Pitch-level college baseball data captured by optical tracking technology

Since gaining popularity via the Moneyball story near the turn of the century, data analytics has become a common feature of high-level baseball. In recent years, optical tracking technologies have allowed data to move beyond basic box-score measures of performance (e.g., strikeouts and batting averages) to high-detail measures of ball movement following a pitch (e.g., spin rates, release speeds, and ending locations) or hit (e.g., exit velocity and launch angle). Such information has provided analysts with new ways to measure the game and communicate complex results via helpful visualizations. The data described in this article were recorded by an optical tracking unit stationed on a collegiate baseball field over a series of 21 exhibition matches. The technology was monitored by a trained individual who confirmed, cleaned, and compiled the data after every game. Each observation (n = 3,344) corresponds to a pitch that was thrown during a game, and the associated columns provide a variety of descriptive information related to the pitch and its eventual outcome. Data of this detail at the collegiate level of play can be difficult to acquire, and the high level of granularity allows for a variety of analyses and visualizations to be conducted for baseball and non-baseball purposes.