AI could help pick Major League Baseball’s next big star

Players at the MLB combine last week in Arizona had their prospects monitored by a pair of iPhone cameras. The data collected from that could forecast their potential as MLB players and even predict their potential for injury.

Biomechanics company Uplift Labs is working with MLB for the high-tech scouting, using artificial intelligence to turn visual images into metrics that help rank and analyze players, the Wall Street Journal reports. And that could make them more (or less) desirable to teams as the draft gets underway.

Analysis via Uplift was optional for players, but a growing number of teams are using similar A.I. tools to scout players, and the Journal says the league is considering ways to make the data universal.

Agents are divided on the technology. Some worry it can be used to offer lower signing bonuses for players who are ranked high in the draft by predicting as-yet unseen weaknesses in that particular player. Others say it could be beneficial for players that are more likely to go in later rounds of the draft, which begins July 9.

Data-based scouting isn’t new to the league. That’s been growing for the past decade or so. Even the use of biomechanics to assess strengths and weaknesses isn’t new. But the Uplift system makes it much easier for teams to track the data. And it’s also considerably cheaper than current methods.

Additionally, its use of A.I. gives it a predictive analysis edge.

“We also have this new kind of very early injury warning detection,” Sukemasa Kabayama, cofounder of Uplift, told the Journal. “Let’s say if you have too much of an arm flare, you know there may be potential overload on the elbow, which can unfortunately lead to Tommy John surgery.”