The MVP Machine: How Baseball's New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players

by Ben Lindbergh

At Driveline in the winter of 2015–2016, Boddy used the video to help Bauer design a spin axis that would maintain a smooth spot at the front of the ball—uninterrupted by seams in its rotation—throughout its flight to the plate. Using the Edgertronic to provide constant feedback as he experimented with different grips, Bauer built a reasonable facsimile of Maddux’s comeback two-seamer. It was a remarkably short period in which to acquire a skill that would be effective at the highest level of sports. Boddy believes that such rapid pitch acquisition will become the new norm. “Unbeknownst to me, multiple hitting coaches saw that video and then saw us develop the two-seam fastball and were like, ‘That is why hitters could be fucked for basically the next ten years if they’re finding out new ways to move the baseball,’” Boddy says. “And that’s true.”