Studies

This study examined the relationship between psychomotor abilities and baseball performance by analysing data from 379 athletes who participated in the USA Baseball, Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP). Hit and pitch metrics were generated during practice sessions using the Rapsodo^TM System. Data were compared through exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression. Factor analysis grouped batter’s PDP evaluations into four latent variables accounting for 63% of variance. Pitcher performance grouped into three factors accounting for 51% of variance. Regression on batter data revealed a significant demographic/anthropometric base model with height, weight, and age that accounted for 58% of the batted ball speed (R² = 0.581). Player position explained 2% of the variance (R² = 0.604), and PDP evaluation scores contributed an additional 3% (R² = 0.631). Regression of pitcher data showed a significant base demographic/anthropometric model accounting for 36% of fastball pitch speeds (R² = 0.363), with the PDP evaluation scores adding 6% additional variance (R² = 0.424). Uniformly, assessments of lower body strength added the greatest predictive information. Hand grip strength did not correlate with pitch metrics. While demographics/anthropometrics are major contributors to batted and pitched ball speed, position and psychomotor variables add statistically significant contributions and may be of practical value for player selection.

Baseball is an international sport with participation from tens of thousands of people worldwide. In the United States, the Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP) is a collaborative effort between Major League Baseball and USA Baseball to establish a developmental pipeline leading to the professional draft. Players participating in the PDP undergo comprehensive evaluations that measure athletic performance, speed-of-processing, visual function and on-field talent. The present study evaluated data from 1,352 elite junior male PDP participants (aged 14 to 21) who signed informed consent, collected between 2017 and 2020, to identify latent abilities and their association with player specialization. Data were first subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to reduce the 22 measured variables to a smaller set of latent abilities. The resulting factors were evaluated using multiple linear regression to predict each factor using age, height, weight and position. EFA revealed a combination of physical and psychomotor skills accounting for 52% of the overall variance that grouped into four abilities: grip strength, functional vision, explosiveness and rapid decision-making. Regression analyses demonstrated that these skills are associated with position assignments, controlling for age, weight, and height, and revealed that outfielders are the most explosive, infielders perform best on psychomotor measures and catchers perform best on functional vision tests (ps < 0.001). These findings indicate skills that contribute to player specialization, providing new information about the developmental trajectory of junior elite baseball athletes that can be used for scouting and player development.