Understanding the spin of a baseball can be difficult. There are multiple ways to go about it and overlapping terminology in an already niche topic. As if that were not enough, the phenomenon of ‘seam-shifted wakes’ has necessitated the inclusion of further specifying seam orientation. This corner of the baseball world is confusing, but BaseballCloud is here to fix it.
https://twitter.com/BaseballCloudUS/status/1276950212955852801?s=20
BallR Lite is officially releasing today allowing all to envision and interact with spin like never before. Along with stunning graphics, it features a plethora of insightful metrics and features that can accommodate any analytical appetite. The glossary also provides brief descriptions to clarify what any and all metrics mean.
https://twitter.com/AugustineMLB/status/1277254402957627393?s=20
Michael Augustine, a writer for Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus, has already demonstrated in numerous tweets how BallR can be effectively utilized. In the clip above, Augustine recreated John Means's fastball and overlaid BallR to demonstrate how his release generates the spin it does.
From a coach or player's perspective, this tool opens up endless possibilities on the front of player development. Fingerprint data will be great for showing how small adjustments in grip affects the spin produced. Being able to control seam orientation and spin allows for the advanced designing of pitches. The multi-ball views - which will be available in the full version of BallR - will aid athletes in visualizing spin axis changes and provide a unified view of their pitch arsenals.
Doors are swinging open in the baseball world to those who are curious and willing to learn. BallR Lite is providing a next level opportunity of understanding for free. The full version of BallR will be available September 15th, but until then, click here to get access to BallR Lite.