This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding's Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
PHILADELPHIA -- When Rockies hitters step into the batter¡¯s box against the Athletics¡¯ Osvaldo Bido in Friday's home opener, the sight should be familiar.
This will be the first season that Colorado will be using the Trajekt Arc pitching machine, a state-of-the-art training tool that can use data and video to allow hitters to ¡°see¡± a specific pitcher throw to them a specific pitch that acts like it would in an actual game.
The Rockies started using the Canada-based Trajekt Arc in Spring Training at their performance lab, before the machine was moved to Coors Field.
¡°I love it, man,¡± said third baseman Ryan McMahon, who said he saw immediate benefits in terms of good Spring Training at-bats. ¡°If I¡¯m up with runners in scoring position, sometimes it may take the first two pitches to get accustomed to everything. This takes that out and you¡¯re ready to go from pitch one.¡±
The Rockies will be happy to meet up again with Trajekt Arc, since they need the help. They batted .196 and had a 33 percent strikeout rate as a team while going 1-5 on their season-opening road trip against the Rays and the Phillies.
There are as many methods for training as there are players.
¡°Some guys choose to just track pitches, which helps them see the pitch a little longer,¡± center fielder Brenton Doyle said. ¡°But if I¡¯m going to have to try to hit it in a game, I¡¯m going to try to hit it in the cage. That¡¯s the mindset I have.¡±
The counterpoint would be to simply track pitches and not swing at balls the virtual pitcher doesn¡¯t want you to hit, and save swings for the confidence-building exercise of batting practice.
¡°You would think that with a projection of a pitcher you should be in there all day,¡± first baseman Michael Toglia said. ¡°But in my opinion it¡¯s easy to wear my feels out and swing myself into a funk.¡±
Hitting coach Hensley Meulens, who was with the Yankees when that team installed machines at all its affiliates a few years back, said there are ways to manipulate it as a teaching tool. This spring, No. 17 prospect Sterlin Thompson was repeatedly missing a pitch. Then, Meulens tweaked the pitch slightly. After that, Thompson had a visual of when the pitcher threw too good a pitch to swing at, and when he made a mistake.
Last season, MLB approved the use of such technology during games. A hitter could dash to the batting tunnel, face the other team¡¯s pitcher, then rush to the on-deck circle and face him during the game. Now, 26 of the 30 teams have entered lease agreements with Trajekt Sports -- which has partnered with Rapsodo, a sports data company that all teams use.
¡°There are other machines out there that do spin rates and different things, but this one adjusts and you get a visual image of the pitcher,¡± said Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt, who pushed the decision to bring in the machine. ¡°The guys have enjoyed it so far.¡±
It¡¯s not feasible for the machine to be taken on the road because of its size and the need to recalibrate it if it is moved. The Rockies are calling for a requirement that each team that has a machine must also provide one for the visitor.