Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Braves Foundation say they will work with Missouri-based Rapsodo, a sports data company that gives athletes real-time performance metrics, to help underserved players across the Southeast improve their skills.
Rapsodo says that they will be offering pitching, hitting, and other testing platforms “to increase exposure to recruiters for potential scholarship and recruiting opportunities” for those at colleges traditionally overlooked.
10 Southeast HBCUs will have access to Rapsodo’s various analytics materials, including Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Alcorn State University, Clark Atlanta University, Florida A&M University, Grambling State University, Jackson State University, Morehouse College, Southern University, and Tuskegee University.
Seth Daniels, Director of Diamond Sports at Rapsodo, gave Hypepotamus some insight into the startup and the new deal with the Braves.
Q: For those unfamiliar, what sort of sports analytics are collected through Rapsodo? How does Rapsodo work with emerging talent and their coaches?
Rapsodo is a sports technology company that specializes in ball flight measurement for baseball, softball, and golf using an integrated camera and radar technology.
For baseball, Rapsodo focuses on hitting and pitching measurements. On the pitching side, some of the key measurements are velocity, spin rate, spin efficiency, movement, location, and release parameters. Baseball players of all ages use Rapsodo’s Pitching 2.0 technology to help build their arsenals and ‘design’ pitches to create the best possible pitch for their skillset. From the hitting perspective, we focus on the batted ball measurements such as exit velocity, launch angle and direction, and the spin of the batted ball. The Hitting 2.0 (and the pitching for that matter) can be used indoors in a batting cage or outdoors on a field.
Rapsodo is used by all 30 MLB clubs and thousands of colleges, academies, and high school programs across the country. There are thousands of coaches that have become Rapsodo Certified and use the monitors to help educate and train athletes from youth to elite-level prospects.
Q: On a high level, how does your platform work?
Rapsodo uses a camera and radar integration that allows our monitors to track the ball throughout the duration of its flight and measure its velocity, launch points, and spin-related parameters. That monitor is connected to an iPad using a wireless signal and your data will appear immediately after the hit or pitch occurred onto the Rapsodo App. Users can collect high-speed video as well, using the iPad’s camera inside the app or Rapsodo’s high-speed cameras called Insight. Coaches and players can immediately see the measurements as well as 3D representations of the spinning ball and the trajectory it traveled.
Q: Has Rapsodo worked with other MLB franchises in the past or this partnership with the Braves unique?
We are fortunate to have established partnerships with all 30 MLB organizations and we have also partnered with eight different teams’ and their RBI Youth Academy to sponsor hardware for their academies to use.
The partnership with the Braves is unique, and largely due to the incredible work their Diversity Marketing program does for Atlanta and the surrounding ‘Braves Country’. They put an emphasis on growing the game within their region and have had a long-standing relationship with those HBCU programs. When they approached us about this opportunity it was a no-brainer for our team to want to be a part of spreading not only the game of baseball but an equal opportunity for all athletes. Using our technology, players get the opportunity to develop as an athlete, learn the technology, and get exposure when they otherwise might not have been seen.
