There isn't much that Jason Giambi hasn't seen at the plate over the course of his 20-year Major League Baseball career.
Whether it's a blazing fastball, filthy slider with movement, pinpoint-precise curveball or freezing changeup, Giambi has literally seen it all ... and well. How else could you describe his 440 home runs — ranking him 41st on the MLB's all-time list — and being one of only 14 players to have at least 400 homers, 1,400 RBI, 400 doubles and an on-base percentage of .399 or higher since 1901?
After retiring in September 2014, Giambi is putting his focus behind EON Sports VR's new interactive hitting simulator, Project OPS, in the hopes of improving hitters' pitch tracking ability and strike zone awareness from Little Leagues all the way on up to the Majors.
The training software, which ships Dec. 14 bundled with a Sidekiq VR headset and Bluetooth controller for $159, touts recreating game-like simulation with hitters ... all from the convenience of their smartphones. You simply download the app onto your iPhone or Android smartphone, plug the phone into the VR headset and you're ready to go.
"A little bit of it is our secret sauce, but we take various components of both animation and video and then we combine the two in a mixed reality experience, so when you're in the virtual reality simulation, that pitcher you're facing is the exact motion, looks like him ... it is him," Brendan Reilly, CEO of EON Sports VR, tells Tech Times.
Giambi learned about Project OPS from his former Colorado Rockies general manager and current MLB Network analyst, Dan O'Dowd, and has since become EON Sports' vice president of product development behind the training software. He even provides interactive hitting lessons throughout the software's training experience, adding to its authenticity.
Here, Giambi tells Tech Times how he was blown away with the virtual reality technology and how it could soon find its way to Little Leagues and all the way up to the Majors.
Tech Times: How did you get involved with Eon Sports VR's Project OPS?
Jason Giambi: I played with Dan O'Dowd with the Colorado Rockies for three and a half years (2009 to 2012). At that time of my career, I had gotten into my mentor role and we had talked about tutelage of younger players. Well, fast forward, we're out the game and Dan had this idea about virtual reality because it's the new, upcoming phenomenon out of the tech world.
I'm not a big tech guy — I got my cell phone and computer and little things like that, but I'm not way into it. So, Dan calls me on the phone and he's like, 'Jason, we've come up with this idea of training kids.' We've always talked about the beginning and 'how do you teach young players to get better?' I've always said that if you want a kid to really learn how to play baseball, he needs to learn how to learn the strike zone. You can take all the hitting lessons you want, you can do all the tee work you want, but if you don't know the nuts and bolts of the strike zone, you're never going to get ahead.
You can see it in the big leagues — guys who know the strike zone, guys who don't. It trickles on down to young players, which is even more a factor, because the kids are erratic when they're younger, so it's harder to hit. He came up with this idea and said, 'you're the first person I thought about. I want you to look at this and tell me what you think.'
He came here, showed it to me and I was totally blown away that something like this could be invented. Of course, I grew up at a time when there was no scouting report — no anything — so I just saw this unlimited package of what you could turn this into. It's so simple.
You connect the phone into the goggles and next thing you know, you're looking out there and facing live pitching and he's throwing you live pitches — fastball, curveball, slider, changeup. So, Dan was like, 'I really want you to be a part of this, I want you to help us hone this in and make it as realistic as we can. You played for 20 years.'
I jumped right on board because I saw the vision. This could be applicable to a 5-year-old kid, who's going to have fun, to a Major League Baseball player that wants to use it to get extra reps for the strike zone or prepare to face Clayton Kershaw. It's limitless. I said, 'I have to be part of this.' Before you know, it we were breaking it down to speed, distance, what the pitcher looks like to how the ball is traveling and pitches that we thought were most important and here we are getting ready to release it.
You have seen it all over your 20 years in Major League Baseball. What area of Project Ops impressed you the most?
You feel like you're there with these goggles on. It's mind-blowing. When they approached me, I thought the biggest thing is you're no longer stuck to a console. You're no longer stuck to a batting cage or having to buy a tee. It has taken all this away and with the effect of actually tracking the pitch that's coming at you.
In our game, that's the hardest thing to recreate. You could shoot baskets all day or kind of recreate football, but for baseball, there's not really a simulation for actual game speed, other than playing the game. You could get your coach out there or your dad out there to throw BP or a pitching machine, but we've never been able to recreate that sense of actually somebody throwing you something.
The closest thing I've ever seen is called the Pro Batter. It's like a movie-projector screen with a pitcher out there and [a] hole in the screen. But it's so expensive. It's like $70,000 and it's only viable for home games. This, you can literally take this anywhere and work on baseball skills, which is unbelievable to me.
As far as pitch movement goes, how well does Project OPS respond?
That was one of the main things they really wanted me to be a part of where they'd bring me in and I'd point out a glitch or say I couldn't pick something up when the pitcher is going through his motion. But we got it down to a point where it's so realisitic, it's really unbelievable. We really wanted you to feel, so everything from his motion to release point to the ball coming at you — I mean, the spin on the seams — we thought of everything. This game is going to keep going. Learning the strike zone, pitch tracking and we're in works of developing a bat, so pretty soon, you'll be able to take batting practice with it.
