Wetmore: Twins forward-thinking approach to medical technology

[Seth Stohs]

1500 ESPNs Derek Wetmore had a chance to talk to several with the Twins about some technologies, including a "sports bra" that they hope to use to be ahead of the game one this research.

 

 

“The unit has a GPS and it has an accelerometer in it, so I can tell how fast a guy explodes over and over and over again over the course of time,” said Perry Castellano, the Twins’ strength and conditioning coach. “We’re looking for biomechanical fatigue.”

 

Wetmore was told that between two and four teams have purchased the Catapult system. What the medical staff wants to be able to do is quantify various things in an attempt to keep players on the field.

 

 

 

“If we can’t quantify that number, then I’m just a whacko strength coach and we’re just guessing,” Castellano said. “We want to be objective.”

“What can I do to quantify volume [of work] over the course of time?” Castellano asked. “Because when you ask the average guy ‘How many swings did you take? How many ground balls did you take? How many pitches did you throw today?’ They’re never right on.”

 

Very interesting stuff throughout. In typical Terry Ryan fashion, when the medical staff came to him about this, he said, "Can it make us better? If so, let's get it." 

[Thrylos]

FWIW Catapult has been around for 10 years and according to their website they have 750 pro and amateur team clients.   So there are not in the bleeding edge of technology and the Twins are not early adopters here... 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

FWIW Catapult has been around for 10 years and according to their website they have 750 pro and amateur team clients.   So there are not in the bleeding edge of technology and the Twins are not early adopters here... 

Which the article clearly points out. The Twins appear to be at or near the front of its usage in MLB, though.

[Bob Sacamento]

About time, now the hard part is to decipher all the data, just like with the Trackman's exit velocity, spin rates, extension, perceived velocity.  The data is all out there, the hard part is figuring out what is useful and correlated.

 

Little tidbit, Aroldis Chapman throws hard that's well known but Carter Capps (who has to have TJ now) had a higher average perceived fastball at 101.52 mph due to his hop that gave him an increased extension (8.2 ft a near half foot higher than next his competitor) which in turn makes that fastball a lot faster (3.5 mph to be exact).  

[TheLeviathan]

Good to hear, I think this is one of the future "new wave" avenues of sports.  Maintaining the health of your investments has always been a bit under-emphasized statistically, I hope the Twins are out leading on this issue.

[diehardtwinsfan]

yeah, if they can reduce TJ surgeries, that would be a huge boon.

[markos]

The Twins have quietly been very good over the past few seasons at keeping their players healthy: http://www.hardballtimes.com/2015-disabled-list-information-and-a-little-more/

 

I'm very glad to see that they are exploring new ways to improve player health.

[Seth Stohs]

 

The Twins have quietly been very good over the past few seasons at keeping their players healthy: http://www.hardballtimes.com/2015-disabled-list-information-and-a-little-more/

 

I'm very glad to see that they are exploring new ways to improve player health.

 

Yes, there have been a lot of changes in the organization in the last several years. Medical has been better. They've come a long way in the statistical analytics area in the last 2-3 years. Their usage of things like Trackman and having video all over the minor leagues is great. 

 

Frankly, the whole concept that they're behind the curve on some of these things just isn't true. At worst, they're middle of the pack at this point.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Yes, there have been a lot of changes in the organization in the last several years. Medical has been better. They've come a long way in the statistical analytics area in the last 2-3 years. Their usage of things like Trackman and having video all over the minor leagues is great.

 

Frankly, the whole concept that they're behind the curve on some of these things just isn't true. At worst, they're middle of the pack at this point.

It's hard to get a read on the Twins in part because Ryan says stuff like he did in that article, which feeds the fire. They're also a closed mouth org much of the time.

 

Personally, that quote cracked me up but without the context of the article around it, Ryan would look stodgy.