Gunner Leger Back on Board

[Turbine]

Anybody know?

Kinda in the dark on this but if he isn't coaching the pitchers, this whole move makes less sense.

It makes tremendous sense if he is coaching regardless of the job name.

I fully expect Gunner to be coaching, between games for sure.

But to be honest I'm kinda in the dark on this.

[Big Poppa]

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns are reportedly bringing back former pitcher Gunner Leger as pitching coach. Continue reading…

The rest of the story
ESPN 1420

Pitching and Analytics coach. What exactly does the analytics part do? What all will be his role in that title?

[Turbine]

Pitching and Analytics coach. What exactly does the analytics part do? What all will be his role in that title?

We are embedded in an era of twisted feel good titles.

I think good analytics need to come before any coaching.

[CrazyCajun]

We are embedded in an era of twisted feel good titles.

I think good analytics need to come before any coaching.

Analytics is ruining coaching, every decision is on a spread sheet.

[Turbine]

Analytics is ruining coaching, every decision is on a spread sheet.

"Anylitics" is just another twisted feel good title for somthing that has always existed.

You don't think coaches have ALWAYS analyzed what a player was doing right or wrong before coaching them up?

The problem is coaches who take the title a tad too serious.

[Boomer]

Analytics is ruining coaching, every decision is on a spread sheet.

…..well before analytics there was really good scouting…..so now you know what hitters are good or bad at in certain situations against certain pitches ( gotta take that in for all it worth)……but the pitching staff knows what a pitcher’s strength is in certain situations (a so/so fastball but great junk)……now the call is made and it can be because of the weakness of a hitter’s batting or the great abilities in some areas of the pitcher……but wait, we did this in 1962 at the American Legion World Series….what the pitch would be, if it was easy to pull, and how we adjusted alignment in the field!

[CajunVic]

I think this guy has got it . . .But no one will ever really know . . . that is what you want out of a pitching coach . . .

[CrazyCajun]

"Anylitics" is just another twisted feel good title for somthing that has always existed.

You don't think coaches have ALWAYS analyzed what a player was doing right or wrong before coaching them up?

The problem is coaches who take the title a tad too serious.

That’s not the analytics I’m taking about, its coaching based off of numbers and percentages. It’s like they turned the go for 2 sheet into a game philosophy

[CrazyCajun]

…..well before analytics there was really good scouting…..so now you know what hitters are good or bad at in certain situations against certain pitches ( gotta take that in for all it worth)……but the pitching staff knows what a pitcher’s strength is in certain situations (a so/so fastball but great junk)……now the call is made and it can be because of the weakness of a hitter’s batting or the great abilities in some areas of the pitcher……but wait, we did this in 1962 at the American Legion World Series….what the pitch would be, if it was easy to pull, and how we adjusted alignment in the field!

That’s smart coaching but analytics has bled into every part of the game across all sports. Coaches will do things their gut is telling them not to do bc the numbers tell them to. When questioned after it fails, “well if you look at the numbers” happens all the time.

[sportsfanatic21]

I don’t know what exactly is meant by the title, but Wake Forest, who led the NCAA in pitching by a MILE, has implemented a very intricate analytics approach with their pitchers.

They study things with different arm slots, spin rates from different arm slots, etc to maximize what pitches each guy should throw and from the best corresponding arm slot to make them successful. It’s the same premise that the Astros have used with their pitchers for the last 6-7 years. “Tunneling” being a catch phrase, meaning being able to throw multiple different types of pitches from the same “tunnel” or arm slot, to make initial pitch recognition as difficult as possible. And analyzing data (spin rate, movement, vertical drop, etc) for each pitch and slot gives them the base line to work from.

It may sound like hogwash to some, but the results are there.

[CrazyCajun]

I don’t know what exactly is meant by the title, but Wake Forest, who led the NCAA in pitching by a MILE, has implemented a very intricate analytics approach with their pitchers.

They study things with different arm slots, spin rates from different arm slots, etc to maximize what pitches each guy should throw and from the best corresponding arm slot to make them successful. It’s the same premise that the Astros have used with their pitchers for the last 6-7 years. “Tunneling” being a catch phrase, meaning being able to throw multiple different types of pitches from the same “tunnel” or arm slot, to make initial pitch recognition as difficult as possible. And analyzing data (spin rate, movement, vertical drop, etc) for each pitch and slot gives them the base line to work from.

It may sound like hogwash to some, but the results are there.

I know it’s not the only reason, shortened draft has an effect, but pitching overall is down since analytics and TrackMan showed up. A lot of greats that have come through here probably don’t get recruited By todays analytic standards. Our team ERA has dropped every year since installing TrackMan here.

[sportsfanatic21]

I know it’s not the only reason, shortened draft has an effect, but pitching overall is down since analytics and TrackMan showed up. A lot of greats that have come through here probably don’t get recruited By todays analytic standards. Our team ERA has dropped every year since installing TrackMan here.

I don’t disagree at all. You’re spot on.

But I think what we may be dealing with now, if this is the kind of thing Gunner will be doing, is taking those velos and spin rates and maximizing their benefits.

Basically instead of saying “we have a guy that throws hard and can spin the crap out it”, it’ll be using tools to take those abilities and implement them into actually pitching.