Illini Baseball Team Putting Analytics to Work

Illini Baseball Team Putting Analytics to Work

The Illinois baseball team's data analytics team is a young work in progress happening in Champaign, Illinois. "We're trying to get better data, more precise data," said graduate student Kameron Wells, who works with data analytics for every Illini sports programs. How do they collect data in college baseball? Charlie Young, a sophomore studying computer science and astronomy say's they use a small box mounted to a tripod called FlightScope. Young says the Illini baseball team hopes it will revolutionize its data collection and use of analytics. The hurdle Wells and Young face are getting the machine to work properly one hundred percent of the time. The metal poles holding up the netting behind home plate cause interference with the machine's ability to track hits and pitches. The data that that the machine does pickup, however, has always proven useful, and its utility should only continue to grow over time. 

Emeritus professor Alan Nathan also helps the boys with his well-known studies in the physics of baseball. "I got the idea that, you know, the University of Illinois baseball team is sort of stuck in the Dark Ages," Nathan said. Nathan also claims that Illinois has one of the best computer science departments in the country and he believes there is an army of undergraduate students who would love to get involved and help. 

Kenley Jansen says that it has already helped with the spin rate of his pitches.  "It's really helped me to figure out what's a good time to modify it to get more spin or less spin." Coaches say its helped them create a scouting report before a weekend series. Wells and Young both hope that one day they can take their analytical skills to the MLB.

By Ryker Theisen