Web based PITCHf/x tool help/comment page

Here is the help/comment page for the web based PITCHf/x tool. If you have any comments please add them to the bottom of this post.

First, let me just make sure everyone is aware of what the PITCHf/x system is. PITCHf/x by sportvision is a system of tracking the ball as it travels to home plate with two cameras. The cameras take a bunch of pictures of the ball in flight and then sends the data to MLB who puts it online for users to see. The data is in a messy form and needs corrections and pitch classifications before the data can really be used. That is why I made the web based tool for anyone to use.

So the first few things the tool will ask you for are simple things like the name of the pitcher and batter. The only restriction is you must put in either a pitcher or a batter (or put in both). Sadly, less than a quarter of all pitches were tracked this year so if you put in certain pitcher/batter match ups it will come back with no results. If that happens please try again.

After you have entered the pitcher/batter it will ask you for the type of pitch, the result of the pitch, and the count. When you start try leaving these blank to see what a certain pitcher throws then you can go back and focus on only one type of pitch for instance. If you feel a certain pitcher stuff isn't being represented correctly please comment below.

Next, options are available to cut on things like pitch speed, and horizontal and vertical movement. All horizontal measurements have negative numbers as moving in towards a right handed batter. Speed is measured in MPH and movement in inches.

Lastly, either the location of the pitch or the break of the pitch is shown. The location is simply where the ball crossed home plate. The break is how the ball moved in comparison to a ball thrown without spin. So if there was no spin the ball would end up at (0,0) on the graph.

Please note that sometimes the image posted will be the previous inputed image from your web browser's cache. This is because it takes the tool a few seconds to produce it's result and some times your impatient browser will just use the previous image. If this happens please press reload.

There are still a few issues including not allowing you to cut on the date. This is something that will be including but I am having trouble with it in my database. Also, I am having a bit of trouble with the spin and direction so sorry that didn't make it. It will be coming soon though. Also, the release point will become an option to plot and cut on and an extended table with some league averages will be in the next version. Lastly, the biggest issue is when you make a selection and it run it doesn't store your selection to allow you to alter your query quickly. This is very annoying but hard to fix on my end. I'll have a solution by the next update. If you press the back button hopefully your browser will remember your options but that is an imperfect solution.

If you would like to use any of the plots you make go ahead just add a link to the tools webpage, this page, or the hardballtimes article.

A big thanks to my beta testing team Mark (TigsTown.com), Lee (www.detroittigertales.blogspot.com), and the guys at nomaas.org. Sorry for the slow posting of this. Hopefully the next version will be available before Christmas.