NL East sluggers Pete Alonso and Josh Bell headline a new group of clients for LongBall Labs, the baseball tech company whose tests help determine the best performing wood bats in each new batch.
Founded by former Easton bat engineer Keenan Long, LongBall Labs has two main testing facilities in Chicago and Glendale, Ariz., where it uses proprietary technology to ensure hitters swing the bats with the highest potential for exit velocity. Each bat receives a RIPz score that signals its performance rating, with a usual shipment averaging up to 18 feet in variability of batted-ball distance.
All-Star sluggers Mitch Haniger of the Seattle Mariners and Jed Lowrie, who is currently a free agent, were two of the earliest adopters. LongBall Labs declined to identify its entire roster of clients, but indicated it had about a dozen—including the newly added Alonso and Bell.
Alonso, the New York Mets first baseman, was an All-Star and NL Rookie of the Year in 2019 and is the reigning two-time Home Run Derby champion. “I want to create an advantage by using the best tool tailored specifically for me,” he said in a statement.
Bell was an All-Star that same year with the Pittsburgh Pirates before being traded to the Washington Nationals prior to last season. “With LongBall Labs, I'm excited to know what I'm swinging this year down to the decimal point,” Bell said. “No more guesswork. Just bats that will allow me to maximize my potential in the box.”
