Jose Altuve takes off, running as fast as he can down the line. The throw is coming in faster, sailing toward the bag. You can tell it’s going to be a close call, and indeed it is. The umpire extends his arms, signaling safe, and the crowd erupts into either emphatic cheers or cacophonous boos, depending on whether this hypothetical call takes place in Houston or Philadelphia. The whole play lasts only a few short seconds, but it’s one of the most thrilling moments of the entire game.

What I am describing is an infield hit — one of the most overlooked plays in baseball. It’s not surprising that home runs, extra-base hits and the like get a little more attention, especially since infield hits are just as often the result of poor defense or a lucky bounce as they are the result of true offensive skill. Yet as individual plays, infield singles are exactly what make baseball so exciting. There are few batted ball events as highly suspenseful as those in which an infield hit is possible. Those four to five seconds between the contact and the call can get your heart racing nearly as fast as the runner himself. Infield hits represent a true battle between batter, fielder, and even the field itself. On top of that, the ever-present possibility of an infield single is exactly what makes every routine ground ball worth watching.

This year, we have the privilege of watching two of the very best infield hitters in the game face off in the World Series. Altuve and Jean Segura are the active leaders in infield hits, the former with 247 and the latter right behind him with 244. They both passed Elvis Andrus on the active leaderboard this season, who himself reached the top of the leaderboard when Hunter Pence retired in 2020. FanGraphs began tracking infield hits in 2002, and in that time Segura and Altuve each rank among the top ten. Both just 32 years old, they have plenty of time to climb the ranks, too. Within a few years, they should find themselves second and third behind only infield hit god Ichiro Suzuki. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to a moment to appreciate how they both got here. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello there! Here’s a graph.

Were you not geared up for such a quick graph? Did I blow it right by you? That was kind of the point. The graph shows the run value of fastballs, bucketed in 1-mph increments. Over the past four seasons, for every 100 fastballs thrown, one tick of velocity has been worth roughly an eighth of a run. The lesson? Throw your fastballs fast.

I’ll stick to fastballs in this article, but I should mention that harder soft stuff is also associated with better outcomes, though the correlation is weaker and the effect is less dramatic. My number crunching indicates that over 100 breaking and offspeed pitches, an extra mile per hour is worth roughly 1/16 of a run. Read the rest of this entry »

Director, Performance Technology

Location: Citi Field – Queens, New York
Status: Full time

Summary:
The New York Mets are seeking a Director, Performance Technology to lead the team responsible for driving the Baseball Operations Department’s use of technology to improve decision making and outcomes across player performance and health, player evaluation, and player development. The Performance Technology Director will oversee the sports science and biomechanics functions within Baseball Operations and will work closely with personnel in Baseball Analytics, Baseball Systems, Data Engineering, and High Performance on the development of models, tools, interfaces, and programming necessary to generate and present insights to players and staff in a highly actionable format. The Performance Technology Director will also collaborate with leaders across all functions within Baseball Operations to successfully develop and implement value-adding technology solutions within those areas. The ideal candidate has worked in a senior sports science or biomechanics role working with elite athletes and possesses extensive experience in evaluating, developing, and implementing technology solutions in that space.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Partner with senior leadership to shape the roadmap for the Performance Technology Department and own its execution
• Oversee the construction and operation of performance labs at the Mets’ Florida complex and at Citi Field
• Hire and manage a team that will operate lab environments and conduct data capture and research
• Oversee the department’s efforts in sports science and biomechanics, optimizing athlete performance and availability through technology and research-driven methods
• Work with analysts and engineers on the development of models, tools, and software designed to generate actionable insights and convey them effectively to players and staff  
• Work closely with leadership across Baseball Operations to improve systems and processes by identifying problems and developing and implementing technology-driven solutions
• Ensure the organization has a high awareness of the performance technology landscape and, through a strong process for vetting and testing technology, that it is well-positioned to be an early adopter of high-value technology
• Manage the department’s budget and make investment recommendations to senior leadership
• Collaborate with Point72’s Technology Innovation team on the identification and evaluation of emerging technologies with potential applications to baseball
• Contribute to and help foster a culture of innovation throughout all of Baseball Operations

