News

2027 BBCOR Bats This Fall: What's Out and What's Coming

By Ground Up Baseball · Bats · Published Oct 30, 2026 · Last updated Oct 30, 2026

The short version
  • On sale now: Rawlings Icon ($449.99) and Icon The Chosen One ($399.99), four Combat Steel Horses bats ($349.99 and $399.99), Louisville Slugger Atlas Hybrid and the limited Neon Night colorway ($399.95), and DeMarini Voodoo One ($349.95).
  • Two builds to know: one-piece alloy for a stiff, direct feel, or two-piece composite and hybrid for a softer feel and a bigger barrel.
  • Combat's Leather Horses is sold out on Combat's own site as of Oct 30. The other three Steel Horses bats show in stock.
  • Next up: the USA BBCOR bats, which go on sale July 1, 2027. See our 2028 high school bat rules guide.
  • Before you buy: check your league on BatRules and compare listed specs on BatCode.

This is the companion to our 2027 USSSA bats roundup. That piece covered travel-ball bats. This one is the high school and college side: the -3 BBCOR bats that are legal in NFHS play today.

One rule change hangs over all of it. High school baseball is adding USABat -4, -5 and -6 bats in 2028, and BBCOR is being renamed USA BBCOR, with the new-mark bats arriving July 1, 2027. None of that affects the bats below, which carry the current BBCOR .50 mark and stay legal in high school with no cutoff date. We covered the specifics in High School Bats Change in 2028.

Rawlings Icon and Icon The Chosen One

Rawlings released the 2027 Icon family on its site Sept 16, with the Icon The Chosen One following on Sept 23 (Rawlings 2027 Icon FAQ). It is the first time both bats have been released in the same drop.

Icon (two-piece composite), $449.99

  • Build: two-piece composite, with an In/Tense Carbon Composite barrel joined to a composite handle through Rawlings' Zero Loss collar.
  • Barrel and drop: 2 5/8 inch barrel, -3.
  • Lengths: 31, 32, 33 and 34 inch. No half sizes listed.
  • Feel: Rawlings lists "Tuned Balance Performance," which its spec sheet describes as a "carefully balanced swing weight" that adjusts to each batter's swing. It does not list an end load for this one.
  • List price: $449.99 (Rawlings product page).

Icon The Chosen One (one-piece composite), $399.99

  • Build: one-piece composite, same In/Tense Carbon Composite, with a "seamless one-piece" frame and what Rawlings calls an optimally flexible handle.
  • Barrel and drop: 2 5/8 inch, -3.
  • Lengths: 31, 32, 33, 33.5 and 34 inch.
  • Feel: Rawlings' spec sheet lists this one as "Balanced with Slight End Load."
  • List price: $399.99 (Rawlings product page).

The FAQ sums up the difference in one line: the Icon is two-piece and the Chosen One is a one-piece frame, "which yields a slightly stiffer feel." Both carry the standard BBCOR .50 mark, and Rawlings notes on both product pages that manufacturing tolerances mean the listed drop should not be used to calculate the bat's actual weight as sold.

Combat Steel Horses

Combat's Steel Horses drop is four BBCOR bats: three on its one-piece alloy SPEC-A1 platform and one two-piece hybrid, the SPEC-H1 (Combat Steel Horses FAQ). Combat's FAQ says the drop was "mid-October" on combatmfg.com, with the bats at JustBats and Dick's Sporting Goods the following day.

SPEC-A1, one-piece alloy, $349.99

  • The three designs: Leather Horses in black ("Iron Sharpens Iron"), Blue Biker in Columbia blue and cream ("The Road Less Traveled"), and Red Rider in red and cream ("Firing on All Cylinders").
  • Build: one-piece alloy with Combat's SFX barrel, 2 5/8 inch barrel, -3, balanced swing weight, Clinch Spec grip from the factory.
  • Lengths: 31, 32, 33, 33.5 and 34 inch.
  • Availability, checked Oct 30: Leather Horses shows sold out on Combat's site; Blue Biker and Red Rider show in stock.
  • Pages: Blue Biker, Red Rider, Leather Horses.

SPEC-H1, two-piece hybrid, $399.99

  • What it is: the Shadow Rider, an alloy SFX barrel on a composite handle, with what Combat describes as a slight end load and a little more flex than the one-piece.
  • Barrel and drop: 2 5/8 inch, -3.
  • Lengths: 31, 32, 33 and 33.5 inch. No 34 inch listed.
  • Page: Combat SPEC-H1 Shadow Rider.

Combat is a limited-drop brand, and its own FAQ is blunt about it: bats are sold through a virtual queue, and "placement in the waiting room or queue does not reserve or hold inventory." The FAQ also lists the retailers that carry the line, including JustBats, Dick's, Scheels and Better Baseball, so a sold-out bat on Combat's site is not necessarily gone everywhere.

Louisville Slugger Atlas Hybrid, including Neon Night

Louisville Slugger's 2027 Atlas Hybrid is the two-piece hybrid in its BBCOR line: an EVOKE alloy barrel on a composite handle, joined by the ARX1 connection, with a balanced swing weight, 2 5/8 inch barrel and -3 drop (Slugger Atlas Hybrid page). It comes in 31, 32, 32.5, 33, 33.5 and 34 inch, listed at $399.95.

