By Pierce Jones –
In today’s game, pitch tracking is everywhere. It is new, exciting, and filled with numbers that can give great insight, but it can also be confusing when laid out for someone just getting the hang of it. Here at The Ranch, we primarily utilize the “Trackman System” to collect the data on our pitchers. Typically, MLB organizations also use the Trackman System, so for us, it is greatly beneficial to compare those numbers “apples to apples” for the athletes we see. Trackman has various breakdowns on the system, such as the Measure of Full Ball Trajectory and Spin, Vertical Release Angle, Horizontal Movement, Vertical Movement, Release Speed, Spin Rate, Spin Axis, Release Height, Release Side, Extension, Vertical Release Angle, Horizontal Release Angle, Spin Efficiency, Active Spin, Gyro Angle, and Measured Tilt. With all these data points being considered when a single pitch is thrown, I think you can now see why it can become a bit confusing for pitchers when working with such a system.
Over the years, the Ranch has seen huge success in prioritizing pitchers’ inefficiencies and hyper-personalizing their plans specifically to see the best results. That same scenario now applies to the data realm here. It happens too often that guys come in during our Summer Program or for private sessions and want to utilize the Trackman to collect data. However, they have no idea of the true reasoning behind why they are using it or what they are looking for. There are different avenues that I would strongly suggest guys take advantage of when looking at their data: Be very specific in an area and don’t become overwhelmed with all the other points of the system.
There are three major points I will hit on as, of course, there are various correlations to look at, but just for some “Data 101.”
The first point is how your pitches work. Oftentimes, the human eye cannot pick up exactly how a pitch is working towards the plate or the exact movement of that pitch. With so many guys utilizing off-speed pitches more and more, this can be an extremely important area to make sure there is differentiation from those off-speed pitches. A great example of this would be the curveball and slider. If a pitcher throws both of these pitches, it happens so often that the overlay is the same, and there is no actual difference. Typically, the most common result is that these pitches are both in a slurve-style shape. Although they might have some slight differences in how they break vertically or horizontally, the hitter will still pick that up as almost the same pitch. With the data tracked now, you can start designing these pitches to be different and create a true curve and slider.
The second point is how you can attack the strike zone. A great example of this is the fastball. There is a data point that you want to look at regarding the Induced Vertical Break on the fastball—this could potentially open some doors for you to attack the zone. The higher the number is on the Induced Vertical Break, the more you will want to pitch up in the zone with that fastball as it generates swings and misses. This typically happens whenever a pitcher can really stay behind his ball and create what is called a “carrying fastball.” Of course, the ball does not actually carry up into the zone, as that would be impossible since gravity is always acting upon the ball. However, it affects the pitch, and the human eye struggles to pick that up in the upper part of the zone, causing the swing-and-miss underneath the ball. A great example of this is Gerrit Cole with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In Pittsburgh, Gerrit worked as a sinker/slider guy and got ground ball outs. Gerrit was not the most successful with that attack style. So, when Gerrit arrived with the Houston Astros, he was able to redesign how he attacked the zone with his pitch mix and started to utilize his fastball up in the zone to see much more success over time.
The last point I will touch on is tunneling. Especially at the younger level, it can be hard for pitchers to stay consistent with having the same launch/release with all their pitches. As you continue to climb up the baseball ladder, the hitters get tougher and tougher, making it an essential point to try and create the same overlay for these pitches coming out of your hand. It happens so often that guys let up on the change-up, causing a shift in how the launch happens or, with the slider, trying to drop the arm slot to get a more horizontal break. These can be effective for a short period of time for a young gun, but in the long term, this will be detrimental to how the hitter sees those pitches and if it tips them off to attack.
All in all, there is still so much being learned and utilized with data that what we see now could significantly change in five years. Do not become so caught up in the numbers; you still have to play the game and face a hitter. Even those out there with the best possible data points will still have a bad game where they are lit up on the mound… That’s just baseball. The biggest takeaway from this post is that you should really focus on simplifying the points and areas within your personal data and work there to see those results really take off!
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Important TBR Updates
- Coach Wolforth is hosting a special 90 minute webinar – “The Velocity Code: 3 Secrets to Improving Velocity and Staying Healthy” on Thursdays at 7pm CST. If you’d like to attend next week’s webinar, please email info@TexasBaseballRanch.com and we will forward you an invitation to join.
- The dates for our 3-Day Elite Pitchers Bootcamp for this summer include:
May 24-26 (Sat-Mon)
June 6-8 (Fri-Sun)
June 20-22 (Fri-Sun)
July 4-6 (Fri-Sun)
July 18-20 (Fri-Sun)
Aug. 1-3 (Fri-Sun)
Aug. 30-Sept 1 (Sat-Mon)
To register or learn more CLICK HERE
- Have you been considering attending one of our 3-Day Elite Pitchers Bootcamp but are still on the fence? To help, we have a detailed information package entitled “What Makes This Boot Camp Different”. If you’d like to receive this package and start making plans for the summer, email Jill@TexasBaseballRanch.com and request a copy.
- Interested in our “Summer Intensive Development Program”? Join us for 2-11 weeks this summer. For more information on this one of a kind Summer Training experience and for a registration form visit https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/events/tbr-summer-program/.
- Would you like to participate in the Ranch Summer Program but can’t find 2+ weeks in your schedule? We have an option for you! Attend one of our 3-Day EPBC’s and add the summer program week after. It’s seven days of training and is a great option for those players with an extremely busy summer schedule. Give us a call and we can provide you with more details – (936) 588-6762.
- Check out this video on our YouTube Channel: “How the Texas Baseball Ranch is Different”. Watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTnkcpPksEE and share your opinion in the comments.
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