Organizational Intern, Major League Strategy

Department: Baseball Development
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Position Overview
The primary role of this position is to support the day-to-day production of material that enhances the strategy and preparedness of our major league coaching staff and players. This position will integrate critical thought with organizational research and resources to provide high quality information to our major league staff.

Responsibilities
Breakdown of responsibilities may vary depending on the background and strengths of the candidate. We hope to develop the selected individual based on their goals and how they can best help The Phillies. Previous responsibilities covered by this role and areas you might be able to make an impact include:

• Pre-series advance reports covering all aspects of opposing players
• Research and analysis to guide player development at the major league and minor league levels 
• Production and formatting of information cards that drive in-game strategy 
• Participation in group discussions to innovate and optimize internal processes
• Ad hoc projects to support major league coaches, Baseball Development and Baseball Operations
• Assist major league coaches with carrying out player training and preparation routines 

Required Qualifications:

• Careful attention to detail and strong problem-solving aptitude
• Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills
• Strong foundational knowledge in modern baseball analysis and evaluation
• Ability to multitask and meet strict deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to work effectively and collaboratively in a team setting
• Must be able to work flexible hours, including holidays, weekends and evenings as needed
• Must be based in or willing to relocate to Philadelphia for the duration of the 2024 season

Preferred Qualifications:

• Fluency in Spanish 
• Proficiency in SQL, R, and/or Python
• Experience building models and/or making rigorous predictions about on-field outcomes
• Experience interacting with statistical forecasts and providing information additive to existing processes

Interested applicants should submit both their resume, cover letter, and an answer to the following question:

Who is the best defender in Major League Baseball? Explain your reasoning. Please limit your response to 300 words.

Tip: There’s no defined right or wrong answer. Responses are used to get some insight into your thoughts on what is important in Baseball Development.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Philadelphia Phillies.

For much of Wednesday night, it appeared as though the World Series might head back to Texas, as Zac Gallen held the Rangers hitless for six innings in a dominant and impressive Game 5 performance, particularly given the circumstances. The Rangers came to life with a quick flurry of three hits off Gallen in the seventh inning, however, scratching out a run. They added four more in the ninth to pull away with a 5-0 win, giving them their first championship in franchise history.

There’s a lot to be said about that championship. Here are five thoughts — on the team’s turnaround from ignominy, their long wait, their road to victory, their postseason stars, and their Hall of Fame-bound manager — that I hope add some history and perspective to their accomplishment. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure it feels fantastic to win a Cy Young or Most Valuable Player award. It’s all your hard work and dedication to your craft being rewarded at the highest possible level. Aaron Judge has won an MVP award himself after swatting 62 home runs in 2022. But this year, he was honored with an even more prestigious award — one separate from the game, and one that is dedicated to one of the most altruistic professional athletes of any generation, Roberto Clemente.

Each year, one player from every team is nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award, and one is honored as the recipient. Here are the criteria, via MLB.com: “The Roberto Clemente Award is bestowed annually to the player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

Winning this award is an incredible achievement for Judge, who started the ALL RISE Foundation in 2018 and has been a pioneer in supporting the Bronx, Fresno County, San Joaquin County, and his childhood home of Linden, California. The foundation facilitates several initiatives and programs including but not limited to student leadership development, youth character, health and well-being, and much more. Developing communities and providing the youth with the resources they need to become future leaders is at the crux of the foundation.

Judge is the first Yankees player to receive the award since Derek Jeter in 2009. Many baseball stars know the importance of using their resources to imbue the qualities of somebody like Clemente. But it is even more important for somebody like Jeter or Judge as public persons representing New York. Clemente is a hero, a legend — whatever word you want to use — to Puerto Ricans (and Latin America in general). And when I refer to Puerto Ricans, I’m talking about both those on the island and those who have migrated to the states, especially New York (Nuyoricans), of which there are many. Read the rest of this entry »

In Game 4 of the NLCS, Torey Lovullo ran out of starting pitchers, so he sent Joe Mantiply out there, and decided to mix and match with the rest of his relievers until the game was either won or lost. And it worked. Phillies manager Rob Thomson also went to his bullpen early, and before too long we had a close matchup of dueling bullpens. The hope in such a strategy is merely to survive to see the endgame, and pit one’s high-leverage relievers against the opponent’s offense, just as would be the case with a conventional starter.

Both teams got that far. Andrew Saalfrank had a little bit of a meltdown, but Orion Kerkering and Craig Kimbrel had a big meltdown, so the Diamondbacks won. Faced with an identical conundrum in Game 4 of the World Series, Lovullo played “Freebird” again and called on Mantiply once more.

