Capturing Hit F/X Data

By: Greg Moore

Overview

Why Capture Hit F/X data?

How can we capture Hit F/X data?

What is Hit F/X data?

Accuracy of Hit F/X data

Caveats of capturing Hit F/X data

Future uses of Hit F/X data

Questions and comments

Why Capture Hit F/X Data

Working to capture a baseball game as a digital record of the event (DRE)

• The DRE will drastically improve scouting, coaching, and front office decision making capabilities

We have some video dating back to 2007 and all of 2008 from the Pitch F/X system

Next step in solving baseball’s premier matchup• The Pitcher / Batter duel

How can we capture Hit F/X data?

Pitch F/X cameras in all 30 MLB parks• Predefined camera locations to capture video of hit ball and pitch• Pitch trajectory to capture initial point of contact

Captured and capturing video for:• 2007 – partial• 2008 – all• 2009 – all to date

Technology to track the ball off the bat

Technology to track the ball off the bat

Demonstration (Albert Pujols hit ball)

What is Hit F/X data?

Capturing initial velocity of the ball off the bat• Directly measures the batter’s impact on a pitched ball

Initial speed off the bat

Initial position of the hit ball• Where the hit ball intersects with the pitched ball

Launch angle of the ball off the bat• -90 degrees is perpendicular with the ground, straight down• 0 degrees is parallel with the ground• 90 degrees is perpendicular with the ground, straight up

Horizontal spray angle of the ball off the bat• 45 degrees is down the first base line• 135 degrees is down the third base line

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Capturing Hit F/X data: Accuracy as compared to PitchFX

Pitch F/X• Captures 40 – 60 images of the baseball as it travels towards home plate• Solves for acceleration, initial velocity, and initial position• Pitch F/X technology solves for this trajectory and is accurate within 1 inch

throughout the path of the ball

Hit F/X• Captures up to 14 images of the baseball as it travels away from home plate• Hit F/X technology solves for initial velocity and initial position

• We cannot yet solve for acceleration

• Hit F/X takes advantage of the same solving technology as Pitch F/X

Capturing Hit F/X data: Caveats and workarounds

Initial point of contact• We can’t guarantee video of the ball touching the bat• Hit F/X finds the intersection point from pitch trajectory and hit ball trajectory

Chopped ground balls• Find images of ball after bounce• Mirror the pitch trajectories, and hit ball trajectory about the Z plane

• Comes up with a relatively good estimate of hit ball trajectory

Future uses of Hit F/X data

Online products• Further enhancments to GameDay

Broadcast• Additional features showing more in-depth information into the hitter batter

matchup• Hits vs. Outs• Plate buckets with hot zones based on speed, spray angle, launch angle

• Additional features surrounding the hit ball• Eventually… the landing location

Team Data and Analytics• Scouts can evaluate an up and coming player with new metrics and data• Teams can evaluate players performance on new metrics• Coaches can use data to perform pitching, fielding, batting adjustments• Comparative player analysis

• Example: Greinke vs. Arroyo

Future uses of Hit F/X data: Examples

Future uses of Hit F/X data: Examples

Future uses of Hit F/X data: Examples

Home Runs in 2009 hit off Bronson Arroyo

Future uses of Hit F/X data: Examples

Home runs in 2009 hit off Zack Greinke

Future uses of Hit F/X data: Examples

Hits vs. Outs against Zack Greinke

Questions and Comments