For St. Louis Cardinals, technology brings new organizational approach to hitting
In: wearable technology, consistent angle of attack, doing damage.
Out: Batting donuts, choking up, juicing your batting average at all costs.
Welcome to the new era of hitting, St. Louis Cardinals style.
Following a season in which hitting coach Jeff Albert led the Cardinals to the bottom of the National League in most offensive categories and the postseason concluded with a dull thud rather than the crack of bats, the organization has used the winter to further integrate the philosophies of Albert and new minor league hitting coordinator Russ Steinhorn.
“It’s definitely a new concept,” said Cardinals prospect third baseman Nolan Gorman. “The whole launch angle and everything like that ... it’s not really about the launch angle. It’s more of just your attack angles and on-plane efficiency, stuff like that.
“You get measured by a little sensor on your bat. Having those numbers and being able to see them and do drills to see if they’re improving and whatnot is pretty key to see if you’re moving in the right direction. That part is pretty exciting for us.”
Gorman spent a week of his offseason at Driveline Baseball in Seattle, learning about some of the technological innovations in the game and ways he might be able to integrate them to his approach. Those tools are compatible with the tools used at the Cardinals’ complex in Jupiter, Fla. and at Gorman’s home near Phoenix.
“I’ve used Blast for awhile,” Gorman said. “The new stuff like Rapsodo – it tracks your ball, and spin, and hard-hit, and whatever. K-vest is another one to see how you’re moving your body, efficiently, and I kind of got into it up in Seattle up in Driveline this offseason.”
Each company Gorman named has developed its own proprietary tools for measuring a player’s ability to do the simplest and most difficult thing in sports — hit a round ball with a round bat. Decades of evolution and a competitive marketplace have pushed the game to change, by some estimates, more rapidly than in its history.
“I feel like the game has changed more in the past five years, technically, measurably, analytically and progressively in a lot of different areas than it has and you could argue cumulatively than it has in the previous 145 or so,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said.
Shildt and his staff — headed by Albert and Steinhorn — have been working to introduce modern innovations and integrate technological developments into their offensive curriculum throughout the minor leagues. That integration has required communication, which Shildt views as an organizational strong point.
“We’re a living organism,” Shildt said. “We wanted this thing — us and how we work together with all of the support staff that exists in our baseball world, baseball development and performance and obviously field and all the technology and measurables that are out there. It’s important that we are able to communicate more together.
“We were able to get some good honest feedback from players about what that looks like for them, what that looks like for us, and continue to work to get that to be a more consistent area where everybody is working together and hearing everyone, which they are.”
Shildt made reference to the addition of Patrick “Packy” Elkins as a “concierge” to the players in the organization, guaranteeing that players have comfort with adding new technological aspects to their games and integrating the feedback and data from those measuring tools into their preparation.
Elkins, 32, is a former Cardinals draft pick who played in the minor leagues as recently as 2012. That gives him closer proximity to the game than other staff members, and allows him to serve as an effective bridge.
“We’ve been very very intentional — that’s the best word that comes to mind — about our individual and overall holistic approach to our offense,” Shildt said.
“There’s a learning curve to things. Offensively, we’re working through and still exploring — individually, collectively — how we’re competing. And we spent a lot of time working on it.”
Gorman, who doesn’t turn 20 until May, is likely to spend a large part of 2020 as one of the youngest players in the double-A Texas League. His journey represents the new way forward, and he joined the club on the verge of a sea change in approach. In many ways, his path is unique in the short term and will evolve into one to follow, as his skill and potential guide him to rarified air.
“Game and practice are two different things,” Gorman said. “It’s hard sometimes to go into a game not thinking about things. It’s kind of something that you have to learn to do. As you get older, you definitely learn to do that better.
“But yeah, when it’s game time, you’re in compete-mode and you’re playing to beat the other guy. He’s obviously got to throw the ball over the plate, and you’ve got put a good swing on it. Trusting your ability and trusting what you have is key.”
Round ball. Round bat. Wearable technology won’t change that.
