Mar 07, 2017 11:48 AM EST By Johanna Michaels, UniversityHerald Reporter

Major League Baseball players can wear another device during games following the approval of the Whoop Strap. The wearable becomes the latest device pegged to efficiently monitor and track the health of players, coaches, and trainers.

The Whoop Strap is the latest device approved by the MLB. Last year, it had approved the use of two devices. These were the Motus Baseball Sleeve (wearable that tracks baseball throws) and the Zephyr Bioharness (chest strap to monitor heart and breathing rates), ESPN reported. The Whoop Strap offers the same heart monitoring features plus ambient temperature monitoring, motion and sleep data gathering, Engadget reported. Data gathered by the Whoop Strap will be stored for up three days which can be used as a reference by MLB during offseason meetings.

While the entry of the Whoop Strap should be welcome news in properly monitoring athletes and officials’ health, they will not be a requirement. Further, Whoop will have no rights to the data collected from players who eventually decide to wear it, ESPN reported. Players and teams will have equal rights in accessing information when needed. Individuals can also limit the information shared by adjusting the security settings.

While the MLB has slowly embraced the fruits of wearable technology, it remains to be seen if other sports leagues will do the same. In the NBA, there are reportedly a couple of players who have tried the device during games. These were done without permission so its continued and future use falls at the hands of the NBA bosses. The NBA does allow players to use wearable tech but only in practices and not official games.

Worth noting as well is that the Whoop Band comes at a steep price. It costs about $1,200 which already includes access to the analytics dashboard. A cheaper one was made available back in November, priced at $500 and presumably with lesser features.

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