The RoundHouse | 1/26/2018 5:41:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Wichita State shortstop Trey Vickers knows why "launch angle" is baseball's hot term and latest path to fame.
 
"Everybody likes the home run ," he said. "If you watch major-league baseball, especially, you see who gets paid the most. You see videos on Instagram and YouTube of young kids trying to (use) launch angle."
 
Wichita State started baseball practice on Friday afternoon at windy Eck Stadium. Throughout the individual skill workouts that started earlier this month, many of the hitters looked at launch angles and exit velocities to guide their swings. While technology is familiar in baseball, the confluence of video, social media, easy-to-obtain apps for phones and tablets and the desire for power are combining to push the sport in a new direction.
 
"It gives them instant feedback and that's important for any player," Wichita State coach Todd Butler said. "In today's world of baseball, the technology is truly amazing with how much kids can learn, on a positive note. You can pull up the Hall of Fame players and watch swings. Back when we played years ago, you had to get a VCR or just watch the game to watch a great player."
 
"Launch angle" and "exit velocity" are ways to measure how high and how hard a batter hits a baseball. In the majors, it is the defining trend with players such as Justin Turner of the Dodgers leading the way by focusing on "launch angle" to hit the ball in the air more often to produce home runs and extra-base hits. A hard-hit ball (exit velocity) can zoom by defenders, whether hit on the ground or on a line.
 
Of course, that trend trickles down to the lower levels.
 
"There's just a lot more data that's out there . . . to help you try to better the student-athletes," Shocker assistant coach Sammy Esposito said. "A lot of times it was based on what you're seeing with your eye. Now you can break down information off the apps and all the machines that are out there now."
 
Earlier this month, Esposito send out a Tweet with infielder Luke Ritter swinging in a batting cage. The Blast Baseball app calculated Ritter's exit velocity of 116 mph, a launch angle of 25 degrees and a distance of 418.
 
"It's pretty cool to see, if you're taking BP, you hit a ball and you can see how far it goes, how hard you hit it," Ritter said. "It's very, very helpful."
 
The Shockers are loaded with veteran hitters and will build a lineup around junior outfielder Greyson Jenista and junior third baseman Alec Bohm. Those are the types of hitters who are experienced enough to benefit from experimenting with swings designed to produce power. Butler said a good hitter on his team might reach an exit velocity (speed of the ball off the bat) of around 110 mph off live pitching.
 
"We look at exit velocity – the impact of the ball off of the bat," Butler said. "This team, this year, the exit velocities are really high for college players. We have some big, strong players."
 
 Vickers, a senior, wants to work with the data. He hit four home runs last season and one as a sophomore. In his fourth season as a starter, he feels a responsibility to hit with more pop and drive in more runs when the situation calls for extra bases. Getting more loft on the ball to drive it into outfield gaps accomplishes that goal.
 
"I need to try to tap into that power a little bit more in certain situations, instead of just trying to get on base," Vickers said. "Hit more doubles. I haven't hit a ton of doubles since I've been here."
 
That data serves mainly as a reinforcement, especially when hitting indoors. The eye test is good for a ball that rolls the outfield wall. The data can help a hitter understand why it sailed that far and how to duplicate that effort.
 
"It gives you areas to work on," Ritter said. "If I hit a ball bad or hit a ball good, I can see how hard it's coming off the bat, which translates to see how far I hit it. It's good to see if you're getting stronger and if your bat speed is good."
 
Ideal launch angles and strong exit velocity can demonstrate that a swing is working and define goals for improvement.
 
"You can go back and review your swing," senior catcher Gunnar Troutwine said. "I try to stay simple, but I do like the aspect of where you can back and watch your swing over and over. I move my hands a little bit. It's helping me get behind the ball a little bit more, not so much dipping and driving for a huge angle."
 
Most of the Shockers grew up hitting off a tee and honing their swing to produce line drives and avoid popping the ball up. Vickers said his father advised him not to practice golf during baseball season.
 
"Don't go to the driving range and hit golf balls because your swing will get loopy," he said. "Now it's what they're trying to do. Now it's trying to hit the ball in the air where there's three guys instead of five."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.