The future is now as MLB pushes real-time data technology

In a small room across the street from Globe Life Park a group of computer technicians is tracking every movement on the field, from every pitch to where the umpires are positioned on every play.

Baseball in 2016 is on the verge of stepping through the looking glass.

Although the technology that tracks the velocity and type of pitch in real time has been around for a decade, the full value of the information is finally not just for the baseball nerd charting pitch counts in Mom’s basement.

Since last season, all 30 ballparks in the majors have been outfitted with an intricate system of cameras and Doppler radar that help determine the speed, location and trajectory of every single pitch.

The information is instantaneously fed to the Globe Life Park scoreboard and the MLB at-bat application.

Another system uses a set of cameras to track all sorts of data, such as how fast and the exact route an outfielder ran to catch a fly ball, and a batter’s speed from home to first base.

“The more interactive we can make our game with that the better,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “The game of baseball is 3 hours long. There’s about 15 minutes of real action within the game. So there’s a lot of time in between for fans.

“When you’re in the stands watching the game the ability to have multiple things for fans to be interactive with, I think it’s going to make our game a better fan experience.”

Clubs receive the raw tracking data every day, which they can use to augment their analytics for player development and scouting. The league even took it up a notch this season by allowing iPads in the dugouts and bullpens to allow managers and coaches to use the real-time data during games.

“We’re continuing to develop new platforms and ways to provide fans the data as a means for engaging them wherever they’re consuming the game — TV, online, mobile, ballpark,” said Matthew Gould, MLB’s advanced media spokesman.

Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson said he didn’t realize the pitches are tracked by cameras and radar. “I thought it was someone up in the booth,” he said, echoing the sentiment of many fans, who likely think the real-time pitch information flashed on the scoreboard after every pitch, including velocity and type of pitch, is done by a person at each park, like in the old days.

In the past, Tolleson and the other relief pitchers would have to watch each pitch, see how the hitter reacted and look at the velocity flashed on the scoreboard to figure out what kind of pitch was thrown.

“We’d look up at the velocity and said, ‘Oh, it was 92, that was a heater.’ Or, ‘Oh, it was 87, that was his cutter.’ ”

Now, there’s no guessing.

Do pitchers feel like this is giving hitters, especially the guy watching from the on-deck circle, an advantage?

“It’s definitely not an advantage for the pitcher,” Tolleson said. “It may not be a huge advantage for him, but it’s not an advantage for us. If anything, it’s going to hurt us.”

Still, Tolleson thinks the technology is cool.

“A lot of people come to the games and don’t pay attention to the actual pitch that’s being thrown. It’s kind of fun for the fans to see he’s thrown three sliders in a row and he swung and missed three times. It gives them more of an in-depth perspective on the game.”

Eric Mills, who oversees the MLB.com control center at Globe Life Park, said the data will probably eventually become a real-time addition to every broadcast.

“It basically puts a layer of data over the entire game,” Mills said. “With all this data it could be valuable to many parts of the game including for the teams and the league.”

The league is already using it to evaluate umpires.

Catcher Chris Gimenez says the pitch information on the scoreboard isn’t likely to add much advantage to a veteran hitter who already knows the pitcher. But it could, he said, help a young player new to the league.

Generally, Banister said, the pitch information is accurate. Although sometimes similar-looking pitches with the same velocity, such as a slider and split-finger fastball, can be tricky to decipher, Tolleson said.

One bone of contention for at least Gimenez and reliever Andrew Faulkner, are the strike-zone graphics used on broadcasts such as ESPN’s K-Zone, FoxTrax and PitchTrax.

Not only are fans not seeing an accurate angle from their televisions, Gimenez said, but it’s unfair to umpires.

“I don’t think that’s good, especially if it’s on TV,” Faulkner said. “There’s no reason to show them up. It shows up hitters, too. It’s cool for us to see, but sometimes you can read too much into it and overthink things. It’s kind of a double-edged sword.”

Plus, Gimenez pointed out, each hitter brings with him a different strike zone, so one size shouldn’t fit all.

“That’s part of the human element. Each umpire has their different zone and each hitter is different,” he said. “It’s cool to look at for people who don’t really know what’s going on. Sometimes a ball looks right down the middle on TV but a lot of times the camera angle is off to the side.”

Gimenez took a breath and gave it another thought.

“Who knows, maybe I’m overthinking it,” he said.

That’s exactly what the league hopes fans are beginning to do.

This story was originally published April 17, 2016 at 2:55 PM with the headline "The future is now as MLB pushes real-time data technology."