If you are a hitter you know there are a myriad of choices of HOW you want
your bat to look and feel.
The game of superstitions kicks in here with some common sense added in!
Wood by the nature of what it is can TAKE on Moisture or DRY OUT.
Many players like the feel of the wood on their hands, especially without batting gloves. That’s all good BUT depending on where you live, your raw bat(s) are most definitely changing in your bat bag. Live in Phoenix and that raw bat is having the moisture sucked out of it. Live in GEORGIA or FLORIDA, that ball-bashing tool is getting HEAVIER and HEAVIER as it takes on that humid moisture.
Clear coating or painting a bat has advantages that negate the comments above plus beyond the obvious “look” of a painted bat you may negate its ability to take on moisture and/or repel moisture.
YOUR CALL, as A BAT WILL DECORATE or not ANYWAY YOU WANT AND LIKE IT!