From the standpoint of an injured player going on the DL, how crucial could this be in the leeway of working his way back to the game?
It will recreate tracking pitches. This will be helpful to guys who have ankle injuries, knee injuries, guys who can't go stand and track pitches from a guy down in the bullpen. We've talked to teams and they're so interested in this right now because you can split the screen out there and have whoever you want throwing. Because there's so much technology out there and so much video, we can actually put Clayton Kershaw on the mound, throwing you all his pitches and you can face him [virtually] before you face him in the game. That's the hardest thing to recreate — your first at bat.
Your first at bat is your worst compared to your second compared to your third because by then you have faced the guy three times and feel comfortable. He's more tired and you've seen him more times, so the averages start climbing. Your first at-bat is your toughest because you're just picking up his release point and being in a new stadium. With this, you'll be able to face him numerous times [virtually] before you actually face him.
From what you understand about the technology, how was EON Sports able to capture and replicate exact pitches with movement?
The computer imaging allows you to put a guy in there and download his movements and recreate it onto your smartphone. So, when you snap your smartphone into the goggles, that's who's out there and you can dial it in to what pitches he throws, velocity, to how much break his pitches have.
We have this technology in the big leagues right now. The problem is every scout scene you're going to see is from the back side. There's no front views because you have the umpire, catcher and hitter. With computer imaging, you can throw a camera on him, get all his mechanics and from the back side, recreate the slider's starting point, breaks five inches to the left, two inches down and you're getting that face-to-face view. So now, you're picking up release points, motion speed, the ball traveling at you instead of seeing everything from behind.
How helpful would this have been to have during your career?
Oh, huge. We're talking big-league capabilities, but try taking a kid who's 10-years-old and learning the game. You send him home to start tracking pitches and all of a sudden, his strike zone awareness gets better, his pitch tracking gets better. Now, he has taken all these reps. Like football, you're trying to get these guys better without injuring them. Everybody can't play travel ball. Maybe both parents work ... how do you get to the batting cages? The youth of America isn't playing baseball as much. Well, it's harder to get out there now and be successful.
Have you taken this to Major League teams?
Yes, we have.
Which ones?
I can't tell you that right now.
Can you put a number on the teams?
We have presented it to some teams and they're really, really interested. The technology is so incredible that they see what we could do. This has grown faster than what we ever thought. When we got a hold of [Major League teams], this was whole next-level stuff. You're limitless to what you can do.
Like I said, if you have a guy facing Kershaw tonight, it's, 'let me go pop this in, let me see his release point, let me see his pitches ... I'm ready to go face him.' When we get the bat out there and you're getting extra swings ... it's coming down the pike. This technology keeps growing and growing.
How quickly do you think the technology will be embraced by the Majors all the way down to Little Leagues?
I see it. The interest we have in this ... they took a prototype of the program before we dialed it in and let kids look at it and they were absolutely blown away. It's such another level. They're not even knowing they're getting better and they're having fun with it.
The thing I was immediately thinking when asked to be part of this is, 'OK, how much is this?' $159. Then, I was sold and really wanted to be part of it. Every kid could afford this. Every kid could have this. This isn't limited to travel-ball kids and kids whose parents have a lot of money, so only they could get better. Now, you're telling this kid in the winter in Chicago — whose parents both work and he can't get to the batting cage — like, 'Hey, you can take the time in the offseason and get better and not be so far behind.' Same thing with a kid in California.
When you presented this to teams in the Majors, did you sense you were getting the same reaction from a younger player as, say, a veteran?
Yeah, because they've never seen anything like this. When I first got to the big leagues, we didn't have video. You took your at-bats and hopefully somebody had a video camera and you had a VCR and you would stroll through it and say, 'I think I'm hitting after this guy, stop here,' and wait for your turn and watch the pitches [laughs]. Then it got more technical. Now, though, you just download it. This allows you to see everything head-on, so with that first at bat, you're expecting that.
If this takes off, can this eventually replace watching film for hitters?
I think it would take some time, because every big leaguer has their niche and routine, but some guys are going to say, 'let me just face him instead of watching film.' Definitely, I think it's something down the road, where players are eliminating watching that video from behind, going, 'I actually get to face him now.'
When it comes to technology — in sports or any walk of life — you get people who are willing to embrace technology and try new things and people who are slow on the ball and wait for everyone to have it before diving in. Baseball, perhaps more than other sports, can be old-school. What's the challenge in getting teams to assimilate and move with the times?
Right now, you could get percentages of what pitches a guy might throw or look for, like, 'oh, the guy holds his mitt this way, he might throw a breaky ball.' Little things like that. But nothing has been recreated like this, where you're actually facing a pitcher in game situations. It's hard in the majors for a guy to throw to you because he's got his career. Even if you could find a guy like that, he's not going to be a major-leaguer because a major leaguer is going to save his stuff for spring training and the season, aside [from] throwing to you a little bit. But you're never going to find a guy to recreate game situations and that's the greatest gift this is giving you.
