New bats will cut down on home runs, make defense an emphasis
It might be time for chicks to start digging the sacrifice bunt.
NCAA regulations will require college baseball teams this season to use new bats that meet BBCOR (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution) standards, which reduce the exit speed in which a ball leaves the bat.
The measures were enacted to improve on-field safety, particularly how fast a batted ball comes back at pitchers. However, the new bats are also expected to change the way the collegiate game is played.
"I started undergoing a transition probably a couple years ago when we got the message in 2008 that the bat legislation was on the horizon," USC coach Ray Tanner said. "Some of the bat manufacturers told us we might want to think a lot more about pitching and defense and guys that could run versus the power hitters and the three-run homers."
The days of double-digit run totals appear gone, creating a new paradigm where success will be dependent on how well a team can manufacture runs, pitch and field its position.
"Pitching and defense always gives you a chance to win. It may be at an even greater premium," Tanner said. "What I think is important is guys that can go from first to third, guys who can score from second on a base hit, guys who can bunt, guys who can steal a base with a green light."
The Gamecocks, who relied on pitching and defense to win their first national championship in school history last summer, said they aren't preoccupied with the expected offensive drop-off.
"I could care less. You still got to hit," outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. said. "They say the home run numbers are going to go down. I feel like either you can hit or you can't. Once it gets warmer, I don't think that bats will [be] too much of a big deal."
Some think the bats could improve college baseball's standing as a proving ground for players to earn draft spots and future professional contracts. No longer will questions about a player's hitting acumen being inflated by the benefit of using an aluminum bat be raised.
"I think it prepares you better for pro ball as far as hitting the ball more square," outfielder Adam Matthews, said. "You're not going to have little bloopers that drop in right field or even balls that are somewhat hit decently and they go out. That's not going to happen this year. You're going to have to really swing at the ball."
Tanner said he is allowing his players to choose which bat manufacturer the Gamecocks will use this season. He added that some players asked to use wood bats, but he vetoed that request because aluminum still has advantages.
"The new aluminum bats are more woodlike," Tanner said, "but you still have an opportunity with an aluminum bat maybe if you don't hit it on the sweet spot to possibly get it out of the infield."
Tanner also said that "wooden bats still are more expensive than aluminum bats. Not individually, but collectively. A wooden bat will break, and you're done. An aluminum bat, you can use for a while."
On the other side of the issue are pitchers. Despite the discussions about what hitters won't be able to do with the new bats, few pitchers expect to gain advantages thanks to the rules.
"The guys [who] can hit home runs are still going to hit them," left-hander Adam Westmoreland said. "It's not going to affect it that much. It just kind of eliminates the small guys having as much power as they did."
Nor do they expect the new bats to alter their approach on the mound. Westmoreland said the fact that hitters have less of a margin for error with the reduced sweet spots on the bat won't change the way he or the USC pitching staff attacks batters.
"We're always aggressive," he said. "We always have been since I got here. We're an aggressive pitching staff; we like to go right at people. Now with the new bats, it eliminates some of the pop fly home runs, but you're still going to have those guys [who] can get it up and get it out. You just have to try and eliminate those mistakes."
The rest of the USC players and coaches echoed the same reality about the new bats: It is what it is, and every team has to follow the same rules.
"I think the traditionalists are going to love the game," Tanner said. "I don't have a problem with it. It's the same for everybody."