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
Seam-Shifted Wakes
aka laminar express
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
UMBA 2.0
Click here for the GitHub link This new version contains a model for the seam shifted wake. Before I get into it I want to make a couple of things clear. First, there is a quote from statistician George E.P. Box, “All models are wrong but some are useful.” I 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
A Zero-Gyro Seam Shifted Wake Pitch–The Looper: Post 49
We have had a hard time demonstrating seam shifted wake pitches like the Laminar Express or the Discoball Changeup because our pitching machine (and, indeed, pretty much every pitching machine not located in Pullman) cannot do gyro. But, my graduate student, Andrew Smith (who is looking for a job), found Continue Reading
Rapsodo 1.0 and Seam Shifted Wake pitches: Post 48
I’ll start right out by saying this post is not a criticism of the Rapsodo technology. I think what these folks have provided for the price is pretty amazing (and I’m really geeked about their new camera, which looks like a game changer) But, like any technology, it has limits, Continue Reading
The State of Baseball Aerodynamics: Post 47
The State of the Baseball Aerodynamics is Strong! Sorry, always have wanted to do that. I’ve been at this for about 14 months. I thought this would be a good time to provide a (hopefully) concise summary of what we have learned. Seam Effects on Pitch Break I nearly said Continue Reading
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