Revisiting The Future
A place where technology drives behavior
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“What do tapeworms do,” my daughter, a first grader, asked me earlier this week.
“Cause severe nausea and abdominal pain in select fan bases and front offices,” I explained.
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The baseball news cycle has been churning incredibly fast this year. Managerial firings, nine-figure contract extensions, suspensions, unexpected winning streaks, and a Triple Crown chase — time flies when there’s always a new story.
It’s been six weeks since the Futures Game took place as part of All-Star weekend. The week was planned by MLB to include the aforementioned prospect exhibition on Saturday, the first two rounds of the Draft on Sunday, the Home Run Derby on Monday, and the All-Star Game on Tuesday, with the remaining rounds of the draft also occurring on that Monday and Tuesday.
Imagine, for a moment, if the NBA made its draft part of the All-Star festivities. There’s not enough time — even in today’s media — to cover all the storylines. Why insist on showcasing the future while also celebrating the present?
So, in addition to pulling MLB team officials in multiple directions, the condensed schedule that packed in the Futures Game, the Draft, and the All-Star Game diluted the potential impact of each event.
Future features
The Futures Game has long been one of my favorite scouting opportunities. I was excited to be at Dodger Stadium for the contest, which has sadly become a mere opener for the celebrity softball game that follows.
The last time I was at a Futures Game was 2013, when it was at Citi Field. Some of the players that day included Christian Yelich, Byron Buxton, George Springer, and Noah Syndergaard — and that was just from the U.S. side.
The World team included Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and Miguel Sanó. It’s a lot of fun watching a game with so much talent.
These days, instead of choosing sides based on nationality, the teams are now split by league. The game itself, however, is only seven innings long, likely a decision influenced by time as much as available arms.
I’m not sure that MLB has figured out how to make the Futures Game financially worthwhile, even as the general public’s interest in prospects has grown substantially over the past 15 years.
Priority aside, Dodger Stadium proved an ideal venue for the game. Besides the picture-perfect SoCal setting, the ballpark boasts four recently installed high-frame-rate cameras that capture video at 300 frames per second. These cameras are currently only found at Minute Maid Park and at Dodger Stadium; their functionality is being tested at both locations.
Much of the research focuses on more accurate measures of bat speed. What surprised me, though, was the regular readings displayed around the stadium of batted ball exit velocities, distance, and speed of the ball thrown by fielders. Stadium displays are conditioning fans to place an emphasis on these metrics; sometimes these readings are easier to spot than the score or the count.
Are the players inspiring the technology or vice versa?
Masyn Winn, one of two Cardinals prospects in the NL’s starting lineup, took the field having been issued a challenge by minor league teammate and Futures Game third baseman Jordan Walker. After Pirates rookie shortstop Oneil Cruz uncorked a 96.7 MPH bullet that qualified as the fastest infield throw recorded in the Statcast era, Walker encouraged Winn to top it.
On a routine ground ball in the second inning, Winn did just that. He fielded the ball cleanly, gathered himself, loaded up and — with a head snap that would raise immediate red flags over any pitcher — fired the ball across the diamond at 100.5 MPH. In case you’re wondering, it still only counted as one out.
What didn’t count as one out, though, was his next attempt one inning later. On a routine grounder off the bat of Orioles prospect Gunnar Henderson, Winn rushed and his mechanics broke down. His throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. E-6.
The following batter, Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez, homered.
The stories after the game never mentioned Winn’s second attempt. He had set the record for a throw from the infield — triple digits! — and the people rejoiced.
I don’t think anyone asked pitcher Kyle Harrison, a prospect in the Giants organization, how he felt about the defense behind him during that inning.
Then again, a seven-inning exhibition with low attendance (the crowd really picked up around the ninth inning when fans began entering in advance of the celebrity softball game) isn’t encouraging clean baseball. It’s more of a slam-dunk contest.
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Winn, who was selected in the second round of the 2020 Draft out of Kingwood High School in Texas, is playing at 20 years old this season. He was a two-way prep player who may very well end up on the mound if his bat doesn’t pan out.
He was overmatched in the two at bats in the Futures Game, but they were against a 23-year-old who is in Triple-A (Hunter Brown of the Astros) and a 22-year-old with college experience (Ky Bush of the Angels).
Winn was promoted to Double-A in late May of this season, and he’s very young for the league. Again, this game is an exhibition, and it gives us a chance to see some unusual matchups.
As for the newfound data around the stadium, well, I found myself noting those metrics on certain well hit balls. There’s nothing wrong, I rationalized, with adding some objective numbers to my observations.
The trouble comes when the hand-selected data drives the narrative. Winn’s record-setting throw effectively pardoned the prospect industry from having to evaluate the player. Sure, it’s cool that he throws hard, but it’s cooler when the ball lands in the first baseman’s mitt.
The player just to Winn’s right, third baseman Jordan Walker, had a quiet day. Really, only so much usually happens over four innings and two plate appearances. But he could find himself back at Dodger Stadium before the end of the season.
Walker is a consensus top-10 prospect, and there’s a chance that he joins the first-place Cardinals when rosters expand in less than a week.
Another homegrown Red Bird poised to contribute to another postseason push in St. Louis. Maybe the future isn’t so different.
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