Quote:
Originally Posted by MathBandit
Sure you can, once you realize that scouting might not involving doing anything but looking at a spreadsheet. A *lot* of scouting these days is done without having to watch the player at all, on video or otherwise.
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I don't agree with this at all.
While scouting has certainly evolved from the stereotypical cigar chomping 'bird dog' days, spreadsheets are the domain of the analytics departments, which obviously provide vital information.
But teams still thirst for video of players - and lots of it - so they can also analyze things that a spreadsheet can never show you. (and besides, who exactly is compiling the data that goes into the spreadsheets or does it just suddenly appear - like spin rates - but back to my point)
A lot of teams participate in video sharing these days and a few do not.
Even fangraphs frequently bemoans the lack of available video on certain prospects when generating their prospect reports, often noting that the data is compiled without having had a recent look at the player or speaking to those who have.