Issue creating statcast database with BaseballR Package - r

Question

I am trying to create a database of all MLB statcast outcomes. For this, I am using the baseballr package made by Bill Petti https://billpetti.github.io/2020-05-26-build-statcast-database-rstats-version-2.0/. I am not connecting to a SQL database but simply making a data frame in R. I want to collect all statcast data from 2019 and 2020. First, I loaded in the necessary packages.
library(baseballr)
library(tidyverse)
Then I executed the annual_statcast_query function:
annual_statcast_query <- function(season) {
dates <- seq.Date(as.Date(paste0(season, '-03-01')),
as.Date(paste0(season, '-12-01')), by = 'week')
date_grid <- tibble(start_date = dates,
end_date = dates + 6)
safe_savant <- safely(scrape_statcast_savant)
payload <- map(.x = seq_along(date_grid$start_date),
~{message(paste0('\nScraping week of ', date_grid$start_date[.x], '...\n'))
payload <- safe_savant(start_date = date_grid$start_date[.x],
end_date = date_grid$end_date[.x], type = 'pitcher')
return(payload)
})
payload_df <- map(payload, 'result')
number_rows <- map_df(.x = seq_along(payload_df),
~{number_rows <- tibble(week = .x,
number_rows = length(payload_df[[.x]]$game_date))}) %>%
filter(number_rows > 0) %>%
pull(week)
payload_df_reduced <- payload_df[number_rows]
combined <- payload_df_reduced %>%
bind_rows()
return(combined)
}
When I ran his code for the 2019 season payload <- annual_statcast_query(2019), I could scrape the data without any problems. However, when I tried it for 2020 payload <- annual_statcast_query(2020) I encountered the error:
Error: Can't combine `spin_rate_deprecated` <logical> and `spin_rate_deprecated` <character>.
This error occurs in the last part of the annual_statcast_query function:
combined <- payload_df_reduced %>%
bind_rows()
When reading through the statcast documentation (https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/csv-docs), it appears that the variable spin_rate_depreceated was replaced by release_spin. Perhaps this is why I am encountering this error. I do not need this variable for my analysis, and the error tracing I did made it very obvious that fixing the problem is beyond my skill set as a college student.
> rlang::last_error()
<error/vctrs_error_incompatible_type>
Can't combine `spin_rate_deprecated` <logical> and `spin_rate_deprecated` <character>.
Backtrace:
1. global::annual_statcast_query(2020)
3. dplyr::bind_rows(.)
4. vctrs::vec_rbind(!!!dots, .names_to = .id)
6. vctrs::vec_default_ptype2(...)
7. vctrs:::vec_ptype2_df_fallback(x, y, opts)
8. vctrs:::vec_ptype2_params(...)
9. vctrs:::vec_ptype2_opts(x, y, opts = opts, x_arg = x_arg, y_arg = y_arg)
11. vctrs::vec_default_ptype2(...)
12. vctrs::stop_incompatible_type(...)
13. vctrs:::stop_incompatible(...)
14. vctrs:::stop_vctrs(...)
Run `rlang::last_trace()` to see the full context.
> rlang::last_trace()
<error/vctrs_error_incompatible_type>
Can't combine `spin_rate_deprecated` <logical> and `spin_rate_deprecated` <character>.
Backtrace:
x
1. +-global::annual_statcast_query(2020)
2. | \-payload_df_reduced %>% bind_rows()
3. \-dplyr::bind_rows(.)
4. \-vctrs::vec_rbind(!!!dots, .names_to = .id)
5. \-(function () ...
6. \-vctrs::vec_default_ptype2(...)
7. \-vctrs:::vec_ptype2_df_fallback(x, y, opts)
8. \-vctrs:::vec_ptype2_params(...)
9. \-vctrs:::vec_ptype2_opts(x, y, opts = opts, x_arg = x_arg, y_arg = y_arg)
10. \-(function () ...
11. \-vctrs::vec_default_ptype2(...)
12. \-vctrs::stop_incompatible_type(...)
13. \-vctrs:::stop_incompatible(...)
14. \-vctrs:::stop_vctrs(...)
Therefore, I tried to drop this variable from my database before the bind rows operation to avoid the error.
combined <- payload_df_reduced %>%
payload_df_reduced[ , !names(payload_df_reduced) %in% c("spin_rate_deprecated")] %>%
bind_rows()
However, this returned the error message:
Error in .[payload_df_reduced, , !names(payload_df_reduced) %in% c("spin_rate_deprecated")] :
incorrect number of dimensions
I am running
packageVersion("baseballr") [1] ‘0.8.3’
On R 4.03
If anyone could help me find a way to do this, that would be amazing. I am not picky about how I get this data, so I am all ears if anyone has an idea. Thank you so much!

Answer 1

To drop a column from data.frame you should do this:
payload_df_reduced %>%
select(-c(spin_rate_deprecated))
or if using your current way it should be like this
payload_df_reduced[ , !names(payload_df_reduced) %in% c("spin_rate_deprecated")]
Your current code is not work because it is incorrect grammar.
It seem that your payload_df_reduced is a list of data.frame not one data.frame. I tried to run your code but it seem you have other functions so not reproducible. Here is a theory code that you may need to adjust a bit.
combined <- map(payload_df_reduced, select, -c(spin_rate_deprecated)) %>%
bind_rows()