs and swings the 2012 BBCOR Marucci Black 33-30 and loves it. He is a sophomore 1st basemen on his JV team. Batting .466 after a 3rd of the current spring ball season. This bat is very very good.