Statistics

Statistics Overview

CoachBall measures statistics across several categories:

• Throwing Statistics - Pitch speed and pitch types from personal workouts
• Exit Velocity Statistics - Hitting metrics including exit velocity, swing speed, and launch angle
• Baserunning Statistics - Running times for various base paths
• Game Statistics - Batting, fielding, and pitching statistics from games
• Attendance Statistics - Practice and game attendance tracking

Compare your players with age-group benchmarks (pitch speed, exit velocity) on our Benchmarks.

Throwing Statistics

Throwing statistics are collected during personal workouts where players practice throwing mechanics. These statistics help track arm strength, consistency, and development over time.

Pitch Speed

What it measures: The velocity of each pitch thrown, measured in miles per hour (mph).

How it's used: Pitch speed is tracked for each individual pitch during workouts. The system calculates:

• Average Speed: The mean speed of all pitches (with outliers removed using the 95% rule)
• Maximum Speed: The highest recorded speed (after outlier removal)
• Minimum Speed: The lowest recorded speed (after outlier removal)

Where to view: Individual player statistics pages and team throwing statistics pages show speed development over time, comparisons between players, and breakdowns by pitch type.

Pitch Types

What it measures: The type of pitch thrown (e.g., fastball, curveball, changeup, slider, etc.).

How it's used: Each pitch is categorized by type, allowing you to:

• Track speed development for each pitch type separately
• Compare average speeds across different pitch types
• Monitor pitch type usage and frequency
• Identify which pitches need more practice or development

Where to view: Team throwing statistics show pitch type breakdowns with counts, average speeds, and min/max speeds for each type.

Exit Velocity Statistics

Exit velocity statistics are collected during personal workouts when players practice hitting. These metrics provide insights into hitting power, contact quality, and swing mechanics.

Exit Velocity

What it measures: The speed at which the ball leaves the bat after contact, measured in miles per hour (mph). This is one of the most important metrics for evaluating hitting power.

How it's used: Higher exit velocities generally indicate:

• Greater hitting power
• Better contact quality
• Increased likelihood of extra-base hits

Where to view: Individual player statistics pages and team exit velocity statistics pages show development over time and comparisons between players.

Swing Speed

What it measures: The speed of the bat during the swing, measured in miles per hour (mph).

How it's used: Swing speed correlates with exit velocity and helps identify areas for improvement in swing mechanics and bat speed development.

Launch Angle

What it measures: The vertical angle at which the ball leaves the bat, measured in degrees.

How it's used: Launch angle, combined with exit velocity, determines the trajectory and distance of the hit. Optimal launch angles vary by player and situation but generally range from 8-12 degrees for line drives to 25-35 degrees for home runs.

Time to Contact

What it measures: The time from the start of the swing until bat-ball contact, measured in seconds.

How it's used: This metric helps evaluate swing timing and efficiency. Shorter times to contact often indicate better timing and quicker bat speed.

Contact Quality Metrics

Sweet Spot: Indicates whether the ball made contact with the bat's sweet spot (optimal contact area).

Hard Contact: Indicates whether the contact was classified as "hard" based on exit velocity thresholds.

Contact Type: Categorizes contact as hard, medium, weak, or miss.

Spray Direction: Indicates whether the ball was hit to left field, center field, or right field.

Baserunning Statistics

Baserunning statistics track running times for specific base paths during personal workouts. These metrics help evaluate speed, agility, and baserunning technique.

HP to 1B (Home Plate to First Base)

What it measures: The time it takes a player to run from home plate to first base, measured in seconds.

How it's used: This is a fundamental speed metric that directly impacts a player's ability to beat out ground balls and reach base safely. Faster times indicate better speed and running technique.

2B to HP (Second Base to Home Plate)

What it measures: The time it takes a player to run from second base to home plate, measured in seconds.

How it's used: This metric evaluates a player's ability to score from second base, which is crucial for situational baserunning and scoring runs.

Home Run

What it measures: The time it takes a player to run around all bases (home run circuit), measured in seconds.

How it's used: This comprehensive metric evaluates overall baserunning speed and endurance, as well as the ability to complete a full circuit of the bases.

Where to view: Team baserunning statistics pages show development over time, comparisons between players, and detailed breakdowns by run type.

Game Statistics

Game statistics are collected during actual games and include comprehensive batting, fielding, and pitching metrics. These statistics can be entered manually or imported from iScore.

Batting Statistics

Key metrics include:

• At Bats (AB): Number of official at-bats
• Hits: Total hits (singles, doubles, triples, home runs)
• Batting Average: Hits divided by at-bats
• On-Base Percentage (OBP): Percentage of plate appearances resulting in reaching base
• Slugging Percentage: Total bases divided by at-bats
• Runs Batted In (RBI): Number of runs scored as a result of the player's at-bat
• Strikeouts: Looking and swinging strikeouts
• Walks: Base on balls
• Stolen Bases: Successful base stealing attempts

Fielding Statistics

Key metrics include:

• Putouts: Number of outs recorded by the fielder
• Assists: Number of plays where the fielder helped record an out
• Errors: Fielding mistakes
• Fielding Percentage: Successful plays divided by total chances

Pitching Statistics

Key metrics include:

• Innings Pitched: Number of innings pitched
• Strikeouts: Total strikeouts recorded
• Walks: Bases on balls allowed
• Earned Run Average (ERA): Average earned runs per 9 innings
• Hits Allowed: Number of hits given up
• Runs Allowed: Total runs allowed

Attendance Statistics

Attendance statistics track player participation in team practices and games, providing insights into commitment, availability, and team engagement.

