Computing a knuckleball

Baseball coaches and scouts have always used pitch speed as the one objective measurement to analyze pitchers. Everything else is mechanics, which have never had a statistic to match up with efficiency.

That is, until the introduction of the RevFire.

The RevFire is a light, handheld device that actually measures the speed and spin of a ball using a microchip embedded in specialty baseballs and softballs. Through these calculations, coaches can analyze the type of movement their hurlers are putting on pitches.

“We’ve been measuring speed forever, it’s become part of the game. Coaches use it all the time to judge their players, and we’re used to seeing it on the screen when we watch baseball games,´ said Dave Marinelli, the inventor of the RevFire. “However, what they have never calculated is the spin on the ball, and that’s the other side of the equation.”

Regardless of arm strength, every good pitcher needs to put movement on the ball to be effective. Whether it is a slight shift of a fastball or a huge dip in a curveball, pitchers need to use to seams of the ball to cause deception.

“The way you fool the batter is by putting different trajectories on the ball, and the way you change the trajectory is by putting spin on it,” Marinelli said. “The more spin you put on the ball the more movement it’s going to have.”

The RevFire shows the revolutions per second (RPS) on a given pitch, which is then analyzed in regards to the efficiency of a pitch. The RPS in baseball and softball differ dramatically, but the results are relatively the same.

It also can be used to analyze a different pitch that doesn’t rely on speed for efficiency, also known as the knuckleball. The knuckleball is a pitch that is thrown so there is no seam movement. The pitch “dances” in front of the batter as it flutters in a side-to-side motion.

Since there is no spin, a perfect knuckleball will have no reading on a RevFire.

“Coaches view it as the missing piece to their puzzle, and it can fill in the whole story,” Marinelli said.

Marinelli and the RevFire have been turning heads recently, winning awards from the DaVinci Institute and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). RevFire also was mentioned on NBC Channel 9, based in Denver.

Marinelli was surprised when he found out he was up for an award at the NFCA Conference on Dec. 8. He thought he was simply bringing his product to the conference to show coaches and softball enthusiasts what the RevFire could do.

“It was exciting, I didn’t even know they were going to have awards. I finally figured out what was going on when I got there,” Marinelli said. “That was really nice, and the judges were very nice and helpful throughout the process.”

During the conference Cheri Kempf, a legendary softball pitcher who also wrote the book “The Softball Pitching Edge,” came to Marinelli’s booth and was amazed with the RevFire. Near the end of the day she gave a talk and referenced how influential spin is in pitching and how important a device like the RevFire could be.

“She basically went up there and was like, ‘OK now I’m going to do your commercial,'” Marinelli said.

“During the day she kept bringing people over to our booth; it was very exciting.”

Teams and players have already been showing interest in the RevFire, and Marinelli mentioned that he has almost sold out his first shipment.

One of the most prestigious buyers is Big 12 Conference member Oklahoma State, which purchased the RevFire for its softball team.

With months of promoting and sales on the horizon, Marinelli is pleased with the way the RevFire has turned out – even though the process was particularly challenging.

“It’s been a long work in progress, and I’ve been looking at many different techniques before, during and after the process,” Marinelli said. “I’ve been involved in a lot of projects over the years, but this is one of the most challenging.”

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