A new partnership between a Pittsburgh sports startup and the business arm of the Major League Baseball Players Association will bring training content and challenges from some of the league's biggest stars to the startup's app platform.
Diamond Kinetics announced that this collaboration with MLB Players Inc. is aimed at increasing youth participation in baseball and softball via the "gamification" of training practice. The startup mainly looks to accomplish this with its proprietary bat sensor attachment and mobile app that can measure analytics and performance metrics for players to see and then try to improve upon.
With this new DK + MLB Featured Players program, young athletes will get training content and challenges from Byron Buxton, outfielder and designated hitter for the Minnesota Twins; Nick Pratto, first baseman for the Kansas City Royals; and Ramon Urias, third baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, among others.
"Diamond Kinetics’ platform offers a unique and proven method for young athletes to improve their batting skills," Evan Kaplan, managing director of MLB Players, said in a prepared statement. "Our shared passion for baseball provides a great opportunity for us to come together and develop meaningful ways for professionals to support the growth of the game, and inspire the next generation of future Major Leaguers."
Athletes using Diamond Kinetics' membership-based platform will see these challenges and related reward features start arriving on the app by Sept. 1 with a new challenge or game from one of the MLB players who are participating being released weekly until Oct. 12.
This latest partnership builds on other recent collaborations that the Pittsburgh firm has scored in recent months, one of the most recent of which occurred last June when the 500 youth players who make up the Pittsburgh Pirates RBI Athletes program received a free SwingTracker bat from Diamond Kinetics as part of a new partnership it formed with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"This announcement with MLB Players Inc. is a natural extension of Diamond Kinetics partnership with Major League Baseball to revolutionize player development and fan engagement," C.J. Handron, CEO of Diamond Kinetics, said in a statement.
