Kinematic Models For Pitch Location Metrics in Professional Baseball Pitchers

Consistency and accuracy in pitch location is paramount for professional baseball pitchers, however, the contribution of individual kinematic parameters is poorly understood. Professional baseball pitchers (n = 322) were instructed to throw 8-12 fast balls while assessed with motion-capture technology (480 Hz); pitch location was tracked by coaching staff. Elastic net regression with automated parameter optimization was utilized to model the consistency and accuracy of each pitch with a random forest model implemented to assess feature importance.