The limited edition is Atlas Hybrid Neon Night, which Slugger describes as coming to life in glow-in-the-dark green "against a clash of neon colors" once the bat has soaked up sun. Under the paint it is the same bat: same EVOKE barrel, ARX1 connection, XPND end cap and balanced swing weight, at the same $399.95 (Slugger Neon Night page). Slugger's own store lists that product page as published Oct 28, 2026, and all six lengths showed in stock when we checked on Oct 30. Retailer SPC Sports had announced Oct 28 as the release date (SPC Sports); Slugger's own page does not state a launch date.

Slugger also sells the Atlas 2.0, a one-piece alloy BBCOR with its new EVX alloy barrel and a Tuned Mass Damper in the handle, in 29 through 34 inch including half sizes, listed at $349.95 (Slugger Atlas 2.0 page).

One note on Slugger's spec tables: the standard Atlas Hybrid page lists its barrel material as "Steel" while the Neon Night page lists "Aluminum." Both pages describe the same EVOKE alloy barrel, so we are treating that as a data-entry inconsistency rather than a different bat, but we cannot say which entry is the typo.

DeMarini Voodoo One

The 2027 Voodoo One is DeMarini's one-piece alloy BBCOR, and DeMarini calls it "the lightest-swinging BBCOR bat on the market" (DeMarini product page).

  • Build: one-piece X14 alloy barrel, with a Tracer composite end cap, a removable integrated handle taper and DeMarini's Damplify knob, which is a softer knob material meant to cut vibration.
  • Barrel and drop: 2 5/8 inch, -3.
  • Lengths: 30, 31, 32, 32.5, 33, 33.5 and 34 inch. That is the widest range of the bats in this piece apart from the Atlas 2.0, which also sells 29 and 30 inch models.
  • List price: $349.95, or $369.94 with custom barrel text.
  • Other: DeMarini lists an "Expanded BBCOR Warranty" that covers multiple replacements in the first year, and says the bat is designed and built in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Also in the 2027 BBCOR lineup

Easton's 2027 Hype Fire BBCOR is also on sale. Easton's FAQ dates the drop to Aug 19, with retailers the next day (Easton 2027 Hype Fire FAQ), and the BBCOR model is a two-piece composite with a TCT barrel, ConneXion Max connector and Opti-Flex handle, listed at $449.99 in 30 through 34 inch (Easton product page).

At a glance

List prices and availability from each maker's own site, checked Oct 30, 2026.

  • Rawlings Icon: -3, 2 5/8", two-piece composite, 31-34", $449.99
  • Rawlings Icon The Chosen One: -3, 2 5/8", one-piece composite, 31-34" (incl. 33.5"), $399.99
  • Combat Steel Horses SPEC-A1: -3, 2 5/8", one-piece alloy, 31-34", $349.99
  • Combat Steel Horses SPEC-H1: -3, 2 5/8", two-piece hybrid, 31-33.5", $399.99
  • Slugger Atlas Hybrid / Neon Night: -3, 2 5/8", two-piece hybrid, 31-34", $399.95
  • Slugger Atlas 2.0: -3, 2 5/8", one-piece alloy, 29-34", $349.95
  • DeMarini Voodoo One: -3, 2 5/8", one-piece alloy, 30-34", $349.95
  • Easton Hype Fire: -3, 2 5/8", two-piece composite, 30-34", $449.99

How to choose

  • Match the build to the hitter, not the price. One-piece alloy is stiff and direct, and it tells a hitter exactly where they missed. Two-piece composite and hybrid bats flex at the connection, which softens mishits and usually comes with a bigger barrel. Neither is better; they suit different hitters.
  • Size to control, not to the label. A -3 is a -3, but swing weight varies a lot between these bats. The Voodoo One is built around a light swing, while Rawlings lists the Chosen One and Combat lists the SPEC-H1 with a slight end load. Our BatCode tool compares listed specs.
  • Check the mark and the league. Every bat here carries a BBCOR .50 mark, which is what NFHS high school and NCAA college play require today. USSSA travel ball sets its own rules, and a BBCOR bat is legal in some USSSA divisions but not all (USSSA bat marks). See BatRules for each organization.
  • Nothing here needs replacing in 2028. These bats stay legal in high school with no cutoff date, per USA Baseball's USA BBCOR FAQ.
  • Our suggestion: a $400 bat is not a requirement at any level. If a hitter is between sizes or still growing, the size range matters more than the technology story. That is why the 30 inch entry on the Voodoo One and the 29 inch entry on the Atlas 2.0 are worth noticing.

What is still coming

The next real change is USA BBCOR. USA Baseball says the new-mark bats go on sale July 1, 2027, and that it will post the certified list on USABaseball.com and USABat.com that day. High school play begins permitting them with the 2028 season, alongside the current BBCOR .50 bats, which stay legal indefinitely. We are not going to guess at prices or model names before the certified list exists.

Sources

Read in full unless noted. All retrieved Oct 30, 2026.

Last updated Oct 30, 2026. Specs and list prices come from each maker's own site on Oct 30, 2026 and can change. Check the store before you buy. More news

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