This year we have seen a few newcomers to the BBCOR Bat game, along with some old favorites. After the whole Slugger Meta BBCOR getting banned for cheating the BBCOR test, the BBCOR bat buyers wanted an honest, reliable bat that performed well and of course, had excellent durability.

Enter the Victus Nox and the Marucci Cat 9 and Cat 9 Connect series.

The first new 2021 BBCOR bat in this Covid-19 shortened season was the Victus Nox – which utterly obliterated other 2 piece bats with aluminum barrels like The Goods. Dealers we know reported selling more Victus Nox BBCOR bats in a matter of weeks than they sold of The Goods all year.

The second and third (released at the same time) 2021 BBCOR bats released were the Marucci Cat 9 and Marucci Cat 9 Connect. Both of those bats have sold very well so far, and perform EXCELLENT. 

Best BBCOR Bats For 2021

1. Victus Nox – Solid choice for the elite high school and college player. Tons of pop. Two-piece. No vibration. Slight end load for added power. American owned company.
2. Marucci Cat 9 Connect – Another amazing 2021 BBCOR Bat. Essentially a Victus Nox but more balanced. Two-piece with zero vibration and a boatload of performance. Marucci is American owned and probably the best customer service in the business.
3. Marucci Cat 9 – Our 3rd favorite BBCOR bat of 2021 is a one-piece metal bat with a ringless barrel and grooved inner walls to make the Cat 9 ultra-responsive and high performing. We loved the balance of the one-piece Cat 9 – even though we hit a little farther with the Nox, the Cat 9 offers more control because of its lighter swinging weight.
4. Easton B5 Pro – Old school cool. The retro B5 Pro BBCOR brings back the look of the bat that changed baseball. The 2021 B5 Pro is end loaded for power. There is no vibration, and the bat hits missiles. The only downside is the end load is pretty aggressive and while that makes the B5 Pro obliterate baseballs, you have to be a strong hitter to be able to control it against fast pitching. Great bat if you have the strength to get it around.
5. Easton ADV 360 – Sold all around 2 piece composite BBCOR bat. Very similar to the Cat 9 Connect, but with a composite barrel.
6. Rawlings Quatro Pro – I think the Rawlings Quatro Pro is a sleeper. Not many people swing Rawlings BBCOR bats, but that doesn’t mean they don’t perform well. Rawlings composite bats are made in the USA and they have one of the best composite labs in the business due to their domination in the slowpitch softball bat world. If you get a chance to demo a Rawlings Quatro Pro, I think you’ll be very surprised at how well they perform. Again, sleeper bat for sure.
7. 2021 DeMarini The Goods – Kind of disappointed with the 2021 “The Goods” BBCOR. Felt okay, but nothing special. We noticed medium vibration in the hands, and we thought with the super heavy end load that the ball would travel farther than lighter bats like the Cat 9, but although the bat felt okay, The Goods exit speeds were lower and the ball just didn’t travel as far as bats like the Nox, Cat 9, B5 Pro, or Cat 9 Connect.
8. 2021 Louisville Slugger Meta – Our test bat was BAD. Really bad. The added rings inside the barrel of the 2021 Meta BBCOR to make it legal turns it into an utter log. Skip this turd unless you like vibration and weak pop outs. Companies like Victus, Marucci, and Easton don’t use rings in the barrel because it creates dead spots in the barrel, and ultimately it kills bat performance. We get it, Slugger had to dumb the Meta down since it got banned in 2020, but it seems like they went to the extreme.