The Dodgers unfortunately knocked my Atlanta Braves out of the playoffs in October, and their third baseman Max Muncy says AI is “becoming way more and more prevalent” in baseball. Teams can feed pitch data into AI systems that notice tiny differences in the angle of a catcher’s glove or a pitcher’s hand, arming the batting team with tells that give away what pitch is coming next. First and third base coaches have started spotting and relaying those glove and hand tells to hitters.
In the NLDS, Padres closer Mason Miller blew a save after fans online accused him of tipping his slider. Miller denied it: “I’ve pitched with guys at second base all year.”
A runner reading a pitcher from second base has always been fair game. A camera in center field got the Astros fined $5 million. MLB blocked AI help on dugout iPads in July. AI that studies hours of video before the game hasn’t been ruled on yet.
This was originally posted as a New Arrival in Queue the Agents · The Catalog · №010, an issue of my weekly newsletter The Catalog. You can Subscribe for weekly insights, or get in touch to talk about what this means for your business.