PREP BASEBALL
Better batters? New, lighter bats are on the way for New Mexico high school baseball in 2028
Change is sure to result in a bump in offense
Published
Modified
Expect scoring in high school baseball to take a turn upward in 2028.
The National Federation of State High School Associations, in conjunction with USA Baseball, is going to allow players to swing lighter bats starting the season after next.
While the length of bats may or may not change for athletes, by and large they鈥檒l be swinging lighter instruments.
For example, a player who swings a 33-inch, 30-ounce bat in 2026 is utilizing what鈥檚 referred to as a drop-3 bat, i.e. the difference between inches and ounces.
That same bat could be 33 inches, 27 ounces come 2028, which would be a drop-6. Players will be able to swing a drop-4, drop-5 or drop-6 under this new rule and not be limited to drop-3 bats.
鈥淲hen you drop down an ounce or two, bat speeds increase, the ball is coming off the bat hotter,鈥� Cleveland High baseball coach Shane Shallenberger said.
The dots, on the surface, are fairly easy to connect.
Lighter bats will translate into hitters being able to get the bat through the zone quicker, and thus a higher volume of balls being put into play. This will lead to more hits, fewer strikeouts and far more traffic on the basepaths. In summary, higher-scoring games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely gonna change the game,鈥� longtime Valley High coach Chad Kuhn said. 鈥淭hey are encouraging kids to be better hitters and 鈥� be better offensively.鈥�
The Journal spoke with five veteran coaches about the change, men who have coached through multiple bat phases: the springboard-type aluminum bats, composite wood bats, and now BBCOR (bat-ball coefficient of restitution) bats, which is what teams currently use.
The BBCOR-certified bats don鈥檛 have the same trampoline effect as the old aluminum bats. The physics is uncomplicated 鈥� batted balls will be reaching defenders faster than they鈥檝e been.
鈥淚 have mixed emotions,鈥� La Cueva baseball coach Gerard Pineda said. 鈥淚t seems like we change bat regulations every 10 years on a whim.鈥�
USA Baseball and the NFHS made it clear that their decision has a purpose.
It 鈥渋s a significant step forward in keeping more athletes in baseball and supporting their long-term development,鈥� USA Baseball President John Gall said. The goal is to retain young players and keep them in high school uniforms.
The bats that have been in play, and will be again in 2027, will remain an approved option in 2028 and beyond. No one will be compelled to swing a lighter bat, although surely a large swath of athletes who step into the box will go that direction.
鈥淚 feel like the offensive benefit 鈥� I don鈥檛 think it鈥檒l be as big a factor as what the NFHS is thinking,鈥� Pineda said. 鈥淚t comes back to, do I have good mechanics, can I put a good swing on the ball, whether I鈥檓 a 5-7, 120-pound freshman, or a 6-foot, 200-pound senior. The baseball part still has to be implemented. Some of this is an easy way out to create that offense.鈥�
Nationwide, safety has been a prevalent topic in post-announcement conversations.
鈥淭he exit velocity is a concern,鈥� said veteran Sandia High baseball coach Marc Hilton. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we went to BBCOR bats in the first place.鈥�
One adjustment coaches may face is adopting new defensive alignments to account for lighter bats and harder-hit balls. This could be true especially for teams who compete on a speedier turf infield, such as Rio Rancho, Cleveland, Valley, Sandia and now Rio Grande. But the schools with grass/dirt infields face a different potential dilemma, inasmuch as crushed baseballs may take awkward hops and create a potentially dangerous scenario for defenders near home plate.
鈥淲e鈥檙e already trying to protect pitchers and corner (infielders),鈥� Hilton said.
Rio Rancho High coach David Gomez comes at the topic from another perspective.
鈥淣ow this puts us (coaches) in a weird spot,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e making a decision: trying to win a championship for Rio Rancho? Or are we trying to prepare our kids for college? 鈥� What are we developing these kids for?鈥�
College programs use drop-3s, so many high school players may switch from current drop-3s to drop-6s when they become legal at the prep level, then readjust to drop-3s when they arrive at college. And high school baseball in New Mexico sends more athletes to college programs than arguably any other sport in the state.
A 33-inch, 30-ounce bat is, generally, the most popular model at the high school level. In two years, it could be 33-27. It could even be a 36-30, which would provide more plate coverage for the batter and create a higher contact ratio. That certainly will assist the mid-range prep talent 鈥� even if the sweet spots on the BBCOR bats have slightly diminished from what the old aluminum bats featured.
The opportunity to swing a lighter stick will be a mouth-watering proposition for many.
鈥淵ou get a kid that maybe could hit at the lower levels but struggle with BBCORs and drop-3s,鈥� said Gomez, who added that he wishes USA Baseball and the NFHS had focused the bat adjustments on the sub-varsity levels only. 鈥淭his gives a chance for some of those kids to stay in the game longer. (But) there will be a ceiling on where some of our better kids go.鈥�
Gomez said Rio Rancho will buy some drop-6s for the 2028 season, just as all programs will, and seek to obtain as much of a competitive advantage at the plate as possible.
鈥淧eople want to see offense,鈥� Hilton said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where some of the attraction might be.鈥�
Elite offensive talent 鈥� think recent Cleveland graduate Anthony Del Angel, a prodigious offensive player 鈥� might opt to continue to swing drop-3s to create a more fluid transition to the college game.
But will these new bats, which are not expected on the market until next July, be engineered properly to ensure immediate success? Pineda has his doubts.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have to wait and see,鈥� he said, adding that he isn鈥檛 optimistic the bats will perform well right out of the gate.
Cleveland鈥檚 Shallenberger, who is unabashedly an old-school type of coach, is wary of how these bats will alter the sport. If a baseball player is looking to increase his output at the plate, he said with a laugh, 鈥渢here鈥檚 this thing called the weight room.鈥�
One of the likely outcomes of the new bats, everyone agrees, is that marginal hitters, say a .250 hitter, are almost sure to see their average jump, sometimes considerably, and this slots into the NFHS/USA Baseball objective, as the organizations jointly noted that 鈥渢oo many athletes entering high school baseball struggle with the immediate jump to the -3 drop weight and then walk away from the game.鈥�
Shallenberger said this move doesn鈥檛 greatly enhance the sport.
鈥淲e used to swing these hot, aluminum bats,鈥� Shallenberger said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e back to square one.鈥�
Kuhn opined that this is simply another way baseball is evolving, noting that home run totals are down since the NFHS required the BBCOR performance standard in high school games since 2012.
鈥淵ou have to do what baseball wants,鈥� Kuhn said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 say I don鈥檛 like it; you have to go with the times and adjust. Maybe it鈥檚 going to create a more enjoyable game.鈥�
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .
