Hitting with the 2023 Rawlings ICON | BBCOR Baseball Bat Review (RETURN OF THE GLOWSTICK 😳)

What up, what up? Will here with the Baseball Bat Bros. And today, folks, another $500 composite BB core bat. We have the new Rawlings Icon that is actually replacing the Quattro. And they have said they have completely scrapped the old Quattro bats, those black and red and gray bats. We honestly hated them. Hoping this is a lot better. I hit with this at the Perfect Game All-American game. Oh! And I was hitting some bombs. So I'm a little bit optimistic, but $500 is a lot to ask for a bat. Let's get it. All right, folks. So a very, very different composite bat this year from Rawlings. And I honestly think it is due. The Quattros really went downhill from those early models that were kind of fragile. They made some more durable replacements with these black and red Quattros. And I thought they just weren't good at all. And now we have the new Icon, which has a new end cap on there, new handle, a new connector piece, a different grip with a different taper and a very different knob, a different designed composite barrel, a different weighting and warmup swings. It feels like they were made by two different companies, honestly. So before we get going here, we're gonna put a bunch of break and swings on the Icon. We're gonna hop in the cage and we're gonna see if this is somehow possibly worth 500 freaking dollars, man. And lastly, forgot to mention, if this thing is like the real deal, if we actually think it's worth $500, we're gonna compare it to the old Atlas here. And today we're out here at the beautiful George Fox University on the turf here in Oregon. Pretty good size field. We'll throw up the dimensions here. It's a pretty cold day. It's about 50 degrees only. And just keep in a controlled environment. Pitching machine, same Velo for every pitch. And we actually have the same baseball for every pitch as well. We got the rap Soto here to get us some exit Velos. Rawlings Icon. All right, first things first. We're gonna see how the old Quattro Pro compares to the Icon, just in terms of sound, feel, weight distribution, how the ball carries. Then we'll get into the review, compare this against some of our top dogs in the BB Corps game. One swing with the Icon to start. That's pretty good. Oh, plus, plus. Sam would like it. Yeah, that's funny, dude. That sounds awesome. That is absolutely ridiculous how much different that feels from what I remember with the old Quattro's, man. All right, Quattro Pro 2022, a bat we really reviewed quite poorly. Woo, that sound is crazy. Gosh, that is, dude, the weight. The weight is somehow all like below the barrel. It doesn't swing like a real baseball bat, man. There we go. You just really have to inside out it. If I try to throw the barrel, it doesn't even work. Yeah, it's really hard to find the barrel because there just isn't much. This is just an overbalanced bat, in my opinion. I'm gonna try to see if I can barrel one. And then back to this for one, and we'll get the Rapsodo set up. Yeah, dude, what I will say about this bat, right off the bat, ball smashed, by the way. The weighting is really, really nice. A slight end load, and one of the better kind of swing feels through the zone for a composite bat, in my opinion. All right, see if the Rapsodo reads here. Yep. 80? 93, 80. Really? Now it's feeling dangerous. Okay, what's our goal? I'm saying 103. Over, under 103 in there. A $500 bat, we better be 103, bro. Barrel, it feels really, really good. 99, 6. It legit feels great. It feels buttery, dude. 100? 105! 105. At 10.2. That was 105? All right, we're gonna have to bust the Atlas out for a couple swings, Doug. Feels different. Okay, that's kind of hands, but that came off really well. 105.4, 12.4. Are you serious? I swear. We're getting 105s right now? Yeah. Okay, one more barrel, and I'm picking up the Atlas, bro, to see if it's just one of those days. I don't know, man. This bat's really hot, or? 104.9. I've just been in the weight room. Before we go any further, this bat is suspiciously good. Maybe it's just the baseballs. Maybe something's in the air. That's jammed really bad. Ball's hit well. 99? Oh, yeah. That is hit so hard, Doug. I cannot believe that. 104, 20.8. Jeez. Kind of off the end, but I think I got it. Real good. 103. That was hit so hard, dude. 107.2. Okay, we need to prove it, though. I need to hit a couple, like. Yeah. That's hit pretty well. Should be around 104, 105? 