In-game video will be controlled by the league office, and dugout iPads have been configured so that they can be used for no other purposeGETTY IMAGES
Across MLB in '20, there was a "notable absence of a tool that players had used" for years: live in-game video, but "no such frustrations will exist" ahead of the '21 season, according to James Wagner of the N.Y. TIMES. In-game video has returned, but with some "new twists: It will be delayed a bit; the catcher's signs -- which the Astros exploited -- will not be shown; and the footage will be available to players and coaches in the dugout and to the bullpen on league-issued iPads rather than in the old replay review rooms." MLB Chief Operations & Strategy Officer Chris Marinak reiterated that in-game video rooms were barred "last season for health reasons, not because of the Astros' scandal." Marinak added that MLB "had listened to players who said the lack of in-game video hurt them last season," and while the league was building its new in-game video system over the winter, "officials also had the Astros' sign-stealing problems in mind." In-game video "will be controlled by the league office and the iPads have been configured so that they can be used for no other purpose." MLB's Statcast tech is "trained to clip the footage so it shows only a second or two before the pitch is delivered, thus not revealing the catcher's signs." In the app, players and coaches "can toggle between different camera angles and advanced data, such as a hitter's launch angle or a pitcher's spin rate" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/25).
MLB'S LABOR PAINS: In the latest episode of "SBJ Spotlight," our Eric Prisbell and Abe Madkour dig into the labor issue that overshadows the league even as it is ready to start a new season in front of live fans. Longtime marketing experts Tony Ponturo and Greg Via talk about what the league's major sponsors will be looking at this year, and Jeff Moorad, who has worked on both the labor and management side, gives the ownership view.
