Baseball Bat Wood Type Descriptions

 1.    Ash 

The lightest of the traditional woods and incredibly durable, ash baseball bats are flexible and forgiving, helping the batter to create bat whip and speed through the hitting zone. A great choice for bigger barrel bats, the lightweight feel of ash will stop them from feeling overly top-heavy.

 The key benefits of ash baseball bats are: 

• Increased bat speed
• Light and durable making it the strongest wood type
• A softer feel thanks to its wide grain structure
• Flexible to create bat whip
• A larger and more forgiving sweet spot 

Pro-tip: Ensure the straight grains of your ash baseball bat make contact with the ball – this will extend the life of your bat. 

2.    Maple 

Around 75% of MLB players use maple baseball bats, which contributes to making it the most common bat of choice across all levels of the game. This fantastically dense wood helps to create a responsive barrel that offers the ultimate feedback to the batter as they feel the ball strike the bat. 

The key benefits of maple baseball bats are: 

• Incredibly durable, more so than ash
• A dense wood structure making the bat feel heavier
• A hardwood that compresses over time 

Pro-tip: Over time, maple bats are known to acquire moisture and weight. Being such a dense wood and already so heavy, some hitters may want to avoid larger barrel sizes. 

3.    Birch 

As a softer wood, birch baseball bats provide similar flexible traits to that of ash, helping the hitter generate bat whip through the hitting zone. Birch baseball bats are incredibly durable – they combine the hardness of maple with the flexibility of ash to create a bat that will not break down as quickly as others.

 The key benefits of birch baseball bats are: 

• Great bat whip through the hitting zone
• A combination of flexibility and hardness making for a durable bat 

Pro-tip: Due to its softness, a birch baseball bat will need a break-in period until it has acquired that hardness needed for consistent exit velocity.