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10+ years ago Golf Digest (IIRC) did a story on the impact of driver length on total carry distance.  As lighter and lighter materials came out (platics/graphites for the shaft, titanium for the head, even grips became lighter) you could lengthen the driver WITHOUT increasing overall weight and perhaps even decreasing it.  When I grew up almost all drivers were 43.5 inches.  Today the standard on the tour is 44.5 and the industry standard (for drivers sold to the masses) is 45-45.5!
You would assume that a longer lighter lever, swung faster, would result in longer drives for all.  But that wasn't the case.  Many run of the mill golfers actually saw a decrease in average total carry with the longer drivers (48 inches is the legal limit).  What happened was that even though they were swinging the longer lighter tool faster, they were not squaring the ball up as regularly and they lost distance.
I've always thought Smoak swung a bat that was too long for him.  Would a shorter bat result in more "nutted" fly balls....and that extra 15 ft of carry?
I know that this is golfy, but the same principal applies to baseball.  Given the opportunity to swing longer drivers, the best golfers in the world generally refuse to.  They know the key to distance is the ability to "smash" the ball, squaring it up.