Mustangs step up to the plate with baseball analytics technology
Like all sports, one of the most important aspects of baseball is improvement, and providing players with data and statistics is one way to help them do so.
Cal Poly Baseball is doing exactly that, by adopting a groundbreaking in-stadium statistical system called KinaTrax.
The KinaTrax statistics system consists of multiple synchronized cameras capturing high speed video that zooms closely in on pitchers and hitters.
The video offers data that will help players learn how their body is moving and functioning, and how they can improve various aspects of their game.
Seth Moir is the pitching coach for Cal Poly Baseball. He’s excited about the competitive advantage that KinaTrax can give the baseball program.
“We’re going to have as good of understanding about our players as any team in the country and really at any level,” Moir said.
The coach also feels strongly that the implementation of KinaTrax speaks to the goal of what Cal Poly Baseball wants to achieve as a collegiate baseball program on the West Coast.
“We want to be the best team in the country, we want to be the most advanced team in the country and I think this helps us out, being that there are only a few teams that have something like this in place,” he said.
Cal Poly is just the seventh NCAA baseball program in the country to adopt KinaTrax, and it’s not just coaches like Moir who are excited for what the data has to offer. Players are also looking forward to the benefits KinaTrax can provide.
Tanner Sagouspe is a right handed pitcher for Cal Poly. Sagoupse is excited to take a deeper dive into his game using this technology, and seeing how it can help him improve as a player.
“Being able to understand what you need to work on, and being able to understand like hey, this is where I’m efficient, these are my weaknesses, how can I better enhance those,” Sagouspe said.
Chris Downs, who also pitches for Cal Poly, feels that KinaTrax is just another reason why he thinks Cal Poly is a great school for collegiate baseball.
“We have the cool clubhouse, cool facilities, field’s great, weightroom’s great,” Downs said. “So it’s already a great place to be. Now adding this is adding another step to developing into a better baseball school overall.”
The new KinaTrax system comes from the generous donors for Cal Poly Baseball, who continue to support the program.
“They’re all in for being able to raise that money to help us get this technology and eventually get Cal Poly back on the map as a top team in the country,” Sagouspe said.
Now that KinaTrax is fully installed at Baggett Stadium, Cal Poly Baseball is excited to start collecting and utilizing the data the system offers, to elevate their players and their program.
“This is a very big acquisition for us, so for us we are going to utilize it as much as physically possible,” Moir said.
