Serious question: I learned the other day that while MLB bats have a limit of 42 inches, the longest bat ever used was 36 inches (https://www.batdigest.com/blog/longest-shortest-heaviest-and-lightest-bats/). Would Javy hit better if he went with a 42 inch bat, given his tendency to chase pitches way outside the plate?
10 comments
The same reason more NBA players don’t shoot their free throws underhanded.
He really ought to try a cricket bat.
Longer bats weigh more- real answer
I’m in favor
The longer the bat, the further the bat’s center of gravity, it’s sweet spot, gets away from your body. So yes, you could theoretically reach balls thrown further off the plate, but getting any kind of power on those balls would be impossible, and it’d also be harder to even get around (your swing would take longer) on anything inside.
So yes, you can use a longer bat but there are reasons nobody does it.
I suppose you’d probably get a lot more catcher interference calls from the longer bat hitting their glove, so maybe you could just plan on getting in base through a technicality.
As others have mentioned, I imaging trying to swing a 3.5 ft bat would be very cumbersome and not powerful. Even if it wasn’t, I don’t think *encouraging* Baez to keep swinging out of the strike zone would bode over well.
He can’t control the one he has, you want him to use a bigger one? Okay you don’t know anything about hitting got it
Alfonso Soriano type beat
So he can try and reach the outside pitches he swings at 8 inches off the plate.