Hours before the first pitch of a recent MLB game, Chicago Cubs pitcher Ben Brown is throwing fastballs to loosen up a group of Miami Marlins hitters at Miami's LoanDepot Park.
But Brown hasn't turned traitor. In fact, he likely has no idea he is helping out tonight's opponents to adapt to his pitching style.
Rather a recording of his pitches is being projected onto the screen of the Trajekt Arc, a futuristic 1,200-pound pitch-replicating robot located in the bowels of the Marlins' home arena.
The machine is the bleeding edge of baseball tech, and just one of the many ways that the team has embraced the sport's technological revolution. Marlins hitters use it to be able to see a near perfect replica of opposing pitching well before game time.
The Trajekt Arc has a two-piece video screen that sits on a sliding track and can display video of any pitcher in the league throwing to the hitter. Right in the middle is a hole where the pitches come out. The middle screen can move up and down to mimic the pitcher's release point.
Gabe Alfaro, part of the Marlins' baseball operations team, dials it all up on his iPad.
“ It'll show their metrics in terms of, what pitches do they have? Whether it be fastball, curveball, sinker or slider. And then if you scroll over to the side, I can actually see their velocity, their average velocity, their spin rate, their vertical break and horizontal break,” he said, while showing WLRN the technology.
The Trajekt Arc costs between $15,000 to $20,000 per month to operate. But players say it's given them an edge.
“I didn't really believe it until I hit the Trajekt and then saw a live arm right after. Especially right before the game, seeing a guy or right before you go out there and hit, seeing a guy and how his pitches are moving and his exact velocity too. I definitely think it's an advantage; we've taken it and ran with it,” said Marlins outfielder Dane Myers.
Expectations for the team were low when the season began in March. Across the board, the Marlins were expected to be one of the worst teams in the sport. After a slow start, they’ve been one of Major League Baseball’s best teams since late June.
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Manager Clayton McCullough says the machine is especially beneficial because the Marlins are baseball’s youngest team.
“ For many of our guys, they just don't have a real Rolodex of at bats against a lot of pitchers in the league. So even just to be able to see what the release point looks like, get a little bit of a feel for how this stuff is gonna play other than just seeing it on video. You certainly like to think that it does give a bit of a head start ,” he said.
The Marlins have embraced the technology. In addition to the Trajekt Arc the team has at LoanDepot Park, they installed one at their spring training facility in Jupiter and one at their minor league affiliate in Jacksonville.
But it's not just fancy pitching machines. In the past decade or so, baseball has undergone a technological revolution across the board.
Pitch-modeling technology that extracts stats like the velocity, movement and spin of a hurler's offerings is being used to improve pitching. Hitters are re-watching their at-bats in the dugout on iPads after each plate appearance.
“ I think like the iPads in the dugout are great. You can check your timing, you can check where they're trying to attack you versus where the pitches actually ended up.” said first baseman Eric Wagaman, “ I think it's a great thing. We're really lucky to be playing right now, because I think all this stuff is very beneficial.”
Not every advancement in the sport is technological.
Earlier this year the New York Yankees made headlines for hitting nine home runs in one game. Journalists were quick to point out that the team was using a new bowling pin-shaped bat design — called torpedo bats — that moved the thickest piece of wood from the end of the bat towards the sweet spot. Those bats were designed by Marlins Field Coordinator Aaron "Lenny" Leanhardt.
And even age-old stats like batting average have been replaced by advanced metrics like WOBA — weighted on-base average.
Catcher Rob Brantly, who is now part of the New York Yankees organization, made his major league debut in 2012. He spoke to WLRN earlier this year about how baseball has changed since then.
“The game has evolved so much since when I first started playing professionally, and rightfully so, right? Honestly I think the talent in baseball is better for it. I think it's cool seeing how good players are getting and using this kind of advance or technological information that we're getting and using it to improve our games. It's helped me stay in the game for as long as I've gotten to stay in,” he said.
But McCullough says that even though the tools and toys have changed, the game remains the same.
“ I think the things that are gonna win and lose games are the same, handling the baseball defensively, running the bases intelligently and aggressively. It's still gonna come down to can you hit a fastball? Can you catch the ball? Can you throw strikes? But I think we're at a point now where we have information that may guide you to maximizing and showing someone what they're really good at,” he said.
Just a few hours after Marlins batter Jesus Sanchez took his practice swings, he was the first to face the real life Brown as the team took on the Cubs on a 'Bark at the Park' night at LoanDepot Park in May.
He smashed Bown's fastball 410 feet over the right centerfield wall for a home run. Up next was rookie Agustin Ramirez — he too saw Brown's fastball and sent it over the wall.
That 2-0 lead dissipated. But with the Marlins trailing 6-7 and down to their final out, Sanchez again stepped in and drove in the winning two runs with a double down the right field line. The Marlins won 8-7.