How did it go? Not too badly for Mantiply, who was a bit unlucky to take the loss after striking out three batters and allowing two hits in an inning and a third. But after that, the Arizona bullpen imploded like an overripe tomato under the wheel of a dump truck. Read the rest of this entry »

The last of the extant pre-divisional era franchises to not have won the World Series has finally hoisted their own trophy, as the Texas Rangers shut down the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-0, to score the team’s first championship. Texas’ starter, Nathan Eovaldi, was shaky in the early going, but every last one of Arizona’s runners were stranded on the basepaths, and the shelling of Paul Sewald in the ninth sealed the deal with insurance runs.

If you just watched the starting pitchers, Eovaldi and Zac Gallen, for the first five innings on Wednesday night, you might be surprised that the series didn’t find its way back to Texas. The Rangers entered Game 5 having won all five of Eovaldi’s starts this postseason, but it was Gallen who looked to have the advantage early on. Eovaldi’s control was spotty. He allowed five walks over five innings, the most free passes he’s issued in a decade, going back to when he was a hard-throwing Marlins prospect who had trouble putting away batters. Read the rest of this entry »

Tommy Pham got benched this postseason. That probably sounds weird to you, and for good reason. He’s been one of Arizona’s most consistent players in the World Series, with hits in every game and a boatload of loud contact. But not so long ago – Game 5 of the NLCS, to be precise – Torey Lovullo sent Pham to the bench and didn’t even call on him to pinch-hit.

Why? It’s pretty simple: Pham wasn’t hitting. He struck out six times in his first 13 plate appearances of the championship series. More broadly, he was mired in a postseason-long funk. He was hitting .229/.250/.314 in October, and his peripherals were somehow even worse than that. He posted a 2.8% walk rate and 30.6% strikeout rate. His chase rate was up five percentage points compared to the regular season. His hard-hit rate was down, albeit in a tiny sample. Don’t write this off as merely a random blip; Pham was legitimately playing worse, and the poor results were a natural consequence.

While Torey Lovullo phrased it as more of a rest day – “I just was giving him a little bit of a blow,” he told Sam Blum – I think there was a little more to it than that. Zack Wheeler, the pitcher that night, has an expansive arsenal, but against righties, he tends to feature his sinker and sweeper. Sinkers might be Pham’s greatest weakness. Read the rest of this entry »

The Rangers’ Game 3 win proved costly and bittersweet, as both starter Max Scherzer and right fielder Adolis García departed due to injuries. General manager Chris Young and manager Bruce Bochy chose to treat the losses with the urgency befitting a team in hot pursuit of a championship, so prior to Tuesday night’s Game 4, both were replaced on the active roster, officially ending the seasons of a prospective Game 7 starter and record-setting cleanup hitter. Lefty reliever Brock Burke and utilityman Ezequiel Duran were anointed to replace them, ensuring Bochy a full complement of 26 able bodies.

The Rangers waited until an hour before gametime to announce the moves, which added an element of surprise to the situation, though had the injuries occurred during the regular season, the replacement of both players would have been a foregone conclusion. From the vantage point of the 10–0 lead the Rangers built by the third inning of Game 4 and the 11–7 victory that pushed them to within one win of a championship, the absences were felt, albeit not quite in the manner one might have expected. Burke pitched briefly and badly, and Duran remained a bystander as Travis Jankowski picked up the slack in García’s stead. Read the rest of this entry »

Direct Links (Please see full job postings below):

Software Engineer
Data Engineer

Software Engineer, Baseball Systems

DEPARTMENT: Baseball Operations: Research & Development – Baseball Systems
REPORTS TO: Director, Baseball Systems
FLSA STATUS: Exempt

Description:
The Chicago Cubs Baseball Systems Department is seeking to potentially fill a Baseball Systems Software Engineer position. We are a department focused on creating innovative software tools and data solutions that directly impact all facets of baseball operations and are used by scouts, coaches, players, player development staff, and the baseball operations front office. This role will focus on the development and maintenance of those systems, including creating web interfaces and web tools for the user interface; assisting in mobile application development; and building automated ETL processes which feed it.

Responsibilities:

• Assist in the design and implementation of web interfaces for the Baseball Ops information system

• Assist with building data visualizations for baseball users

• Develop and maintain ETL processes for loading, processing, and quality-checking new data sources

• Build and/or support mobile-friendly user interfaces and experiences

• Build and/or support web services and business-layer applications that speak to both back-end databases and front-end interfaces

• Provide development support and guidance to Baseball Operations power users and general support to all Baseball Operations front-office and field personnel, as needed

• Examine, and where appropriate, prototype new technologies in the pursuit of creating competitive advantages through software, applications, and tools

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or Related Subjects

• Experience with modern web-development practices, including HTML/CSS and/or front-end Javascript frameworks such as ReactJS, Angular or Vue

• Expertise in Python, Java, C# or a similar language

• Expertise with modern database technologies and SQL

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience in building and deploying cloud technologies (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.)

