Yes but when you have used it you'll soon realise you do need the area on the top of the bat. With a splice there the top 4" or so are dead. The way we do it only the top 1" is.
Also you get a lot of vibration through the handle with a splice, with a normal bat you don't get this as the splice is close to your hands meaning the bat isn't coming through as fast. With your hands further away from the blade the bat swings through quicker. Catching the ball on the splice means you get an increased number of vibrations through there the rubber grip acts as a slight dampener to this.
Have a go anyway and see what you think, we produced both bats spliced blade and spliceless. We've also experimented handling in a number of ways. A spliced blade is the easier, cheaper and quicker option but we chose not to use it.