Artificial Intelligence (AI) has seamlessly integrated itself into what seems to be every aspect of our lives. It continues to span across arenas such as finance, business, transportation, healthcare and manufacturing. However, AI has more recently established its presence in the domain of Major League Baseball (MLB). In the midst of a sport usually immersed in tradition, it is becoming increasingly ostensible that AI has arrived and is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
In baseball, unwise decisions, both on and off the field, can have cascading effects that diminish team performance, cost them money and result in lost games. Recognizing this, teams are beginning to embrace the scientific aspects of decision-making with AI being the latest employable tool.
This season, the MLB unveiled an alliance with Uplift Labs, a biomechanics company. Uplift Labs is a company confident in its ability to transform the images recorded by phone cameras into metrics capable of quantifying various aspects of player movement. The data produced is intended to identify a player’s weaknesses, predict their potential for future successes and foresee the likelihood of injury.
However, despite the presumed benefits associated with the league’s new partnership, there exists a deviation of opinions among agents regarding the new technology. For instance, some agents are skeptical to introduce their clients to technology that might adversely affect their draft standing, reduce their free-agent contract value, necessitate additional contract clauses or cause a team to overlook them altogether.
Leveraging the medium of mobile 3D motion capturing and using a pair of iPhones or iPads alongside a pair of tripods, Uplift Labs has crafted a product to emulate the offerings of other more elaborate camera configurations at a considerably reduced expense. As a result, I expect Uplift Labs technology, as well as the utilization of AI in general, will soon evolve into a “must have” for analyzing player potential and injury susceptibility within college, high school, private academies and even Little League contexts.
Amid ongoing discussions regarding the rise of elbow and shoulder injuries in both professional and youth baseball, the question emerges: Could artificial intelligence offer the solution to reverse this concerning trend? This proposition holds a very persuasive appeal, considering that the expansion of accessible data appears to present more benefits than drawbacks. At present, European soccer has surged ahead with great success in generating novel player data sources designed for utilization with AI injury prediction models.
As a baseball enthusiast, current strength and conditioning coach and a student who is enrolled in higher education to study sports psychology, I am an advocate for any mechanism that has the potential to contribute to the sustained well-being of ballplayers. This includes AI, particularly, if it means keeping them off the operating table and out of the physical therapy clinic. This will do wonders not just for their physical health, but also their mental and emotional well-being. Thereby, I endorse Uplift Lab’s vision and commend their approach to not only introducing AI to the realm of baseball, but also doing so in a manner that ensures affordability when compared to their competitors. This enables a wide swath of individuals from multiple economic backgrounds to reap its advantages.
However, I suggest that we exercise caution and keep in mind that while AI is an exceptional and innovative tool, it remains just one dimension within a comprehensive array of metrics used in player development and injury prevention. As almost all MLB scouts and performance coaches would acknowledge, elbow and shoulder injuries can arise from an array of factors that extend beyond just technique. Considerations such as overuse, genetics, bone density, axial skeleton structure, prior injuries and limitations in strength and/or mobility can play significant roles and should be acknowledged. These are elements that AI alone might struggle to quantify.
AI, while potent, occupies one space within the multidimensional realm of player development and injury prevention, indicating that its contributions, while valuable, must be integrated into the broader tapestry of a holistic perspective.
Barrett Snyder is a WCUPA graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Exercise Science with a specialization in Sports Psychology. JS1030435@wcupa.edu.