If you are a baseball fan who has always wanted to know more than ERA’s and RBI’s, then check out this VICE Media video on MLB Statcast. The video provides vivid insight into how this technology works and gets direct viewpoints from some of the people directly involved in its creation and operation:
MLB Statcast is a combination of a radar and optical tracking that can tell you most everything about what happens in any given play. The radar is used to track quickly moving objects (i.e. the ball) while the optical tracker is used to record player movement, together creating a breakdown of any recorded play. Now regular fans can get in on information that even players themselves haven’t known until now.
There are two cameras dedicated to Statcast in every MLB arena, and they are no regular cameras, either. The radar is the same that is used to detect debris falling from launching spaceships and missiles, so it can record at 40,000 frames per second. Meanwhile, the optical camera tracks at 30 frames per second to match the rate of the telecast. Added together, these can create an incredible 3-D image of what truly happens in any baseball play.
Statcast is opening a whole new frontier of baseball analytics. Within minutes of a homer, you can see anything from the exit velocity to the distance to the launch angle. And it not only benefits fans—players and coaches are already profiting from this new technology.
As the VICE video points out, a tremendous example of this technology offering more insights into the game is with a pitcher named Collin McHugh. Collin was cut but then promptly picked up by the Astros for one specific reason: the spin rate on his curveball. When the Astros realized that he had an underused weapon they picked him up, and he proceeded to have a career year this season. Without statcast tech he never would have had a second chance.