Baseball

Five bats worth a high school hitter's money, compared on swing weight, price and durability — plus the things the product page leaves out.

• Overview — all five compared bats/index.html

  The swing-weight scale, the side-by-side table, and the ranked list.

• Easton Hype Fire bats/easton-hype-fire.html

  The softest, most forgiving barrel in the class — and the most polarizing handle.

• Marucci Rckless Gen 2 Alloy bats/marucci-rckless-alloy.html

  Hot from swing one, tough as alloy gets, $100 cheaper than the composites.

• Louisville Slugger Atlas 2.0 bats/louisville-atlas-2.html

  The highest measured exit velocities of the five. Durability is the open question.

• Rawlings Icon bats/rawlings-icon.html

  An excellent bat with a pricing problem: the 2026 is identical and costs $100 less.

• Marucci Rckless Gen 2 Hybrid bats/marucci-rckless-hybrid.html

  Alloy contact with composite hands. The bat for the middle of the order.

• Eight things the seller won't tell you bats/buying-guide.html

  Cold-weather cracking, break-in periods, model-year relabeling and what voids a warranty.

• Getting the size right bats/sizing.html

  Length by height, the twenty-second arm test, and why the extra ounce buys almost nothing.

• If the budget is tighter bats/budget.html

  Four bats under $350 that will not hold a hitter back, including last year's flagships.