AI’s Impact On Baseball

Last weekend, Major League Baseball’s Spring Training games began play at ballparks across Florida, including two in Palm Beach County. As MLB gears up for their 2025 season, players will come together looking to make the roster, learn their opponents strengths and weaknesses, and do whatever it takes to win a championship in October. 

One new element to this process is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Every team in MLB has at least one AI analyst, using unique AI models to predict player performance, predict outcomes, and develop training programs. AI models will be able to simulate both batters and pitchers, simulating how a specific player will throw or hit. It also might be able to predict the likelihood that a player gets injured. 

These technologies are still in development and teams are trying out different techniques. Right now, these models aren’t completely reliable– for example, pitchers regularly outperform their AI models. Models can miss things and assumptions can be wrong. Human judgment and emotions will always have some role in the sport– but technology can help teams make the best decisions and be prepared for what lies ahead. 

As we’ve talked about in other fields, AI’s presence in baseball also introduces ethical questions. Data collection and privacy, as well as assuring that AI doesn’t create an uneven playing field across teams, are all things that the league needs to take into consideration. AI certainly has a role to play in the future of America’s Pastime– and with proper guidelines, we hope it will have a positive influence in the future of the game. 

How do you see AI impacting baseball or other sports? Let us know in the comments! Thank you to Prime Time Palm Beach County for supporting our work.