MLB debuts Statcast-driven viewing for Yankees-Red Sox
MLB.com is introducing a technologically-advanced way of watching baseball.
During Friday's game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, MLB Plus debuted as a way for stat-rats to follow the metrics of the game.
MLB Plus will be available as a companion to each MLB Network Showcase game this year, and it will be available during Saturday's Yankees-Red Sox matchup.
For example, Alex Rodriguez's 691st career home run in the second inning came off the bat at an exit velocity of 107.7 mph, travelling 425 feet. But as quick as that may be, Starlin Castro's triple later that inning was just over 109 mph.
The difference, Statcast says, was in the launch angle. A-Rod's blast traveled at a 26.8-degree angle.
Later in the second inning, Brock Holt gunned Castro at the plate from left field, releasing the ball at 93 mph - the second hardest of his career.
These stats go on for every swing, ball that leaves the hand, and any conceivable angle the ball can be hit, or thrown from.