SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Baseball has met big brother this spring.
“I remember the days in the minor leagues with VHS,” Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart said. “Here at this place, we have like 100 cameras watching. They don’t miss anything.”
Stewart was exaggerating. Barely. There are 16 cameras sprinkled throughout the Rockies’ new spring complex, including four in the bullpens and two in the batting cages.
The cameras are tools, not spies, allowing the team to expand its use of video because of the 100-seat theater room located just feet from the clubhouse.
“It was and will continue to be a huge factor in driving home points every single day,” manager Jim Tracy said. “We are showing the importance of each thing — how it helped us win games and or how it might have hurt us.”
The newfound emphasis on video instruction meshes with Tracy’s mantra this spring that no detail is too small. Before Monday’s 6-5 victory over the Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields, hitting instructor Carney Lansford turned professor. Video coordinator Brian Jones prepared snippets for Lansford showing the proper two-strike hitting approach.
Each of the 10 clips featured a base hit to the opposite field.
“It doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure. It’s one thing to talk about something, but when they show it on the screen, you can see exactly what you are doing or what they want you to do,” all-star shortstop Troy Tulo-witzki said. “I am guy who watches a lot of video anyway, so I see this as just another learning tool to help us get better.”
Players have been using video for years. The Rockies embraced technology earlier than others, loading players’ at-bats and pitches onto their iPods. What makes this approach different is the group setting. In past years, the Rockies had to turn a cubicle into a makeshift conference room at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson. They needed a shoehorn to fit a dozen players, and watching video on a TV wasn’t an option. The Rockies’ new theater room has a screen that drops down from the ceiling. The only thing missing is the popcorn machine.
Using more video makes sense. All the players have cellphones and most have iPads or laptops. The modern baseball player is a visual learner, more familiar with YouTube than Babe Ruth.
“They get us all together and make sure we are on the same page,” reliever Rafael Betancourt said. “When you are doing a drill, there are no excuses. You know exactly how they want it done.”
And why.
Each day, Tracy emphasizes a specific situation. Early in camp, when just pitchers and catchers were involved, the topics included fielding comebackers, slug bunts and pickoff plays. The video showed how the execution, or lack thereof, changed the outcome before the players set foot on the practice field.
In other words, the subsequent drills weren’t designed to work off calories or rust.
“It helps give a clear understanding of why something is important,” Jones said.
Most of Jones’ clips are from previous Rockies games. But that video library is expanding given the facility’s amenities. There are five cameras each on the major-league and minor-league fields. The bullpen cameras are an example of video’s growing role. After a pitcher throws his side session, he can walk off the mound and into a video room 5 feet away.
From his command center, Jones can make the video available to the pitcher immediately to discuss it with a coach. The same goes for hitters in two of the camera-equipped batting cages.
“The great thing is the opportunity to compare and contrast. You see something on the fields, and you can show them as a group or just show a player that this is what it looked like before and how it looks now,” Tracy said. “We know where we want to get with the player. With the video, we can really show we mean what we are talking about. This is a wonderful tool.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
