Baltimore manager Buck Showalter receives regular calls from veteran Youth Hayden Hurst Jersey , out-of-work scouts looking for jobs.
Many are longtime baseball men who once hit the road to major league cities ahead of their clubs to offer detailed insight of upcoming opponents. Now, advance scouting for many teams has turned to technology: video from every angle and situation, and analytics.
r1;Advance scouting by humans is history,r1; said Bay Area-based Mets scout Shooty Babitt, who also works as an analyst on Oakland Athletics broadcasts. r1;Thank goodness Ir17;m a scout who evaluates talent. Advance guys prepare strategy.r1;
Showalterr17;s Orioles donr17;t have an advance scout working in the ballpark. Same goes for World Series champion Houston, Minnesota, the Angels, Oakland and others.
r1;Ir17;d like to know how many clubs have a human being advance anymore,r1; Showalter said.
With the push of a button, a hitter can watch video of every 2-2 breaking pitch Giants ace Madison Bumgarner has tossed, or flame-throwing Yankees closer Aroldis Chapmanr17;s tendencies with a man on base, or any other specific scenario that requires a closer look. Instead of hoping a scout saw that type of situation in the pitcherr17;s recent outings, there it is on a screen r11; sometimes even up to the minute as teams do their own version of advance scouting during a game to gauge what a hitter might see in an upcoming at-bat.
Clubs like the Ar17;s stopped using an advance scout on the road years ago as technology improved and so much data became readily available. While the cost savings might not be as significant as it would seem, many teams have used that money instead to invest in infrastructure, databases and other state-of-the-art systems to evaluate talent through strategic study.
Yet even with the trend toward video analysis, it doesnr17;t always provide a complete view of a player but rather glimpses of what he does.
r1;When Ir17;m looking at a pitcher, Ir17;m just looking at clips and pitches. I donr17;t see his body language in between, I donr17;t see if he wants to work really fast, we need to slow this guy down,r1; Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. r1;Therer17;s some little, subtle things that you may not see. r30; But we can get a lot done on video.r1;
San Diegor17;s advance scouting department works from video, staying in-house.
r1;We have advance scouts, not in the traditional sense,r1; Padres manager Andy Green said. r1;A lot (of teams) have migrated away from that traditional role. Therer17;s so much video I can watch every single throw that every outfielder makes. Therer17;s a camera angle on absolutely everything at this point in time. r30; You can see every single pitch from multiple camera angles, so you get a feel for a lot now that you didnr17;t used to be able to get a feel for. There was a point in time where that advance scout was sitting on signs trying to decipher what the signs were for other teams. That doesnr17;t happen as much anymore. Your17;re not finding them out that way.r1;
Still, certain organizations have stuck to traditional methods.
The Marlins use a combination, with president of baseball operations Michael Hill noting Miami has r1;a live advance scout to monitor things that the analytics donr17;t capture.r1;
Colorado manager Bud Black firmly believes in advance scouts and what they do to prepare a club r11; one working at San Franciscor17;s AT&T Park before the Rockiesr16; recent series.
r1;In this ballpark, in the stadium, in a seat, and maybe walking around different viewpoints Baker Mayfield Jersey Elite , too,r1; Black said. r1;I love the input from advance scouts.r1;
Black appreciates the human element these scouts offer r11; r1;Therer17;s some things that the television camera doesnr17;t pick up, right? And our guys keep an eye on thatr1; r11; and recommended keeping advance scouts when he got the Colorado job before the 2017 season.
Some players sense a difference.
Giants right fielder Andrew McCutchen indicated they might feel devalued because therer17;s less information on a player without those on-site scouts.
r1;Itr17;s all about what a computer can spit out and let you know. It makes the game a little more efficient and easier for people,r1; McCutchen said. r1;But in the midst of that, guys are losing an opportunity to be able to showcase what theyr17;re capable of doing. Itr17;s just the way itr17;s evolving in this game. Itr17;s just baseball and, honestly, life in general. Technology is just whatr17;s new, itr17;s whatr17;s going on that matters right now.r1;
The NBA is still heavily reliant on the advance scout who hops from city to city at a frenetic pace, and itr17;s something champion Warriors coach Steve Kerr still counts on as he and his staff must immediately get ready after a game for another opponent as soon as the very next night r11; or on short notice, like this year leading into the first round of the playoffs when there were several potential opponents as the regular season concluded.
Many baseball managers see both sides of the argument over having a scout in the stadium seats versus studying from afar.
r1;I think itr17;s how advance scouting has changed,r1; Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. r1;Some are still in the stands, truly the traditional advance scouting where theyr17;re in the stands following teams your17;re about to play. Some are more behind the scenes, video and analysis. Wer17;re on the latter side of that, so we donr17;t have a body in the stadium as much as we have an advance scouting department th Chicago Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish felt soreness in his troubled triceps tendon after a minor league rehabilitation start Monday night.
Darvish hasnr17;t pitched in the majors since May 20 because of right triceps tendinitis. The Japanese ace threw five sharp innings for Class A South Bend.
r1;In the triceps therer17;s likeliness to get more fatigue there, especially if therer17;s a long gap between innings,r1; Darvish said through a translator while wearing ice packs on his right shoulder and right elbow. r1;Thatr17;s when I feel fatigue there. Not necessarily pain, but I canr17;t for sure say there is nothing going on in the tricep zone.r1;
Darvish, who pitched a simulated game last week in Chicago, was set to rejoin the Cubs in Los Angeles on Tuesday. He said his performance was r1;not perfect.r1;
r1;I will be flying into LA and wer17;ll be discussing more about the future schedule,r1; Darvish said. r1;Itr17;s not up to me to decide. The coaches and manager will have to watch the (reha game and decide. Itr17;s not anything bad. Anyone comes off DL goes through this.r1;
r1;Itr17;s day by day,r1; he said. r1;It differs. I had some anxiety coming into this game as I did in the sim game. The goal today was to pitch through four innings and not have to cut it short early because of pain.r1;
Darvish allowed one run and three hits r11; a solo homer by Joey Morgan and two doubles r11; against West Michigan in the Midwest League game. He struck out five, walked none and threw 57 pitches, 41 for strikes.
r1;He could be back by the end of the week,r1; Cubs manager Joe Maddon said at Dodger Stadium before Darvish had completed his outing. r1;He is pitching right now. He is doing really well. He is throwing a lot of strikes. His fastball has been good and his breaking ball has been good so he is getting really close.r1;
The 6-foot-5 Darvish, who signed a $126 million, six-year contract as a free agent in the offseason, has struggled to a 1-3 record with a 4.95 ERA in eight games. Her17;s twice been on the disabled list, the first time for flu.
Darvish threw an assortment of pitches, with his fastball reaching 94 mph. He ended the fourth with a 62 mph slow curve to strike out a completely fooled Reynaldo Rivera and received high-fives from his teammates when he reached the dugout.
game and decide. Itr17;s not anything bad. Anyone comes off DL goes through this.r1;