Baseball Data, Explained

Straight-ahead guides to the metrics on your reports — pitching, catching, hitting — what they mean, what they don't, and how to use them with your players.

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Metrics ExplainedJuly 24, 20265 min read

What Is CSW% — And What's a Good Number?

CSW% (Called Strikes + Whiffs) is the single most useful pitch-quality rate in baseball analytics. Here is how it is calculated, why it beats strikeout rate for evaluating stuff, and roughly what counts as good.

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02
How-To4 min read

How to Get Your Trackman CSV After a Game

Trackman does not hand you a file when the game ends — it uploads to an FTP server. Here is the step-by-step for getting your game CSV onto your laptop with FileZilla, plus what to do if you do not have FTP access.

03
Metrics Explained6 min read

How to Read a Pitch Movement Chart

Induced vertical break, horizontal break, and the movement plot every analytics department uses — explained in plain English, including why "rise" on a fastball is not actually rise.

04
Catching5 min read

What Is Catcher Framing — And How Is It Measured?

Framing is the most valuable catching skill nobody could measure until pitch tracking arrived. Here is what the shadow zone is, how framing runs are calculated, and how to evaluate a catcher fairly.

05
Pitch Design5 min read

Pitch Tunneling Explained

Why two pitches that look identical for the first 20 feet are harder to hit than two pitches with more movement. What tunneling is, why the commit point matters, and how to actually build a tunnel.