Post by Oregon Norm on Oct 17, 2019 11:36:27 GMT -5
Fascinating article from IEEE Spectrum, the engineering society's tech journal about coming attractions. I believe this one is open to anyone. It answers a question many of us have brought up: why can't pitchers pitch more innings and still be healthy? The answer is that there's a sweet spot where more pitching brings better pitching fitness, but beyond which it can cause damage. The key is identifying that for each pitcher - and like the rest of us they're all different in their biophysical makeup.
This article is about portable sensors that collect data about pitcher health which is transmitted back to handheld and desktop units. Analytical software using measures developed in Australia - for rugby players - and Canada have been incorporated into that software. The result is individually tailored measures of pitcher health and between inning recovery. I'd not heard about any of this, but MLB certainly has. Here's a tickler from the article:
MLB currently allows the sensors, which weigh a fifth of an ounce and are the size of a matchbox, to be worn during games. They do not currently allow coaching staff to monitor the numbers during the game. There's talk that may soon change.
This article is about portable sensors that collect data about pitcher health which is transmitted back to handheld and desktop units. Analytical software using measures developed in Australia - for rugby players - and Canada have been incorporated into that software. The result is individually tailored measures of pitcher health and between inning recovery. I'd not heard about any of this, but MLB certainly has. Here's a tickler from the article:
Take what happened at a small state college in Texas, where a baseball coach named Bryan Conger went all in with the Motus Throw in the 2017 baseball season, using the technology to manage his pitching staff. During workouts, Conger could check the analytics on his phone, watching how a pitcher’s workload metrics changed with every pitch. He used all the data to create individualized training programs for each pitcher and to determine which pitchers were ready on game day.
Conger says the Motus analytics enabled him to keep his top pitchers in the game for more innings than he would have otherwise, confident that their fatigue levels were within bounds. He also used his top pitchers more often, finding that some could pitch on successive days without going beyond their workload limits. Most important, his pitchers suffered no major arm injuries all season. Conger’s team, from Tarleton State University, made it to the NCAA playoffs that year. Shortly thereafter, Conger was hired away by an MLB team, the Texas Rangers, where he’s now working as a pitching instructor.
Conger says the Motus analytics enabled him to keep his top pitchers in the game for more innings than he would have otherwise, confident that their fatigue levels were within bounds. He also used his top pitchers more often, finding that some could pitch on successive days without going beyond their workload limits. Most important, his pitchers suffered no major arm injuries all season. Conger’s team, from Tarleton State University, made it to the NCAA playoffs that year. Shortly thereafter, Conger was hired away by an MLB team, the Texas Rangers, where he’s now working as a pitching instructor.
MLB currently allows the sensors, which weigh a fifth of an ounce and are the size of a matchbox, to be worn during games. They do not currently allow coaching staff to monitor the numbers during the game. There's talk that may soon change.
I had no idea this was going on, and I'd like to hear from others who might be familiar with this.
