🔒Tater Baseball pitches new office-to-industrial plan

A Waterbury-based baseball bat manufacturer is moving to Cheshire to accommodate its growing business, with a unique plan to convert office space into a small industrial operation.

Founder and CEO Freddie Vargas said Tater Baseball was formed in 2015, originally as Tater Bat, with his brother Jeremiah Vargas and father Fred Vargas Sr.

The company manufactures wooden game and training bats, some custom-built, and sells branded gloves and gear used by players from Little League up to Major League Baseball, including more than 150 professional players in the minor leagues, Freddie Vargas said.

The family business was started out of a shed in Waterbury, making around 400 bats the first year.

Now they have five employees, including the Vargas family members, making around 10,000 bats a year and catching the eye of major-league players, all primarily through word-of-mouth that’s helping drive growth.

In April, the company paid $250,000 for a 3,000-square-foot Cheshire office condominium at 1484 Highland Ave., which was formerly home to an insurance company.

Tater Baseball’s current 2,400-square-foot leased space is in a Waterbury industrial building that has been sold, prompting the move.

Vargas said he looked for an industrial park location, but small manufacturing space is in high demand.

“There was not a lot on the market for our needs, and with the current market, it didn’t make sense to lease,” Vargas said.

Vargas said he anticipates the company will outgrow its new Cheshire space, perhaps in the next three years, which would prompt another move.

And the brothers are banking on that, as they continue to get the Tater brand recognized across multiple consumer groups.

Local youth players, starting as young as 14, have been using Tater bats, telling their friends as they grow into high school and college competition.

“We’re reaching the pro market as well, where players are finding a lot of success with our bats, and other new players are reaching out to buy more,” Vargas said.

MLB-certified

The brothers started out by partnering with Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martínez, who helped them develop their bats.

Other pro collaborators have included New York Mets outfielder Starling Marte, and Chicago Cubs catcher Yan Gomes, both of whom have used Tater bats, Vargas said.

Several top prospects have used Tater bats and brought them into the minor and major leagues, Vargas said, including Trumbull native and former Quinnipiac University standout infielder Matthew Batten, who now plays for the San Diego Padres organization. Batten takes the field in Tater gear, including bats and gloves.

The company is MLB-certified, which means its bats can be used in professional baseball games.

The Vargas brothers said they ventured into selling Tater gear after their bats developed a solid reputation.

“We wanted to be known for having good bats as well as accessories, so players could use everything Tater, with the same quality standard,” Freddie Vargas said.

Tater gear was also featured in an MLB video game in 2021, boosting the company’s profile, the brothers said.

Tater bats range in price from $120 for a Little League bat, up to $150 to $180 for teen and adult standard bats. Special artist-designed bats fetch anywhere from $300 to $600.

The company declined to disclose its annual revenues.

Tater stands out from competitors by making more specialized, hand-crafted premium bats that are not mass-produced, the brothers said. All Tater bats also use MLB-grade wood.

The Vargas brothers expect to move to their new Cheshire home sometime this month. They will be able to customize the space, and are planning a showroom that is three times larger than their current space, with a viewing kiosk that showcases the bat-making process.

The new space will also have batting cages and new technology, including cameras that can measure the speed at which a ball comes off a bat.