I get asked about this a lot, and I finally have an answer based on the data reported in our recent Baseball Prospectus article. Here’s my take: 1. Know Your Efficiency It is hard to generate Seam Shifted Wake effects without some gyro. I recently posted a video that explains Continue Reading
Seam-Shifted Wakes
aka laminar express
Seam Shifted Wake Zoom
On Tuesday, November 10, 2020, I hosted a public Zoom presentation on our current understanding. It was attended by 100 people (my Zoom limit) including representatives from 14 MLB teams (that I know of). Click the photo below for a link to the full presentation.
Not All Shifted Wakes Are Equal: Post 61
Twitter: @jwillyg20 It’s time to define a Seam Shifted Wake (SSW) pitch more carefully. The main feature is that a baseball’s seams can cause earlier flow separation on one side of the ball relative to the other. This asymmetric wake is what we refer to as the “shifted” wake (see Continue Reading
The Effect of Gyro on Optimal SSW Orientation: Post 60
If you are new to the idea of Seam Shifted Wake pitches, I recommend downloading and viewing this presentation which is about 45 minutes long. I realize that is a lot of time, but this is a complex topic. That said, I think the presentation is easy to understand. As Continue Reading
Seam Shifted Wake Predictions for 2020-2021
We’ve learned a lot in the last year. One thing I am more convinced of than ever: Seam Shifted Wake (SSW) pitches are common. They have been hidden from us because of the limitations of our measurement systems and well-intentioned efforts to mitigate those limitations. Based on our research, data Continue Reading
The Apparent Tilt of Seam Shifted Wake Pitches: Post 59
Conventional pitches break because of two forces, gravity and Magnus force (the ball experiences drag also, but drag his little effect on the direction of a pitch). When a Seam Shifted Wake (SSW) occurs, the forces causing break are gravity, Magnus force and the SSW force. This article will assume Continue Reading
Diagnosing and Modeling SSW pitches: Post 58
I’ve carried on about this, but if you throw a Seam Shifted Wake pitch, there is currently no way to know that it moved differently than any other pitch. I’ve known for some time that this was an obstacle to our work. I’ve been told many times that these effects Continue Reading
Case Study– Good and Bad Discoball: Post 55
Michael Augustine (https://twitter.com/AugustineMLB) and I were recently discussing a couple of Strasburg “Discoball” changeups. The impetus of the discussion was Trip Somer’s new tool (Trip is @one_pitch_man) that allows one to enter tilt, efficiency and orientation of the pitch and visualize what that looks like spinning at any RPM from Continue Reading
Using Baseball Seams to Create Break:Post 54
This is the presentation that I have made to the staff of several Grapefruit-League MLB teams. I wanted to make it easily accessible to the rest of the MLB teams by putting a version here. I try to make most of my posts viewable on a phone, but this one Continue Reading
Relationship between Orientation and gyro for Seam-Shifted Wake pitches: Post 52
We have previously stated that the “Looper” works for efficient (no gyro) pitches, and that the “laminar express” and “discoball” changeup require some gyro. I’ve been advocating that folks try the looper since I have been unable to tell them how much gyro they need for the other pitches. But Continue Reading