StatCast is slowly being rolled out throughout the MLB courtesy of their Advanced Media department, and even an avid MLB viewer like myself found it a little hard to understand. Luckily, the MLB put together a nice little video (which you can view above) which explains exactly what StatCast is and what it means for the future of viewing baseball.
StatCast will be primarily used to capture data points about a single play happening on the field, which will be able to illuminate that play in a whole new light.
The MLB describes StatCast as the following:
Statcast, a state-of-the-art tracking technology, is capable of gathering and displaying previously immeasurable aspects of the game.
Statcast collects the data using a series of high-resolution optical cameras along with radar equipment that has been installed in all 30 Major League ballparks. The technology precisely tracks the location and movements of the ball and every player on the field at any given time.
The result is an unparalleled amount of figures and information, covering everything from the pitcher to the batter to any defensive players — and everything in between
If you are into advanced metrics, this is your new favorite toy. Some of the data points that StatCast will be measuring everything under the sun including pitching velocity, release point, distance from a pitcher’s release point to the front edge of the pitching rubber, the time it takes for a pitcher from his first movement to delivering the pitch toward home plate, as well as the ultimate spin rate of that eventual pitch.
That is just some of the metrics in pitching which will be tracked, so you can imagine the possibilities in terms of baserunners and defensive players’ movements. You can read a full recap courtesy of MLB Advanced Media which should get you fully up to date with their newest technology HERE.
