Tampa Bay Rays: Embracing a New Level of Analytics
During spring training, some Tampa Bay Rays players are wired for performance upgrades
Analytics departments across MLB have become a standard a part of major league front offices. Which is why it is such a surprise when a team doesn’t have one. The Tampa Bay Rays, however, may be taking the concept up a notch this spring.
In spring games, some Rays players have been outfitted with sensor equipment that provides individualized performance data on a variety of biometrics. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the equipment includes a GPS recording of every movement the player makes…and how quickly it’s made.
The downside: The GPS and related sensors are contained on a vest that amounts to an additional layer of underwear. The upside: Players and coaches get individualized readouts on such factors as reaction and acceleration rates.
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The Tampa Bay Rays are hardly alone in the effort to both advance their own knowledge and their players’ acceptance of the value of analytics. But they have gone all-in, to the extent of hiring a director of performance science.
Joe Myers fills that position, leading a staff of five. He believes the data he mines can both improve player health and also provide data that will enhance the ability of coaches to make their cases.
He describes it as “trying to provide another set of eyes or cameras or these other technologies to be able to …provide another tool for the staff.”
The Times says the department’s tools go well beyond GPS vests to include devices based on technology used for ballistic missile tracking. It includes a bat-fitting system, Trackman systems that provide data on ball flight, and more extensive use of medical-related items such as heart monitors and vision testing tools.
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Like players everywhere, the Rays’ uniformed personnel remains in the process of buying in. An increasing number, however, have. Reliever Emilio Pagan describes it as “very impressive and stuff that can help guys as long as they’re open and willing.”