• Experience in DevOps practices, including CI/CD, automated testing, and infrastructure as code

• Experience building web or native applications for mobile devices

• Experience building and supporting ETL processes

• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and sabermetric concepts

Response Expectations:
Due to the overwhelming number of applications we receive, we unfortunately may not be able to respond in person to each applicant. However, we can assure you that you will receive an email confirmation when you apply as well as additional email notifications whether you are selected to move forward for the position or not. Please note, we keep all resumes on file and will contact you should we wish to schedule an interview with you.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Data Engineer, Baseball Systems

DEPARTMENT: Baseball Operations: Research & Development – Baseball Systems
REPORTS TO: Director, Baseball Systems
FLSA STATUS: Exempt

Description:
The Chicago Cubs Baseball Systems Department is seeking to potentially fill a Baseball Systems Data Engineer position. We are a department focused on creating innovative software tools and data solutions that directly impact all facets of baseball operations and are used by scouts, coaches, players, player development staff, and the baseball operations front office. This role will focus on the import and maintenance of the Chicago Cubs baseball information system data warehouse, including building automated ETL processes which feed it; maintaining back-end databases; automating data quality checks; and troubleshooting data source issues.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain ETL processes for loading and processing new data sources

• Create automated processes to identify data integrity problems

• Diagnose and resolve data source issues

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or Related Subjects

• Expertise with modern database technologies and SQL

• Expertise in Python, Java, C# or a similar language

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• High level of attention to detail

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience building and supporting ETL processes

• Experience with Airflow or related scheduling tools

• Experience working in a Linux environment

• Experience working with cloud-based computing

• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and sabermetric concepts

• Knowledge of statistical concepts

Response Expectations:
Due to the overwhelming number of applications we receive, we unfortunately may not be able to respond in person to each applicant. However, we can assure you that you will receive an email confirmation when you apply as well as additional email notifications whether you are selected to move forward for the position or not. Please note, we keep all resumes on file and will contact you should we wish to schedule an interview with you.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Chicago Cubs.

Do you like pitchers? Of course you do – you’re reading a recap of a World Series game on FanGraphs. Good news, then: Game 4 had so many pitchers. Swingmen, high-leverage guys, LOOGYs, ROOGYs, forgotten starters who had accumulated a light covering of dust throughout the playoffs, closers, setup men. You name it, this one had it. Unless, of course, you were rooting for the Diamondbacks.

When bullpen games work, a whirling mass of relievers traipse onto the mound and befuddle the hitters. When bullpen games don’t work, a whirling mass of relievers still traipse onto the mound, but with significantly less befuddling. Tuesday was one of those nights.

Joe Mantiply started off smoothly for the Diamondbacks, with four outs among the first six hitters. The bottom of the lineup was up, but Mantiply had already thrown 28 pitches, and Torey Lovullo started the bullpen carousel. Miguel Castro came in – and then things fell apart.

Castro retired the first batter he faced, but he just didn’t have it. Even that at-bat featured spotty command, and things got worse from there. With Leody Taveras batting, Castro uncorked a wild pitch that allowed a run to score. Then he walked Taveras. Then Travis Jankowski, who had only batted twice this postseason and was only in the lineup due to Adolis García’s oblique injury, laced a line drive single. Suddenly Texas’ best hitters were up with a chance to do damage. Read the rest of this entry »

Luke Little was an afterthought when our 2023 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects list came out in early July. Pitching for Double-A Tennessee at the time, the now–23-year-old southpaw garnered no more than an honorable mention on a list that ran 52 players deep. His stock has since risen markedly. By season’s end, he had earned a big league cup of coffee and thrown 6.2 scoreless innings over seven appearances. Featuring a high-octane heater and a sweeper delivered from a low arm slot, he fanned a dozen batters and allowed just five hits.

His numbers across three levels of the minor leagues were every bit as impressive. Over 36 appearances, all but four as a reliever, the 2020 fourth-round pick out of San Jacinto College had 105 strikeouts and surrendered 40 hits in 63.2 innings. He’s an imposing figure on the mound: The Charlotte, North Carolina native stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 270 pounds.

Little discussed his repertoire and delivery prior to a late-September game at Wrigley Field.

———

David Laurila: Who are you on the mound? For instance, do you identify as a power pitcher?

Luke Little: “I like to think I’m a power pitcher. Obviously, I throw hard. At the same time, I like to think that I have good offspeed pitches. I’ve been really comfortable with my slider, and I’ve also got a good feel for my splitter now, although I haven’t thrown it too much.”

Laurila: How hard are you throwing?

Little: “Last night [September 19 against the Pirates], I sat 97 [mph] with my fastball, and my slider was 81–82. I was up to 99 with my fastball at the beginning of the year, [which is] the hardest I’ve ever thrown, when I was a starter [with High-A South Bend].” Read the rest of this entry »