Few sports have embraced technology in the way that baseball, America’s unwavering pastime, has somewhat surprisingly done. From special tape on bats to a “smart” baseball that stores massive amounts of data, to allowing wearables to be worn by players during games, the presence of tech in baseball is easily felt on a daily basis. As a result of this intermingling of tech and baseball, hyper-advanced statistics have emerged that add profound and exciting dimensions to a sport that is so often criticized for being archaic and boring.
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The primary distributor of these new-age stats is MLB’s own Statcast, which “is capable of gathering and displaying previously immeasurable aspects of the game” by making use of ultra high-res cameras and radar equipment. Now in just its second season of use, Statcast reveals data such as pitch spin rate, defensive route efficiency, exit velocity of a ball off of a bat, and more. Much like conventional stats, all of the info tracked by Statcast is kept and compiled, which allows for the creation of new records that more than likely makes baseball purists cringe. For instance, Aroldis Chapman of the New York Yankees officially threw the fastest pitch of 2015 (twice) at an astounding velocity of 103.9 miles per hour, which was perceived to be even faster (105.3 mph) thanks to Chapman’s 7.1 feet of extension. And, just this week, Aaron Hicks — also of the Yankees — set a Statcast record by firing a laser from deep left field to home plate that came in screaming at 105.5 mph.
246.6 feet.
105.5 mph.And @AaronHicks31‘s #Statcast-record throw was still a strike. https://t.co/Otx8Rb1UkL pic.twitter.com/28FypEJlkq
— #Statcast (@statcast) April 21, 2016
One area where Statcast really makes waves is in understanding defense better, as the naked eye is not always the best judge of whether or not a player is truly maximizing their defensive capabilities. In May 2015, for example, Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates exhibited 99.2% route efficiency to track down a fly ball in center field that ultimately resulted in a double play. And just a few nights ago, the Kansas City Royals’ Alex Gordon took a 97.5% efficient route to travel 122.6 feet and make a diving play on a deep fly ball that most left fielders could have only dreamt of catching.
Alex Gordon makes a beeline to the ball – 122.6 feet away. https://t.co/JTtI6gnAmW #Statcast pic.twitter.com/xdeAw3gUAW
— #Statcast (@statcast) April 22, 2016
Statcast has also made hit velocity (or exit velocity) a wildly popular statistic. Conventional baseball metrics can show whether contact results in an out, or a single, or a home run, but never before has data been measured to show just how hard a ball is hit. But in 2015, Statcast used its exit velocity stat to show that Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins is the hardest hitter in baseball — Stanton’s average exit velocity was 98.5 mph (the second highest exit velocity was only 94.8). With his insane power, Stanton was able to hit some pretty impressive home runs… like this one, which Dodger Stadium couldn’t even contain.
In 2016, Domingo Santana of the Milwaukee Brewers lead baseball with a 96.3 mph average exit velocity, and Luis Valbuena set the Statcast exit velocity record by grounding out at 124.2 mph.
What also makes Statcast’s endeavors so special is that, unlike with typical counting stats and percentages like batting average and OPS, players can actually improve from analysis of Statcast data. Center fielders can learn from routes that they ran in the past to increase their route efficiency in the future. Batters can get a feel for which pitches they tend to hit the hardest, and try to capitalize on that. All in all, Statcast is helping to palpably make baseball a more modern sport, ripe with change, improvement, and excitement.