Qualifications:

• PhD in Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering, Kinesiology or other related disciplines or equivalent experience
• Experience leading and managing a team
• Experience working with athletes in an elite athletic environment (baseball-specific experience is a plus)
• 8+ years relevant professional experience
• Deep knowledge of the performance technology space, including, but not limited to, marker-based and marker less motion capture, wearables, and sensors
• Experience with research design and conducting scientific research
• Ability to work cooperatively with others, and to take control of large-scale projects with little or no daily oversight
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with front-end development and product management is a plus
• Proficiency in R, Python, or other statistical computing languages is a plus
• Experience with algorithm development and AI/ML and computer vision-based solutions is a plus
• Experience working for a technology company on technology for athletic performance is a plus

The above information is intended to describe the general nature, type, and level of work to be performed. The information is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required for this position. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. The individual selected may perform other related duties as assigned or requested.

The New York Mets recognize the importance of a diverse workforce and value the unique qualities individuals of various backgrounds and experiences can offer to the Organization. Our continued success depends heavily on the quality of our workforce. The Organization is committed to providing employees with the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the New York Mets.

International Scouting Analyst

Job Title: International Scouting Analyst
Department: Baseball Operations – International Scouting
Reports To: Assistant Director, Player Development & International Scouting
FLSA: Salary, Exempt

Job Purpose:
To support the International Scouting Department through statistical research and analysis,
video and data capture, scouting coverage, statistical research and analysis, and administrative duties.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and integrate new tools and technology to improve decision-making processes.
• Advanced statistical analysis of players.
• Coordinate data intake from multiple countries.
• Operate various tracking technologies to evaluate players.
• Introductory-level player evaluation, including scouting and writing reports on assignment.
• Assist with video and high-frame rate video capture of pitchers and hitters.
• Edit, trim, and combine video clips.
• General administrative, logistical, and organizational support for International Scouting processes.
• Complete necessary documents and administrative duties in a professional and thorough manner.
• Coordinate efficient travel arrangements.
• Complete expense reports in a timely and professional manner.
• Full and complete knowledge of Major League Baseball rules and regulations.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong work ethic and willingness to work long, flexible hours including weekends and holidays.
• Advanced baseball knowledge from both a scouting and statistical perspective.
• Ability to understand and interpret TrackMan and Rapsodo data.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Knowledge of statistical analysis and/or predictive modeling.
• Demonstrated experience with database querying (SQL) and statistical software (e.g. R, Python).
• Understanding of typical baseball data structures and knowledge of current baseball research, statistics and strategy.
• Ability to communicate effectively with all aspects of Baseball Operations, Scouting, and Player Development.
• Independent judgment and ability to multitask is required to plan, prioritize, and organize diversified workload.
• Ability to work as part of a team.

Experience, Education and Licensure

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Experience playing and/or working in college and/or professional baseball/softball preferred.
• Basic understanding of video management, storage and backup preferred.

Requirements:

• Spoken and written fluency in English. 
• Spanish fluency preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel within and out of the United States for extended periods of time and occasionally on short notice.
• Willing to relocate within the United States if necessary to meet the needs of the organization.

Expectations:

• Adhere to Cincinnati Reds Organization Policies and Procedures.
• Act as a role model within and outside the Cincinnati Reds Organization.
• Perform duties as workload necessitates.
• Demonstrate flexible and efficient time management and ability to prioritize workload.
• Meet department productivity standards.
• Willingness to learn. Open to new methodologies. 

Equal Opportunity Statement:
The Cincinnati Reds are an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is the policy of the Cincinnati Reds to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or creed, sex, age, military or veteran status, disability, citizenship status, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by law.

Disclaimer:
The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position. The above description is only a summary of the typical functions of the job, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible job responsibilities, tasks, and duties. Additional duties, as assigned, may become part of the job function. The duties listed above is, therefore, a partial representation not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cincinnati Reds.

Intern, Baseball Operations

Location: Arlington, TX

Summary:
It’s fun to work in a company where people truly BELIEVE in what they’re doing!

We’re committed to bringing passion and customer focus to the business.

