DVS Baseball to Present at 2020 SABR Analytic Conference

Written By DVS Baseball

On March 13th, DVS Baseball will travel to Phoenix, AZ to present their research in the pitching delivery at the 2020 SABR Analytic Conference. The SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) Analytics Conference brings together the top minds in the baseball analytics community to discuss, debate and share insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball.

DVS Baseball will be presenting “Using Pitching Mechanics Analytics to Predict Injury and Improve Performance”. Below is an abstract of the presentation.

Baseball pitching imposes significant stress on the upper extremity and can lead to injury. In 2019 alone, MLB teams spent over $390M on pitchers while on the injured list for a total of 22,700 days missed.  Many studies have attempted to predict injury through pitching mechanics, most of which have used laboratory setups that are often not practical for population-based analysis. This presentation will detail the findings of a study that sought to predict injury risk in professional baseball pitchers using a statistical model based on video analysis evaluating delivery mechanics in a large population. This model can be used to assess injury risk of professional pitchers and can be potentially expandedmay be expanded to assess injury risk in pitchers at other levels. 

 This methodology has been applied to the United Shore Professional Baseball League, USPBL.  The United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL) is an independent professional baseball league in metro Detroit, MI and provides baseball development opportunities for former college and minor league players to sign with an MLB organization.  The delivery mechanics analysis methods of the above studyA systematized pitching development program derived from this analysis of pitching delivery mechanics have has been implemented for all teams in the USPBL, and. Tthe league also uses pitching mechanical score s analytics as one factor in making player-personnel decisions.  This presentation will also explore the impact of this system and discuss some research findings from on the pitchers in the USPBL which including has led to increased arm health, more innings pitched, increased velocity, and over 35 USPBL players signing with MLB teams since the league’s inception in 2016.

Over the last two years, DVS Baseball has increased the data set of pitchers to include all pitchers to pitch in Major League Baseball since 2018 and continues to find correlations between health and performance using the DVS Injury Risk Model.

DVS Baseball

DVS Baseball, which stands for Delivery Value System, was created in light of the current epidemic of throwing-related injuries in the game of baseball.  The surgery rate among pitchers has continued to rise over the past decade due to various culture-related factors, including an increased emphasis on throwing velocity, college scholarships, and year-round playing.  In an effort to find answers as to why some pitchers get hurt and others do not, we began a formal study that analyzed mechanical patterns from past and current MLB Pitchers. Our research, now published in Orthopedics Medical Journal, continues to evolve to help MLB Organizations understand a pitcher’s true value. Additionally, we implement the DVS Baseball pitching development program for pitchers to extend their longevity, decrease injury risk, and maximize performance in games. .

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