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Rapsodo Pitching Data, a Comprehensive Report

Rapsodo Pitching

During the past year, we have spent endless hours crunching pitching data and there are some unbelievable and amazing conclusions which we would like to share with you. This report is a summary of approximately 10,000 pitches thrown by 50 high school-level pitchers, randomly selected from our various winter, spring and summer programs. The new Rapsodo pitching camera system exposes a great deal and explains why “the eyes lie”. We are willing to bet that our findings are not unique but rather common place in youth pitchers everywhere. Continue reading “Rapsodo Pitching Data, a Comprehensive Report”

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Pitcher Development Program… Case Study: Brian Doherty (Class 2020)

The following is a brief review on 15-year old, 6’4”, 205 lbs. RHP Brian Doherty (Class 2020) who has made tremendous progress in our Pitcher Development Program.  Brian trained at RPP this past fall and then rejoined us again recently.  As a part of the development program, he has been working on a variety of topics this spring, including:

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Baseball Spin Rate Basics and Pitch Movement

baseball spin rate

Tomorrow’s elite pitchers have to learn and take advantage of the implications of data analysis.  Advancements in technology have brought newly available data on baseball spin rate and pitch movement and other valuable information to the doorsteps of commercial baseball facilities and the future will be never be the same (what!?).

Image above by: http://www.lokeshdhakar.com/

Continue reading “Baseball Spin Rate Basics and Pitch Movement”

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Baseball’s Total Spin Rate vs. True Spin Rate (simplified)

Today, we’re going to cover the topic of a baseball’s Total Spin rate vs. True Spin rate.  We’ve previously reviewed how all spin is not alike, as some spin works for you to create movement and some spin doesn’t do anything at all.  At any given moment, a baseball is likely spinning along all 3 axes at the same time.  We’re talking a little bit of:

    1. Left or right,
    2. Backspin or topspin, and
    3. Spinning around in one, or the other, direction (like a football spiral spin also referred to as gyro spin).

Continue reading “Baseball’s Total Spin Rate vs. True Spin Rate (simplified)”

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Baseball Spin Rate and Related Topics

In Part 1 of this series, we wrote about how data and analytics provided by new equipment is changing the way pitchers are getting evaluated and trained.  Today, we’re going to dig a little deeper into the baseball spin rate and review several related topics:

    • What it (spin) all means,
    • How movement is generated,
    • Different types of spin and related info,
    • Advantages of having access to the data,
    • Why it’s important to understand the ramifications, and
    • How we can use it to our benefit.

Continue reading “Baseball Spin Rate and Related Topics”

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Analytics is Changing Pitcher Evaluations… You Better Get Ready

As much as some people don’t want to admit it, baseball is turning even more into a numbers game run by machines such as Statcast, Rapsodo and Trackman, to name a few.  The ordinary fan watching a game on TV is getting a glimpse of this when they see Aaron Judge’s exit velo, launch angle, projected distance and exit velocity pop on the screen, or, when they’re watching Aroldis Chapman and instantly see his velo, extension, spin rate, and horizontal and vertical movement.  Whether we like or not, data is changing the landscape for baseball players.  And I can speak to this first hand, from my own experience with the Indians over the past 7 years. Continue reading “Analytics is Changing Pitcher Evaluations… You Better Get Ready”

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Analyzing Baseball Spin Rate and Training Pitchers

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There is no doubt that the pitching world is being taken over by new information.  MLB’s Statcast system, Trackman radars and Rapsodo cameras and devices are showing up everywhere measuring velocity, baseball spin rates, spin axes, among other things.  And pitchers and coaches are digging in to see how to include all this information in their preparation and training. Continue reading “Analyzing Baseball Spin Rate and Training Pitchers”