Sports

Actions

Changes coming to the grand ol' game of baseball

Hit Trax analytics equipment
Changes are coming to baseball
Posted at 7:51 PM, Aug 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-19 23:05:51-04

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — South Texas has always enjoyed success when it comes to baseball.

Year in and year out, area high school teams are serious threats to win state titles. We even had a local Little League team make it to the World Series in Williamsport, Pa., a few years back.

And now, there is more help on the way thanks to some new technology.

The game of baseball has become all about analytics and numbers. Every player with a stat that can be revealing of their talent and at the Gold Glove Baseball Academy they are using new technology to help their players grow.

America’s pastime, the age-old game of baseball is starting to change.

“When I played, we didn’t have indoor baseball facilities, indoor cages,” said Aaron Gonzalez of the Gold Glove Baseball Academy.

And a game thought to be stuck in the pat is starting to turn to technology to measure a player’s attributes.

“Exit velocity, batting average, hits, distance,” Gonzalez said

The Gold Glove Baseball Academy is turning a new piece of tech called Hit Trax. It’s a program designed to measure a batter’s key stats and identify areas to work on.

Players are all different. Different sizes, different heights , different weights, different power. So we are able to measure to see what works for the kids themselves.

Players are getting results faster than ever before.

“I get my feedback quick,” Gonzalez said. “Like once I hit, you get instant feedback.”

And quicker results leads to quicker progression.

They start increasing and getting a lot better as far as exit velocity and hits and average.

“I’ve seen a lot of progression from where I started and where I am at now,” said Roman Rodriguez of the Gold Glove Baseball Academy.

Players fortunate enough to use the technology believe they're ahead of the curve.

“I have a little bit more of an advantage having it, especially because I use it a little bit more and as you work like all the stuff stays with you for as long as you work and you can see your progress,” Rodriguez said.

And coaches are hoping to see this new technology help their players.

“As long as we just keep going up that is all we are working on, we are working on increasing every number that we can,” Gonzalez said.

And as we saw, it is used for softball as well as baseball and the technology is not just used for hitting, but catchers and pitcher use it as well.