107. Yeah. Dude, it is. This bat's really hot. That's hot. This is a good bat. 105.6. This is really good. I can't. I'm kind of at a loss for words, bro. This is a- This is our first $500 composite. Honestly. Big words. It feels great. Dude, I will say, like, I love it. The thinness of the handle is, I think, thinner than anything I've ever swung, and I think it's causing me to lose control of the barrel a little bit. Yeah. It's like, my swing and my bat control, my bat path feels a little sloppy. Dude, that is so satisfying on barrels. 103.7. What was it? 103.7. Yeah, I think what we might do is tape it up for your round, and then I'll come back and do, like, 10 swings with the tape on it. That's gone, bro. Dude, there's better barrels to be had than that. It's hot, dude. 101. That's not even the perfect barrel. And this isn't even- Bro, this is 100 swings in. Panic mode is setting in, bro. It's moving so fast. 108.2. There's no freaking way. It's really good. 104.1 at 32.6. Dude, that ball probably went 415 feet. I can swing it so hard, but the handle thinness is compromising my barrel control. It's really, really good. What was that? 102? 102.9. Good race! It does. I'm telling you. Okay, we have to tape it now. All right, Zach, so start with the grip as is. See if you like it. If not, we can tape over it. Perfect. 375 on swing two. Oh, yeah. 95. Dude, this feels- Little hands. Yeah, this feels really good, though. Easy, too. 96.4. Kind of toward the end. Like, under everything. All right, so first couple of hacks. Thoughts on the handle? Handle's just thin, so I think that's why I'm losing the barrel in some of those balls. Like, my miss is underneath right now. Let's try freaking taping over it, dude. I think we just did something. That's it. That's for sure it. We literally put a grip over the grip. That's crazy. And the thickness is perfect. A .5 Bruce Bolt or Lizardskin grip or Vulcan grip over the existing Icon grip. This is the exact same thing I did with the U-trip version of this bag. I'm literally so excited. And it's unlocked. Oh, this is gonna be it, dude. Yeah, you fixed it. It's a C! Oh, yeah! 99.7. Hey, this is- I tell you, this is gonna be it. You gotta take swings after. Honestly, what I said about the Cad-X, the One Piece. Yeah, bro. Like, I feel like I could, like, game this bat right now, and I'd be comfortable. 101.1. Kind of hands? Yeah. Could you hear that? Yeah, you can hear the thing. I didn't even feel it. Oh, dude. 104.7. That's legit. This bat's legit. This bat is legit, dude. This is the best composite bat. It is! Easily, not even a question. I think it is! What? Rollins is, like, the three-time defending champion of the worst composite bat I've ever swung. And this is fire. This is a 180. From the Quattro. Unbelievable. Okay, this is more like, dog, this is legit more like the Highlighter Glowstick Quattro than any of the other Quattros. And I feel like I can, I have absolute bat speed with this, too. I'm done. What was that? 100.3. I'm freaking out. What are people gonna think of us if we hype up a $500 composite bat? This would be one of my first times ever doing that. Ever! But that's why it's, like, you gotta listen. I hate that it's good. I do, too. Listen, I don't like composite bats, either. This thing's fire, though. Nor do I like Rollins bats. Nothing against Rollins, but I normally don't like your bats. But I like this one. How good does that feel? There's two grips on here, and it feels just perfect. It feels completely normal. That feels incredible. 480, 104. I mean. All right, putting the grip on there made this bat, like, gamer kind of territory. That's 106. I'm absolutely barreling balls, dude. Gosh! All right, our number one overall ranked BB core bat. Can it hang? My goodness, bro! Oh, my goodness. Dude! 105 at 25. I don't know. I still just love this bat so much. See, that's off the hands, and that, like, kind of hurts, but. That's 103. Yeah. I mean, I can't say the icon's not doing that, though. Like, it does that, and it feels good. 105 at 27. Oh, my goodness. All right, icon. Okay, I'm literally going back and forth with the icon and atlas. That's, I did not think I'd be doing that today. I brought that bat to, like, warm up with. Not even that good. That is so far. 101. I just, ah, I was not expecting this at all. I thought this bat wasn't gonna be that good. It's every swing. Dude, those are at least 106. 