The pitch combo that Shohei Ohtani will use due to the change in major league rules was born from his experience as a magician. The hint for the "9 buttons" was from Yu Darvish.

This season, pitcher Shohei Ohtani is being supported by "PitchCom."

Major League pitchers must now throw within 15 seconds when there are no runners on base, and 20 seconds when there are runners on base, so Ohtani has been wearing PitchCom on his left arm since the opening game. He decides the "type" and "course" of the ball he is going to throw, and communicates this to the catcher.

How does PitchCom work, and how does it sound to players?

We spoke to co-developer John Hankins about how to use PitchCom and the inside story behind its development.

--What kind of device is "PitchCom"?
PitchCom is a device that allows pitchers, catchers, and all other players to communicate with each other, preventing sign stealing and providing a quick and easy way to send signs.

The pitcher or catcher presses a button on a remote control to send out "type of pitch" or "course," or to give signs such as pickoff or bunt plays, which are then heard by the receiver.

The audio can be in any language.
Each player can set their preferred language, such as English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, or French, and the receiver will play the audio in that language.

Even if the sender is speaking "English," if the receiver is a Spanish speaker, they will hear it in "Spanish," and if they prefer Japanese, they will hear it in "Japanese."

--How many devices can be used during a game?
MLB (Major League Baseball) allows "two transmitters" and "five receivers" on the field.

The transmitters must be on the field, and unlike American football, they cannot be used in the press box for coaches or reporters.

The transmitters are carried by the pitcher and catcher.

The receivers are usually carried by the pitcher, catcher, shortstop, second baseman, and center fielder.

There are a total of 12 receivers, including a backup for when one breaks down.

Inspired by a magician's experience

Ohtani has been wearing the device since the first day of training camp in February.

Hankins says the impetus for developing PitchCom was to combat sign stealing.

--What prompted you to develop the device?
The day after I read an article about the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal, I thought to myself, "I should be able to solve this problem."

I have a background as a magician and am also a licensed patent attorney.

I'm also an electrical engineer and a baseball fan, so I combined all of that and thought, "There must be some way to prevent sign stealing."

Magicians are always sending out signs on stage, so I thought I'd make a button-operated transmitter for baseball, and create a receiver that would allow the pitcher and catcher to "hear" each other's signs without seeing them.

My co-developer, Craig Filicetti, is famous among magicians and entertainers around the world for his sound and magic devices, and when I explained it to him, he replied, "Maybe I can do it."　

So we decided to do it, and take on a new challenge.

I'm a patent lawyer, so I got the patent right away, and Craig completed the prototype about two weeks later.

"Wow! Shohei is using it!"

But MLB wasn't initially interested in Hankins' prototype,

and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

-What was MLB's reaction to the prototype?
When we tried to take the prototype to MLB in February 2020, they were also looking for ways to prevent sign stealing, such as buzzers and watches, and showed no interest in our proposal.

However, as the pandemic continued, MLB was unable to reach any conclusion, and in October, we were able to meet with MLB officials through the introduction of former MLB lawyer Don Gibson.

The moment they put our prototype on their heads, their eyes lit up and they really liked it.
At that moment, I thought, "This might be a hit!"--How did you think about the design of the transmitter?
Initially, I thought five types of "pitches" would be enough, but the inspiration came not from Ohtani, but from Yu Darvish.

Darvish is known to have about 12 types of pitches, so I thought, "I need to increase the

number of buttons." After considering how many buttons I could add without losing ease of operability, I settled on "9." I
also thought about how to incorporate the courses, and made each button do two things.

"Press briefly to select pitch type" and "long press to select course."

I set it up so that it would transmit the moment the second button was pressed, in the order of "pitches → course."

--Have you seen Ohtani use PitchCom?
Of course I did.
When I saw him use it, I was excited and thought, "This is cool!"

PitchCom is still optional and pitchers don't have to use it, but all teams in MLB are starting to use it.

When Ohtani decided to use it, I remember sending a message to Mr. Filicetti saying, "Wow! Shohei is using it!"

Other pitchers wear it on their belts or gloves, but he wears it under his arm and uses it in his own way. I think it's pretty amazing that he knows where everything is without having to look at the buttons.

The defense also plays well on Pitch.com

Hankins points out that the new ways of sharing information have also improved defense capabilities.

--Have players changed since using it?
This year, one player had a problem on the mound because he had the wrong mode set, and was penalized for a violation.
The player said, "I'm responsible, I should have known how to use it," and it certainly does involve responsibility.

On the other hand, some players say, "It's been a big plus for me."
Early last year, Cincinnati Reds center fielder Nick Senzel made two amazing catches.

When asked, "How did you do that?" he replied, "Pitch Com." He said,

"I knew which way the pitch was going to go, so I was able to take another jump as a fielder."

--Is there a possibility of being tapped or hacked?
As long as it's a radio, it's possible to listen to it.

But even if you could listen to it, it's so heavily coded that you wouldn't be able to understand the content.
There are more codes than there are grains of sand in the world.

I had someone calculate that it would take 10,000 years to figure out the code.

The code can be changed during an inning, and even if someone were to record the audio on the radio and figure out that it was the sound of a fastball, the code changes every time a new pitch is thrown, so it won't be repeated.

Match time reduced by an average of 6 minutes

As for the possibility of introducing PitchCom to Japanese professional baseball,

Hankins said, "There are teams that have shown interest."

Q: What are your expectations for the Japanese market?
We've been getting a lot of contact from the Japanese side.

I don't know how seriously professional baseball is considering it, but it's easy to use, so if you want to introduce it, we're ready.

--What is the biggest advantage of the device?
The pace and speed of the game.
When PitchCom was introduced last year, games were shortened by an average of six minutes.

This year, the pitch timer was introduced, so we had no choice but to use PitchCom.

There's no need to worry about sign stealing, and the pace of play is faster, so there's a chance that more fans will watch the game.

--How much does it cost to buy one?
You can't buy one, you can only lease one.

Whether it's college baseball or MLB, if it breaks, we'll ship a new one to the team for free.

We have an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) with MLB, so we can't tell you the amount, but we charge universities $500 each for the transmitter, receiver, and watch-type display (NCAA only) each season. For a basic combination of pitcher, catcher, and transmitter, it's $1,500 a season.

Everything is handmade and carefully made in a factory in Arizona.

--Are there any negative opinions? There
are a lot of negative opinions.
Some people are angry that the catcher doesn't use his fingers to make signs.

Baseball games used to last two to two and a half hours, but they've gotten longer, up to three and a half hours recently, so I think it's good that the introduction of PitchCom has helped shorten the time per game.

Q: Finally, what message do you have for Ohtani?
He's doing a great job, so I hope he keeps it up.
I'm very happy that he's using Pitch.com to get attention in the US and around the world.