Stan Boroski on the Rays’ PITCHf/x Usage

Like most teams, the Tampa Bay Rays utilize PITCHf/x data. Stan Boroski, the club’s bullpen coach, looks at it every morning and, along with pitching coach Jim Hickey, uses the findings as an assessment tool. From time to time, what he sees elicits a call to action regarding a member of the pitching staff..

Boroski, currently in his sixth season with the Rays, and fourth in his current job, discussed Tampa Bay’s use of PITCHf/x on a recent visit to Fenway Park.

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Stan Boroski: “I look at everybody who pitched the night before and go to Jim with what I saw. If everything is within normal parameters, it’s usually just ‘So and so was good last night.’ Nothing is specifically dealt with unless something comes up that needs to be addressed.

“I usually don’t go to Kevin (Cash) unless it’s going to prompt doing something different with a pitcher, something he might need to change. That’s a pitching thing and something we normally don’t need to bother him with. But Kevin understands exactly what’s going on with our PITCHf/x stuff. It’s part of the process of how we evaluate, how we attack, and how we build our pitching. Being the manager, he’s obviously involved in all of that, and being a former catcher, he understands it very well. We’re always on the same page when we talk about it.

“Our catchers will be involved at times. Not so much mechanically — when we’re fixing what a guy is doing with his body – but we definitely use the PITCHf/x data with the catchers for how we sequence, and where they sit on certain types of pitches.

“I look at how (the data) compares to the pitcher’s previous outings, to see if there is anything trending one way or the other. It could lead to a mechanical adjustment or to a usage adjustment. There could be something going on fatigue-wise. We look for arm slot deviations and release points. We want to make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be.

“If we see two or three pitches that jump out as outliers, we’ll address it the next day. That’s whether it was an arm slot or pitches that really got off of the lines he’s usually on. Was there intent there? Was there not intent there?

“If we see it over several outings – if we see deviations in what the pitcher historically does – we’ll definitely address it. Sometimes it’s less positive, but just because pitches are outliers, or the movement starts to change a little bit, doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.

“Pitchers love it. Generally, if the f/x data is positive, that’s a reinforcement of what they’re doing. Whatever they felt like – whatever their body felt like and whatever their rhythm and timing felt like on that particular night – is something to remember. They might want to go back and watch that one on film and see exactly how things were working. And if things were down a little bit, they will generally tell you, ‘Yeah, I felt that,’ or ‘It didn’t feel as good and I knew it wasn’t as good.’

“When we go to them with data, it’s something other than saying ‘I think this.” It’s ‘This is what happened.’ The camera showed it and it’s hard to argue with something that’s already happened. Arguing with it would be like saying 2+2 isn’t 4. Yes it is.

“This is what your pitches do. This is what they’re doing when you’re most effective, and if we start getting outside of that… why are we doing that? Are the hitters forcing us to adjust to something? Is there something physically going on? Are you tired? What were you trying to do? Were you overdoing it or under doing it? We make our adjustments from that.”