102. Oh, my gosh. 102. It's 28 degrees. That's one of the most impressive bat reviews we've done in a minute. This potential, like, top five. Like, that's one of my favorite bats I've swung in a bat review, and it's freaking cold outside. And we didn't even know it. And it's not even that broken in. And for what it's worth here, noticing on the atlas, and I've seen a few people send this in, you can see the end cap peeling back a little bit there. I've had a few people break the end caps on this bat. So, not, like, rock-solid durability-wise, but, I mean, this thing's clearly been pretty beat up. Knob's good and everything. So, going into it, before I even, like, swung the bat, I was really skeptical. I mean, $500 composite bat. We're skeptical of those bats anyway. Just about wrote it off. It's a lot of money, for sure. I don't normally like composite bats. I honestly prefer a one-piece. This blew me away. I was getting really good numbers. I was getting great feedback, too, when I got balls closer to the hands, when I got them off the end of the bat. I mean, I literally used the whole bat today. It felt amazing. Only downside to it was the handle for me. It was really thin. Not even really a taper. I need more of a taper. And almost slick. Super slick. We literally just put it over the OG grip, and I tapered it a little bit on the end, and that thickness was, like, perfect. I mean, both of us. Like, our numbers started to jump, more consistent barrels. Swing weight was incredible. I think I said it earlier in the video, but, like, you could see the three- or four-hole guy, and then you could see the nine-hole guy swinging the same bat. Yeah, like, those composite bats usually have a funky weight distribution to them. They nailed it. Like, that felt like a one-piece alloy, or a two-piece hybrid, in terms of just, like, a smooth swing weight. I love the acoustics of it. Like, I love the sound. The sound was incredible. Just, it felt good. Like, it felt like I was hammering baseballs. So, I was really impressed. I mean, this, honestly, like, this was not the review I was expecting. I was about to write this bat off, and it went from that, which, that's why I think it's better. Because, like, going into it, I had no expectations. Honestly, it blew me out of the water. I'm willing to say, right now, like, this is a top-five bat. This is a top-five bat, from my perspective. I can't, dude, like, and I don't want it to be, right? Neither of us do. No, no, not at all. And I can't think of a reason to argue with that. You can't. But, it's a very similar number. I just can't believe it's that hot already. It is so hot. And it, and we haven't, That's what I'm saying, dude. Oh, we're gonna put that on the hit tracks again, but, dog. Rawlings, Rawlings outdid themselves. This, I mean, this is gonna be, do not sleep on this. No, absolute must though. Double grip. Game changer. All right, so in terms of like a bat bro scale, I'm definitely gonna wait till we do hit tracks testing and swing this against one more bat to give you the final answer. But, guys, my initial kind of thoughts, sweet spot is gonna be a eight or nine, probably. Power is gonna be a nine or 10, probably. And swing weight's gonna be, like, a four or five. Could be a six, but probably around a five. And like, just adding that up, man. That adds up to a 23, which is, you know, top five, like for sure. And I was not expecting that. And is it worth $500? I'm gonna answer that later, because that's tough to say. I don't know if any bat's worth $500, but that is, hmm, maybe the single best composite BB core bat I've ever swung, especially in recent years. Maybe besides like the Z1000 or the Glowstick, but it's so good that we're gonna try it against something like that. So there you guys have it. If you liked the video, make sure to drop a like, subscribe to the channel, and head over to baseballbatbros.com to see all of our BB core rankings. We have our top 50 on there. We have some merch over there as well. We'll see you guys next time. Thanks to George Fox for letting us use your field. Go Bruins. Peace out.