The Mets reportedly used AI to select their pitchers

Earlier this week, it was reported that MLB has decided to crack down on the use of iPads throughout Major League Baseball. The league learned that teams were using them to access generative AI during games.

The goal? To use it, among other things, to make in-game managerial decisions.

This led the league, before the situation got out of hand, to put a stop to these practices. It is now illegal to use the tablets for this purpose.

At the time, however, it wasn't entirely clear who was guilty of what. But Adam Ottavino offered a very interesting insight on the matter.

The former pitcher revealed that, from what he was able to learn, the Mets were reportedly the team most under scrutiny… because the club allegedly used AI to select which pitches to throw.

Steve Cohen reportedly invested a colossal sum in such a program—and may have bragged about it a little too much.

One might assume that the program in question analyzes the batter's tendencies to establish a sequence designed to be optimal for getting him out. Such a program wouldn't be very different from what typically goes into a team's preparation… but the problem is that, in this case, the preparation is being done by AI.

All of this is interesting given that, during spring training, we saw the Mets (along with other teams, such as the Marlins and the Rockies) begin calling pitches from the dugout. And from there, we might have had access to the program in question in real time.

It's worth noting, however, that this doesn't seem to have been a huge success for the Mets. The team has a 4.24 ERA since the start of the season, good for 17th in the majors.

Unless, of course, the program in question is actually effective and the Mets, without it, are just really, really bad on the mound, you know.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.