New York Mets Hope Innovative Pitching Machine Can Continue Renaissance 2022 Season

To not miss an episode of the FUTRSPRT Podcast with Bram Weinstein, feel free to subscribe here.

By Simon Ogus

Follow on Twitter: @SimonOgus/@FutrSprt

Follow on LinkedIn: FUTRSPRT

We are about ⅓ the way through the MLB season and the chances for a Subway Series for a World Series seemingly are growing week by week. Perhaps unsurprisingly the New York Mets have established themselves as an NL favorite after new owner Steve Cohen has spent large sums of money upgrading the roster after taking over in 2020.

But my focus today is what Cohen bought to help the Mets off the field, specifically a new-age pitching machine that he hopes will continue to help their surging offense. According to the Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez, the new machine that they recently purchase can replicate the delivery of any pitcher that is inputted. That means if they are facing Clayton Kershaw that night they can enter the specifics from his windup and then face simulated pitches with his motion in a matter of minutes.

Chavez also said this technology is still very new and only currently used by three or four teams. Given that it is still very early on in the adoption, MLB has placed limitations on the technology and rules state that it can only be used pregame and all machines have to be put away once the game starts. Given the Mets have the 2nd-best offense in the league after being in the middle of the pack last year, it shows the machine is paying dividends.

While pitching machine technology hasn’t evolved much in many decades, having a static motion in today’s current MLB doesn’t seem to make sense on its surface. In the age of many relief changes in the later innings, one at-bat can be against a submarine motion righty and the next could be against a more traditional motion lefty. While a pitching machine has stayed static, these at-bats are completely different in the approach.

That is why I feel like this tailored technology in baseball and in other sports will continue to evolve and the teams that don’t adopt will continue to fall behind. This pitching machine my guess will be just the first initial step of this process.