Sarris: The newest tech in baseball, and how it might finally be favoring the hitter
From SABR member Eno Sarris at The Athletic on March 20, 2018:
We were talking hitting and statistics, as we do, and Jed Lowrie had a bone to pick last year.
“Can you name an analytic breakthrough that helps the hitter?” he asked.
He fended off launch angle and exit velocity, saying those were just stats that described outcomes, and that those numbers didn’t necessarily help the hitter get better. “Hit the ball hard and high” is not exactly a huge revelation; it’s the how that’s so tough for hitter development.
Maybe he was right, but even if analytics at first mostly favored the pitcher and the defense, it certainly looks like a new wave of technology is poised to help the hitter make up some ground in the ongoing battle for the plate. Technology and analytics work hand in hand — how else did we get better data than by improving the technology that captured it? — and, in this recent round of technological advancements, we might find hope for hitters. At least it will be exciting to chronicle all the different ways the tech is changing.
Read the full article here: https://theathletic.com/273531/2018/03/20/sarris-the-newest-tech-in-baseball-and-how-it-might-finally-be-favoring-the-hitter/
Originally published: March 20, 2018. Last Updated: March 20, 2018.