What it measures: Whether players attended, were absent, or had excused absences for team practices and games.

How it's used: Attendance statistics help coaches:

• Track player commitment and reliability
• Identify attendance patterns and trends
• Make informed decisions about playing time and team selection
• Address attendance issues proactively

Where to view: Team attendance statistics pages show attendance rates, trends over time, and comparisons between players.

The 95% Rule (Empirical Rule)

CoachBall uses the 95% rule, also known as the Empirical Rule, to remove outliers from throwing statistics. This statistical method ensures that calculated averages and maximums provide a realistic representation of player performance.

What is the 95% Rule?

The Empirical Rule (68-95-99.7 rule) is a statistical principle that applies to data following a normal (bell-shaped) distribution. It states that:

• 68% of data falls within one standard deviation (±1σ) of the mean
• 95% of data falls within two standard deviations (±2σ) of the mean
• 99.7% of data falls within three standard deviations (±3σ) of the mean

How CoachBall Applies the 95% Rule

In CoachBall's throwing statistics, we apply the 95% rule by removing the top 5% of speeds per player before calculating averages and maximums. This means we keep the bottom 95% of data points and exclude the highest 5%.

Why this matters:

• Removes measurement errors: Occasionally, radar guns or measurement devices may record incorrect values (e.g., measuring a different object or picking up background noise)
• Excludes exceptional throws: While impressive, one-off exceptional throws may not represent a player's typical performance level
• Provides realistic averages: By focusing on the 95% of data that represents typical performance, averages become more meaningful for tracking development
• Maintains data integrity: We still retain 95% of the data, ensuring we don't lose valuable information while filtering out outliers

When is the 95% Rule Applied?

The 95% rule is applied when:

• A player has 4 or more recorded pitches (for smaller datasets, all data is retained)
• Calculating average speed, maximum speed, and minimum speed for individual players
• Displaying statistics in team throwing statistics pages
• Creating charts and comparisons between players

Note: The rule is applied per player, meaning each player's data is filtered independently. This ensures fair comparisons while accounting for individual performance variations.

Example

If a player has 100 recorded pitches with speeds ranging from 45 mph to 85 mph:

• The system sorts all speeds from lowest to highest
• It keeps the bottom 95 pitches (95% of 100)
• It removes the top 5 pitches (5% of 100) - the 5 highest speeds
• Average, maximum, and minimum speeds are calculated using only the remaining 95 pitches

This ensures that if there were any measurement errors or truly exceptional throws in those top 5 pitches, they don't skew the player's performance metrics.

How Statistics are Collected

Statistics in CoachBall are collected through various methods:

• Personal Workout Sessions: Throwing, exit velocity, and baserunning statistics are entered during personal workouts using measurement devices (radar guns, launch monitors, etc.)
• Game Statistics: Batting, fielding, and pitching statistics can be entered manually or imported from iScore CSV files
• Attendance Tracking: Coaches mark attendance for team practices and games

All statistics are timestamped and linked to specific players, allowing for detailed tracking of development over time.

Pop Time

Pop time measures how quickly a catcher can throw out a baserunner. It is one of the most important defensive metrics for catchers.

What it measures: The time from when the pitch hits the catcher's mitt to when the ball reaches second base.

Key metrics include:

• Best Time The fastest recorded pop time for each player.
• Average Time The mean pop time across all measurements.
• Measurement Count How many pop time measurements have been recorded.

How it's used: Pop time data is used for catcher evaluation in scout searches and benchmark comparisons. Multiple measurement methods are supported: stopwatch, sensor, camera, and manual video.

Team Statistics

Team statistics aggregate individual player performance into team-level metrics, giving coaches a high-level view of overall team performance.

• Team Batting Aggregated batting average, OBP, slugging, and total hits/runs across all players.
• Team Pitching Combined ERA, strikeouts, walks, and innings pitched for the pitching staff.
• Team Fielding Total fielding percentage, putouts, assists, and errors.
• Season Aggregation Statistics are automatically aggregated per season for historical comparison.

Bench Statistics

Track bench time and playing time distribution across your roster. Bench statistics help coaches ensure fair playing time and monitor which players spend the most time on the bench.

Where to View Statistics

Statistics can be viewed at multiple levels:

• Individual Player Pages: View all statistics for a specific player, including development charts over time
• Team Statistics Pages: Compare statistics across all players on a team, view team averages, and identify trends
• Game Statistics Pages: View detailed statistics from specific games

Charts and graphs are available for most statistics, allowing you to visualize development trends, compare players, and identify areas for improvement.