Three reasons to check out the free Detroit Tigers mini-camp

Detroit Tigers tech

Do you remember back in grade school or even in high school seeing a wall that had a “X” on it that stood for the strike zone? Around my neighborhood, that was at least the purpose we used it for with a tennis ball, whiffle ball (mainly whiffle ball) or a raquet ball. In this case, a blue wall was constructed as minor leaguers were throwing weighted balls at it. The purpose?

According to the study published in the National Library of Medicine called “Effects of Throwing Overweight and Underweight Baseballs on Throwing Velocity and Accurary” that Driveline linked in their pitching research article, studies have shown that ten of the eleven studies shown an increase in velocity using both over and underweight balls.

As mentioned by Evan Petzold, there is the core velocity belt that the pitchers will be using.

One item I recall seeing at West Michigan games back in 2019 was a swingtracker. This device is placed at the knob of the bat and transits data about the various data points in a players’s swing that include angles, planes and velocity.

One piece of technology that may be in use already is KinaTrax. The system is a multi-camera one that captures every movement of a pitcher and hitter. From there, with the help of AI and machine learning, it puts out a 3D projection that has rotational and positional data for every single movement in their bodies.

The reason why I mentioned this is because the science behind it is purely fascinating. With the way the Tigers are embracing the newer technolgies in baseball, we could see even more equipment in the future.