Awesome read on ESPNLA.com regarding the use of the newly installed BBCOR bats in high school baseball this season. The lack of offensive production is noticable across the San Gabriel Valley: batting averages are down, home runs are down and runs scored are down. My boy David Ely goes the distance and gets reaction from some of the top high school baseball programs across the Southland. He writes:

“There’s no doubt that because they reduced the exit velocity off the bat that it’s allowed for more reaction time,” Bishop Amat coach Andy Nieto said. “How much? I think that’s still yet to be seen.”

In the past, pitchers were vulnerable to rocketed line drives hit off charged aluminum bats at speeds that left players with little to no chance to safely protect themselves. The increased level of danger took center stage in March 2010 when a 16-year-old pitcher in Kentfield, Calif., was put in a coma after getting hit in the head by a ball reportedly travelling 100 mph. The decision to revamp the composite bat standards in California was made with those kinds of plays in mind, and area coaches agree the game is safer because of it.

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“You can tell who can hit,” UCLA coach John Savage said. “The power is really down across the board. If you see a guy with two or three home runs you realize he has some power. Before, that doesn’t mean much. The cream of the crop hitters has risen that’s for sure.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY ON ESPN LOS ANGELES