Rays debut wearable 'pitch-signaling' devices in spring training game vs. Braves

Minor-league players had previously toyed with PitchCom's technology as a means of improving pace of play

The Tampa Bay Rays might've given the baseball world a glimpse of the future over the weekend. On Saturday, the Rays used a new pitch-calling system developed by PitchCom that allows players to exchange signals using a minimal amount of technology: a transmitter with buttons the catcher wears on his wrist and receivers that can be tucked inside the hats of pitchers and middle infielders (to allow for defensive positioning tweaks).

MLB.com's Adam Berry chronicled the Rays' experimentation, noting that minor-league players in the Single-A California League first tested out the technology last season. 

"It's something I'm really intrigued with, and hopefully it picks up some steam," Rays catcher Mike Zunino told Berry. "It's something that's really going to get the game moving, I think."

The Rays and those minor-league players aren't the only ones who have tinkered with ways to hasten the sign-giving process while also protecting against sign-stealing attempts. Earlier this year, the Vanderbilt Commodores showed off their own newfangled ability to share signs using technology in the college baseball ranks.

"It is technically called an electronic display board in the NCAA's lingo," broadcaster Max Herz explained at the time (via Simon Gibbs of On3). "This was the first year it's been legal for a college pitcher to wear something like that … Scott Brown, the Vanderbilt pitching coach, is punching numbers into a controller he has, and all nine Vanderbilt players on the field have one. They all see the same thing. That tells the pitcher what type of pitch to throw, and where or how to throw it."

It's unclear what chances the Rays or other teams have of using these devices in-game. Presumably the feedback players provide this spring will go a long way in determining their viability, as well as cleaning up any bugs in the system. Still, recent sign-stealing controversies, including the one involving the Houston Astros, as well as the desire to improve the pace of play by cutting down on unnecessary time-wasters, have likely paved the way for this to become the norm someday soon.