In its debut season, Statcast has changed the way that players and fans look at the game. It has been well documented that professional sporting teams of all types are beginning to move into tracking and stat-driven decision-making, but for MLB, during the 2015 season the fans were able to look at the game on a unique level.
Statcast, a state-of-the-art tracking technology, is capable of gathering information regarding statistics that we never thought were measurable. Through a series of high-resolution cameras and radar technology, it can track movement of the ball and every player on the field at any given time.
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Data like hitting velocity and launching angle, hang time, distance, pitch velocity and how long a pitcher takes from his first movement to his release are really only scratching the surface of what Statcast is able to do. Credit needs to be given to the MLB for gambling on such a cutting-edge system that had never been used in such a high-profile manner before.
Keeping in mind that this is not the best player at every position, and that it is made up of players who stood out in a unique way according to Statcast, here are is the first ever All-Statcast team:
C – Yasmani Grandal, Dodgers
Grandal led all catchers with a 92 mph average exit velocity, as well as finishing as baseball’s best framing catcher, adding 25 runs of value through his pitch receiving alone.
1B – Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks
For an athlete playing in a small market, on a team who has struggled for wins since he came on board, Goldschmidt deserves more credit than what conventional stats portray. Of all first basemen, he finished second in average hitting velocity and third in average distance. But the stat that stands out is his 21 stolen bases, the most of any first basemen since 2001.
2B – Dee Gordon, Marlins
While Gordon has a huge presence in the speed stats, his most outstanding area this season occurred on one night, when he ran an inside-the-park home run of which only took him 14.2 seconds, the fastest since Statcast was brought in.
3B – Nolan Arenado, Rockies
Despite tying the season high in home-runs (42), Arenado makes the cut for his stellar defense. Arenado made arguably the catch of the year back in April, but it’s his throwing velocity that stands out the most at 81.9mph
LF – Yoenis Cespedes, Tigers/Mets
Cespedes is one of the quickest athletes in the game, and grabs a spot in the team for that reason. In game 3 in the NLDS he stole third base in the 6th inning when the game was tied, taking just 2.9 seconds to get from second to third, which was the best tracked time all season.
CF – Kevin Pillar, Blue Jays
Although Pillar isn’t talked about anywhere near as much as some of the established elite players, his standout play of the year was when he travelled by far and away the longest distance to track down a ball, running 117.5 feet to make a catch.
RF – Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins
At the beginning of the season many would’ve tipped Stanton to be the king of exit velocity according to Statcast, and if so, they were right. But what has proven most startling is by how much. He had the hardest hitting ball of the season, at 120.3 mph and also has 9 of the top 12 hardest hits of the season.
SP – Garrett Richards, Angels
With such dense talent at the pitching position this year, Richards was able to stand out through his amazing spin average of 3,086 rpm, almost 1,000 rpm better than the league average.
RP – Aroldis Chapman, Reds
Of the 492 pitchers that threw over 400 balls this season, Chapman’s average exit velocity of 84 mph is sixth from the top. However, what was most outstanding was that he struck out a whopping 41.7 percent of hitters he faced.
The MLB allowing statistics like this to be so accessible to the public sets an example for other sports leagues around the world. As we move deeper and deeper into the tech age where performance in all forms of life is measured by numbers, the MLB made the boldest move of them all by bringing the fans closer to the action.