Headlines

  • Angels To Promote Christian Moore
  • Brewers Promote Jacob Misiorowski
  • Brewers’ Aaron Civale Requests Trade
  • Red Sox Acquire Jorge Alcala
  • Jackson Jobe To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Shane McClanahan Pauses Rehab, Seeking Further Opinions On Nerve Issue
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

The Growing Role Of Video For MLB Scouts

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 21, 2010 at 10:07pm CDT

Scouts are hired because they have a knack for observing baseball players, not because they’re particularly tech-savvy.

“I’m not up to speed with all the new technology so to speak, so it’s pretty old-fashioned,” says David Chadd, amateur scouting director for the Detroit Tigers.

Chadd says he relies primarily on cell phones and computers to do his job, so he is comfortable with gadgets. That's a good thing, because another form of technology is becoming more important for him and other Tigers scouts.

“We’ll video as many kids as we can and we’ll actually use that video in the draft when we’re talking about players,” says Chadd, who operates one of three Tigers video cameras. “[Video scouting] certainly started to advance itself probably in the last three years.”

The Tigers are far from the only team using video. Clubs know that the footage they record provides them with more information about the amateur players they’re considering on draft day. Brad Grant, the amateur scouting director for the Cleveland Indians, uses a game card, stopwatch and radar gun, but that’s not all.

“I carry a video camera as well,” Grant says. “Video’s becoming a big part of it now as well.“

This year the Blue Jays hired three new video coordinators. They have always relied on scouting reports, medical reports and stats. That remains important to the Blue Jays, but they’re relying more on video to gather information. Andrew Tinnish, the Blue Jays’ amateur scouting director, says video can supplement a scout’s written or spoken report.

“I think our guys do a great job of painting a picture,” Tinnish says. “But it’s even better when you have film to look at [too].” 

Video has its limitations, too. It can be a distraction for scouts, players can perform differently on different days and cameras don’t capture everything. But for Tinnish, having video footage of a prospect is better than nothing.

“It certainly isn’t the be all and end all, but it’s a piece of the puzzle,” he says.

Whether you use a game card, a smart phone or a camera, Chadd says the results are more important than the method for the Tigers.

“At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter, as long as we’re seeing and talking about the right players.”

Share 2 Retweet 0 Send via email0

2010 Amateur Draft Detroit Tigers Toronto Blue Jays

Astros Notes: Oswalt, Berkman, Reds, Castro
Main
Olney’s Latest: Oswalt, Mariners, Jays, Sonnanstine
View Comments (4)
Post a Comment

4 Comments

  1. UnknownPoster

    15 years ago

    Video is something that is neccessary in this day of age of baseball. There are simply too many kids for teams to see in such a short time. And remember, all these kids’ schools teams play at similar times, high school and college. Video can be used to either cut down the kids the teams want to see or allow scouts to get video and watch it even though they cannot be at the game. We are in the 21st century and teams need to accept this fact or else they will be far behind their rivals..

    Reply
  2. dennis

    15 years ago

    Is this your interview or did you forget a link? I just wanted to read some more.

    Reply
  3. AFII

    15 years ago

    This is a revolution. This gives teams a better perspective of players. the anayltical content of video is for more than a scouts. Don’t be me wrong, a scout is always need, but for more study of a player video scouting is perfect. the detail of a swing or the mechanics of a pitcher can be corrected through video. IF major leaguers use video to tendencies of opposing players, front offices should use video to see future prospects. Reel Coaches does exactly that for you. It brings that professional level of technology to everyone

    Reply
  4. AFII

    15 years ago

    This is a revolution. This gives teams a better perspective of players. the anayltical content of video is for more than a scouts. Don’t be me wrong, a scout is always need, but for more study of a player video scouting is perfect. the detail of a swing or the mechanics of a pitcher can be corrected through video. IF major leaguers use video to tendencies of opposing players, front offices should use video to see future prospects. Reel Coaches does exactly that for you. It brings that professional level of technology to everyone

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Angels To Promote Christian Moore

    Brewers Promote Jacob Misiorowski

    Brewers’ Aaron Civale Requests Trade

    Red Sox Acquire Jorge Alcala

    Jackson Jobe To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Shane McClanahan Pauses Rehab, Seeking Further Opinions On Nerve Issue

    Royals Place Cole Ragans On IL With Rotator Cuff Strain

    Red Sox Promote Roman Anthony

    Craig Kimbrel Elects Free Agency

    Marlins Place Ryan Weathers On 60-Day IL With Lat Strain

    White Sox To Promote Grant Taylor

    Mariners Designate Leody Taveras For Assignment, Outright Casey Lawrence

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Select Craig Kimbrel

    Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox

    White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel

    Sign Up For Trade Rumors Front Office Now And Lock In Savings!

    Pablo Lopez To Miss Multiple Months With Teres Major Strain

    MLB To Propose Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge System For 2026

    Recent

    Cole Ragans To Go For Second Opinion On Injured Shoulder

    Angels To Promote Christian Moore

    Cubs Outright Tyson Miller

    Mets To Place Kodai Senga On IL With Hamstring Strain

    Emmanuel Rivera Accepts Outright Assignment With Orioles

    Yankees Release Brandon Leibrandt To Sign In CPBL

    Anthony DeSclafani Opts Out Of Deal With Yankees, Will Sign With Diamondbacks

    Tigers Select Matt Gage

    Cardinals Designate Ryan Vilade For Assignment, Select Andre Granillo

    Mets Receiving Trade Interest In Paul Blackburn

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Nolan Arenado Rumors
    • Dylan Cease Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Marcus Stroman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2024-25 Offseason Outlook Series
    • 2025 Arbitration Projections
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version