I hate to say I told you guys so...

[JPRempe]

...but the ASA's testing procedure for bats now mirrors experiments done by several universities and individuals (including myself) in that an accelerated break in process definitely helps the current generation of 98mph rated composite bats exceed the 98mph BBS barrier by a significant margin. Some bats actually had their effective BBS raised by as much as 9MPH during said testing. We're not talking about shaving and/or endloading bats here, but rather putting them through the process called "rolling".

This new testing procedure also shows that the more you legally hit/use a composite bat, the more likely it will be to also exceed said limit based on the effective swing speed of the bat (again, we're talking about the current generation composite bats).

In short, the bat manufacturers are going to have to get with the program so as to not have their bats either banned/grandfathered/whatever result the ASA comes to. The next generation of bats are either going to come straight out of the wrapper at the 96-98 BBS area and be limited on overall durability, or will come out at a much lower BBS rating in the hopes that the bat eventually achieves the desired BBS rating. Either way, there are going to be a whole bunch of new bats on the horizon...