Technology is a ubiquitous aspect of modern baseball. Each pitch and swing in games is captured, measured, and analyzed by Trackman, Edgetronic cameras and more. It is also videos from multiple angles and then the entire package is sliced, diced and put together so that any given swing can be looked at analytically and then reinforced with three or four different video clips from different angles. It’s truly breathtaking how much information is available to these players in their efforts to self-actualize. At the big league level, teams are even turning on the data flows in BP or pregame drills in the dawning focus on load management. Teams can use exit velocity in BP, for instance, to see if there’s an early warning signal that something might not be right with a player on a given day and a night off might be warranted to ward off the problems that fatigue can lead to.
I was thinking about this yesterday as I wandered about the fields trying to count every single camera or other type of technology I could see at the gorgeous new Papago Park complex. It’s pretty overwhelming when you seek them out with intent. You really can’t look in any direction around a field without being confronted by an “information capture device” of some sort or another. Ubiquitous! (If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like, the large, flat, square plate attached to the pole in the picture on the upper left hand corner of this montage is the Trackman receiver).
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