Brian Bannister loves science and technology so much that he eats E = mc2 for breakfast.

Brian Bannister is the furthest thing from Stephen Strasburg. Instead of overpowering hitters with a 100-mph fastball, Bannister relies on scientific methods. Whereas Strasburg likely looked up to fireballers like Roger Clemens as a young boy, the 29-year-old Royals pitcher probably modeled his game after Isaac Newton.

Bannister, who currently boasts a 6-5 record with an ERA of 5.70 and scored an 800 on the math portion of his SAT, has traded in his heater for a technological advancement called PITCHf/x in hopes of prolonging his MLB career. "In '08, I was trying to strike out more people ... Then I started trying to sink the ball. I had no idea what I was doing ... PITCHf/x, that was the missing link," Bannister said. In case you aren't familiar with it, PITCHf/x is a system used to determine the speed of a thrown baseball exactly at the time it is released, as well as locate its movements to an accuracy of an inch. Basically, it's something Doc Brown would've cooked up in his lab had he been a baseball geek.


The graphs produced on PITCHf/x enables Bannister to study his own pitches and make adjustments as well as learn from the game's top aces. Using Roy Halladay's perfect game as an example, we can deduce Doc rarely used off-speed pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat and often varied his pitch speeds and movements (notice the four different locations). Now, if you look at Bannister's last outing, you'll notice the majority of his pitches lack movement (0 inches) and are often thrown at the same speed (87-90-mph). Lesson learned: varying your speeds and pitch movement can result in baseball history.

Of course, Bannister doesn't expect to be the next Doc Halladay; he just wants to extend his career. "I'm almost the prototype No. 4 starter ... I watched my dad and saw what it's like to have average stuff and get the most out of it," said Bannister.

Meanwhile, if Bannister's commitment to PITCHf/x doesn't lead to MLB success he could always contact Bill Nye the Science Guy in hopes of adding a fourth pitch. On top of being a die-hard Nats fan, the Science Guy knows a thing or two about gravity and could likely increase the movement on Bannister's sinker.

Ultimately, Bannister's goal is to get the information to the younger generation. "The only way it's going to happen is if I write a book about it," he says. "When it becomes conversation among Little League coaches, I'll know I've made it." As for the name of the book, how about: "The Portrait of a Science Pitcher As a Young Royal."