The Mayhem is Worth’s first 100% composite bat and it is made with a material unusual in composite bats – aramid. Aramid is the generic name for a super strong material most people know by the brand name Kevlar.
Worth’s ACT – “Aramid Composite Technology” – produces a bat barrel wall that measures 9.5% stronger and 19.5% tougher than traditional graphite/S-glass composite bat barrels. Strength has to do with the bat’s performance; toughness has to do with the bat’s durability.
As for performance, in Worth testing, most balls hit along the barrel of the Mayhem 98 had a batted ball exit speed of at least 96 mph, showing that the majority of hits register at the high end of the ASA 2004 performance standard.
The Mayhem has a 14-inch barrel, the longest in slow pitch. Worth’s reasoning is that how far the ball goes comes down to two things – the size of the sweet spot and the batted ball speed at impact - and the Mayhem has maximized both. By offering the longest barrel, the Mayhem has the most hitting surface available. The ACT fibers have been laid down in a fashion to provide the most performance allowed by current bat standards and have been tested to provide that performance for a majority of the hitting surface.
The Mayhem comes with a new Pro Pebble composite grip. It comes in 34” and 26-to-28 and 30 ounces.
A 98-mph exit speed model (orange with blue and white graphics) for ASA and the others.
We hit the 26 oz. version.
One mistake players make when considering bats is they believe if a bat is marked BPF 1.20 or 98 mph, then that bat performs to that level. But while all bats stamped with either standard do not exceed that standard, it doesn’t mean they all reach the top end of that standard.
The Mayhem seems to actually reach near the limit of the BPF 1.20 (USSSA) and 98 mph (ASA) standards. According to Worth’s own testing, most of the balls hit anywhere along the barrel reach an exit speed of at least 96 mph.
We found the Mayhem to be a top-end performer.
“A very nice bat,” said one tester. “It doesn’t sound great, but it is very hot, even straight out of the wrapper.”
“An all-around great bat,” said another. “It is worth every penny. It swings wells and feels good in the hands when making contact.”
The Mayhem is a home run bat. All of our testers sent multiple shots over fences in both Texas and California, in warm weather and cold. They ranged from D players to one who played some Major last year, but each had the kind of success that they usually only have on their best days.
The day the bat was unwrapped it was sending balls over a fence 350 feet away. It seemed to get better with use. It is not as hot as the Miken Ultra II – the bat that all others are still being compared to for performance - but with that bat irrevocably banned and with the new, tighter bat standards in place, the Mayhem comes across as about the closest thing possible.
The green Mayhem, which is not allowed in ASA play, was among the best bats for distance we hit all year; the orange ASA version feels and sounds the same way, but doesn’t have the distance of the USSSA model. Stil, it is about as good a home run bat as there is for ASA. Let us hear your bat review!Click here to review this bat.
