Research Papers

Austin Hymes

This paper builds on the foundational understanding of pitch sequencing to address the question: Can bullpens be optimized for above-average performance based on the dissimilarity of pitchers used? This work introduces a novel approach to pitcher classification leveraging topic modeling as an ideal method to uncover latent variables and understand both physical and strategic components of a pitcher.  Utilizing Latent Dirichlet Allocation, pitchers are analyzed textually: the pitches thrown are the words, the at-bats are the sentences, the games are the paragraphs, and the season is the document. Understanding the topic composition of a pitcher and the pitchers most topically dissimilar, this paper introduces a new approach to understanding bullpen usage, sequencing, and efficacy.