The ballpark was not packed. It was not game day. A handful of staff milled about, clipboards in hand, eyes on the bullpen. No crack of the bat and no roar of the crowd, just the faint whirring of a camera lens and something much quieter: a transformation in the future of scouting. You would not know it watching from the stands. But what was unfolding behind the scenes could transform the way the game is played.

At the heart of it all? The Baltimore Orioles. Yes, that same team that is quietly becoming MLB’s most forward-thinking team. While others chase big stars, they are chasing big data. However, not just any data—the Orioles are betting on AI to provide them an edge no other team in MLB can match.

In a division that contains baseball’s behemoths, standing stable is not an option. The team, now valued at more than $1.9 billion, knows this all too nicely. Competing in such a division needs more than just talent—it needs aim. That aim has taken the Orioles somewhere else: deep into the world of biomechanics, ML, and low-resolution video feeds.

Who is behind it? The team’s analytics department, guided by assistant GM and former NASA data expert Sig Mejdal, has cooperated with engineers from the University of Waterloo in Canada. The outcome of such a cross-border collaboration? An AI system called PitcherNet. This is a groundbreaking tool that can analyze a pitcher’s mechanics utilizing ordinary video footage. We are talking about skeletal tracking, release points, and kinematic data—aspects that once needed costly high-speed cameras and lab setups are now possible from a mobile in the stands.

What is the play? “To ignore a potential like this would be foolish“, Mejdal says, and he is not wrong. With multiple minor league parks, amateur circuits, and global fields still lacking elite camera systems, PitcherNet fills a vital scouting gap. It is like carrying Statcast without the Statcast setup. Suddenly, the team can size up a Dominican teen and a college student in the middle of Iowa with near-lab accuracy.

Why now? Simple. Pitching injuries are increasing. The Orioles have eight elites on the IL this season. By analyzing mechanics from afar, the team thinks of decreasing long-period risk before the ink dries on a signing bonus.

As for when and where this all began, the roots trace back to 2022, when the Orioles opened their motion-capture lab in Bel Air. However, the real leap came when the team decided to stop licensing off-the-shelf software and establish something tailor-made. The team poured in half the funding for Waterloo’s research and secured first rights to the tech. The payoff? A 96.82 percent accuracy rate.

If this tech lives up to its promise? Simply just say the scouting world will not know what hit it.

Not just a one-team tech show

While the Orioles could be taking a vital leap with custom-built AI tools, they are far from alone in the data-driven revolution sweeping MLB. Across the league, other teams are also tapping into AI, not just to stay competitive, however, but to redefine what scouting and enhancement suggest. For instance, take the Blue Jays. They were an early adopter of ProPlayAI. This is a product co-founded by former pitching prospect Nate Pearson. Unlike the Orioles’ in-house system, ProPlayAI is a commercial platform that turns simple mobile video into biomechanical analysis. The Jays utilized it to analyze minor league stars without needing high-speed camera setups, specifically, effective when dealing with global and remote prospects.

Then there are the Dodgers, a team that is practically synonymous with analytics at this point. The team has been integrating ML to predict star performance, simulate game outcomes, and fine-tune in-game decisions. The Dodgers have been tight-lipped related to the specifics. However, insiders say the team’s tech setup rivals that of some hedge funds. In addition, the Giants partnered with Mustard. This was an app enhanced by Dr. Tom House, and it helps pitchers to refine mechanics through AI-guided drills.

The transformation is clear: AI is not a luxury anymore—it is becoming a baseline assumption. As teams continue to look for that extra spice and that one-percent edge, those that embrace AI are quickly separating their image from those still scouting with the naked eye. The future is not just coming to baseball—it is already standing in the dugout.