The future of broadcasting is here.
Next Tuesday’s Nationals vs. Cardinals game will be unlike any other regular season baseball broadcast before it with its use of Statcast.
Going forward, MLB broadcasts will use Statcast to track new metrics such as the speed of a player stealing a base, how hard a ball is hit, spin rate of a pitch and efficiency of an outfielder’s route to a ball.
Statcast computes hundreds of different data points with high resolution optical cameras and radar equipment that track the position of the ball and each player on the field.
Statcast made its first appearance last year in the All-Star Game and Postseason. It will be used more regularly this year as the camera and radar technology have been installed in all 30 stadiums.
But baseball broadcast features have not all been well received by fans. ESPN’s K-Zone should be a lesson that having the technology is one thing, implementing it correctly is another.
Some find the rectangle that cuts through the catcher to be distracting and unnecessary.
I will not watch any games on @ESPN with that damn #kzone. How long will it take them to listen to the fans?! Noone likes it @MLB
— Doug Miller (@sammmy99) April 6, 2015
The advanced statistics gathered by Statcast and used during broadcasts will also be used by MLB front offices, and is already being used by executives to evaluate current players.
“Statcast will provide us, and Major League front offices, with the tools to dig deeper into advanced metrics,” said Brian Kenny, MLB analyst. “Altering the perception of a player’s value and helping us to appreciate the unique athleticism a player possesses.”
This technology has real potential to change the way analysts evaluate players. Micro-statistics that can now be measured by Statcast, like a players jump to second base on a steal, could prove to be the difference between safe and out.
And of course this will change how baseball is seen on television with broadcasts providing viewers statistics like who would win a race between Dee Gordon and Billy Hamilton. If it is done responsibly, this might just add a dynamic baseball is in dire need of finding.
Tune in on Tuesday to find out.