David Chandler founded Chandler Bats in 2009 in East Norriton, Pa., leaving behind a career in high-end furniture design with a simple goal. He wanted to fix something he kept seeing on the baseball diamond: bats broke too often, sometimes in dangerous ways, and Major League Baseball deserved better.
Chandler used his woodworking background to design stronger, safer bats and launched RxSport as the parent company, building each bat with the mindset of a craftsman, not a mass producer.
The company changed hands in 2019 when Yoenis Céspedes purchased the assets through YC52 LLC. Céspedes knew the brand from his time in MLB and saw its potential, keeping the focus on American manufacturing and quality.
Ben Chase now leads daily operations and helped guide the company through some of its toughest years, including the pandemic shutdown and a league lockout that stalled the sport. The business didn't fold under pressure; it reset and kept moving.
Chandler Bats still makes every product by hand in the United States, where workers select premium maple and then turn each bat to tight tolerances measured in thousandths of an inch. They apply an ink dot test to confirm the grain runs straight, improving strength and durability.
The company finishes each bat with an XP coating that cures longer and hardens the wood beyond standard treatments. The process blends traditional craftsmanship with modern precision, and players know the difference.
Top players trust the product because it performs.
Judge has been aligned with Chandler since the beginning of his career, which has seen him hit 346 home runs and win two MVP Awards. The company sells a pair of Judge bats, the AJ99 and AJ99.2, both listed for $239 on the company website. “We’re honored to have that level of trust, even as the company has gone through so many different transitions and hardships, and we don’t take that lightly,” Chase said about the Judge relationship.
Chandler sent Ohtani some custom bats during the 2022 offseason for him to try. Ohtani was intrigued by what Judge was doing, which included an American League record 62 home runs in 2022, according to Chandler Bats rep Chuck Schupp, who previously had long stints at Marucci and Louisville Slugger. Ohtani tested them in Japan and broke them out in games during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
The company now holds about 10.4% of the MLB bat market and ranks fourth overall, with more than 60% of its business tied to professional players who demand custom designs and exact specifications.
The road to success wasn't a smooth-swinging extra base hit; production stopped in 2021 during the pandemic and the league lockout, forcing the company to pause and rethink operations. Chandler Bats relocated to Port St. Lucie, Fla., and rebuilt from the ground up.
Direct-to-consumer sales jumped fivefold after the move, and custom orders now ship within about 30 days. A surge in demand tied to the torpedo bat trend in 2025 pushed April sales up over 100% from the previous year. Growth followed discipline, not luck.
Every Chandler Bat reflects a deliberate process that values detail over speed. Workers start with raw logs and shape each piece into a finished product that meets professional standards. No shortcuts exist because the market punishes inconsistency.
Chandler Bats takes great pride in the quality, durability, and performance of our product, continually surpassing industry standards. We stand behind every bat we craft by hand with the longest warranty period in the industry. We will replace any bat in the event a breakage occurs within the first 60 days from the time of purchase.
The 22k Real Gold Chandler logo is not only our signature brand, but a mark of premium high-quality craftsmanship within the game of baseball. The Chandler 22k Real Gold logo contains real 22k gold. Just like the players whose bats sport our gold, it represents innate desire to separate from the competition. For us, it symbolizes the determination each player holds toward his or her own success – and ours.
Our Extra Processing finish during manufacturing, more commonly known as "XP" is available on all adult, intermediate, youth and softball bats. This innovative process cures the bat for an additional three days and gives it a smooth, glossy finish. Because of the extra processing, the XP finish results in a bat with TWICE the hardness.
The success holds because the mission never changed. Chandler started with a clear idea and built something real. Céspedes recognized that value and invested in keeping it alive. Chase and his team pushed through setbacks and turned them into growth, and the company remained committed to American labor and materials even as costs rose and competitors moved production overseas. The decision to put America first — its people and materials — defines the brand as much as the product itself.
Players talk, and word spreads when equipment delivers on its promise. Chandler Bats listens to feedback and quickly adjusts designs, giving hitters the ability to fine-tune everything from handle shape to weight distribution. That level of customization builds loyalty across every level of the game, from Little League to the majors.
The result speaks for itself. A furniture maker saw a flaw in the game and built a solution using his own hands. Others stepped in and carried the work forward instead of letting it fade.
Chandler Bats now stands as proof that American manufacturing still produces world-class results when people commit to doing the job right.
