gameSense Offers Minor Leaguers Free Access to Pitch-IQ App
By Joe Lemire
Pitch recognition app gameSense is offering minor leaguers free access to its Pitch-IQ app during the Covid-19 lockdown. Seven MLB organizations have taken advantage of this Safe-At-Home program that began in April.
The foundation for gameSense is 1970s-era research into anticipatory behavior based on early visual cues. The app shows a pitcher wind up and release the ball—then goes black at the moment a hitter must decide whether to swing. Hitters using the gameSense pitch-occlusion platform have shown statistically significant improvements in their on-base and slugging percentages.
“Pitchers can keep throwing to stay sharp,” gameSense co-founder Peter Fadde writes in an email. “But what about hitters? We’re giving them a way to help stay sharp for when games start.”
In April, the minor league hitters completed 1,236 drills. Each drill consists of 10 pitches, meaning the players logged about 3,500 virtual at bats. Fadde plans to compile a new research report based on those activities.