Wiser: Is technology helping pitchers crack the code to improving fastball spin rates?
From Jeff Wiser at Baseball Prospectus on April 19, 2019:
When spring training finally started and players arrived at their respective camps this February, there were new pieces of technology awaiting them that stole plenty of headlines from the players themselves. Many organizations began using Rapsodo data-collection tools and/or Edgertronic ultra-high-speed cameras to the point that just about every major league spring camp had some kind of new-era data being collected. This was a fresh look for more than half of the league and just three years ago, would have seemed incredibly strange. Now, it’s commonplace.
One component that teams were surely tracking by use of these technologies was pitch spin, best known as “spin rate.” Conversations about the particular spin on pitches has likely been going on as long as pitchers have been trying to get hitters out. But the conversation began taking new forms and building new momentum just a few years ago. Baseball Prospectus was part of that conversation and many of us were introduced to the modern discussion of the concept in earnest through pieces like this one.
Read the full article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/48606/from-the-outfield-grass-the-spin-zone/
Originally published: April 19, 2019. Last Updated: April 19, 2019.