The Texas Rangers Baseball Club is seeking interns for next season including a number of roles beginning in January or May.

Responsibilities would include but not limited to:

• Assist in maintaining database and querying reports, including but not limited to data entry, data quality assurance, database queries, and other administrative tasks as necessary.
• Assist Major League Operations Department in Arbitration preparation and maintaining payroll outlooks.
• Aid in the development of tools, outputs, and presentations that both inform and help shape execution strategy for key transactional processes, including but not limited to Free Agent Signings, Trade Acquisitions, Waiver Claims, and the Rule 4 Amateur Draft and the Rule 5 Draft.
• Conduct general baseball research and look-back analyses pertaining to industry trends, league economics, and various innovative topics within the baseball operations landscape.
• Area of interest project to be worked on throughout year.
• Participate in educational program that exposes individual to multiple departments within Baseball Operations along with tasks associated with said departments.
• Assist with daily administrative tasks within multiple departments of Baseball Operations.
• Prepare information and logistics for meetings and assist with administrative and research projects.
• Operate various technology during home games.
• Assist in logistical needs related to Amateur Draft, Trade Deadline, and rehab/transactional moves as needed.
• Exposure to all areas of Baseball Operations.
• All other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Ability to multitask in stressful situations.
• Ability to relocate to Dallas-Fort Worth area.
• Availability to work nights, weekends, and holidays.
• Completed or currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree.
• Demonstrated passion for baseball.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to develop and maintain relationships.
• Familiarity with advanced baseball statistics.
• Growth oriented, desire to learn.
• Must possess highly proficient skills in the use of Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Power Point).
• Strong administrative, organizational and communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail. Meticulously completes work assignments thoroughly and in an accurate, and prompt way.
• Experience in SQL, R, Python, Tableau is a plus.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of the job.

If you like wild growth and working with happy, enthusiastic over-achievers, you’ll enjoy your career with us!

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Texas Rangers

Though the short and ugly starts of Bailey Falter and Mike Clevinger in Game 4 of the NLCS put a small dent in the numbers, thus far in the postseason we’ve seen a welcome rebound when it comes to starters preventing runs and pitching deeper into games relative to recent years. After two postseasons in which relievers threw more than half of all innings, starters have reclaimed their rightful spot atop the marquee. Even so, when it comes to October, the relievers we’ve seen have been stingier and more dominant than at any time in recent years. Thankfully, we’re seeing fewer of them — meaning fewer pitching changes and less dead time — but that’s of cold comfort to both the Mariners and Yankees.

As you can probably guess, that’s because Houston’s relief corps has been so overwhelming thus far. The Astros are 7-0 in this postseason, and while their starting pitching has been a major part of the story, their relievers have held opponents to just three runs in 33 innings (a 0.82 ERA) and a .127/.207/.227 line, with a 34.7% strikeout rate. As old friend Mike Petriello wrote recently, the staff — not just the bullpen — doesn’t have a weak link, even without having a late-inning lefty. Read the rest of this entry »

When the Astros face the Phillies in the World Series on Friday, they’ll have their hands full with a team that’s in the middle of a miracle run to the final round of the playoffs. And while Philadelphia’s lineup has plenty of potent hitters in it, if the Astros want to win their second championship in franchise history, they’ll need to have a solid plan to deal with the hottest hitter of the postseason: Bryce Harper.

Just to review: Harper has reached base in all 11 games he’s played in this postseason and collected seven multi-hit games, 11 extra-base hits, five home runs, and a 1.351 OPS that would stand as the eighth best in a single postseason in MLB history. The game-winning home run he hit in Game 5 of the NLCS is already the stuff of legends, earning him NLCS MVP honors.

That we’re seeing Harper at the height of his powers comes as somewhat of a surprise; this season hasn’t been easy for him. An elbow injury suffered in early April relegated him to designated hitting duty for nearly the entire season. An errant fastball from Blake Snell fractured his thumb in late June, costing him two months on the injured list. He wasn’t his normal self after returning from that stint on the sidelines: In 151 plate appearances from August 26 through the end of the season, he posted a meager .227/.325/.352 slash line, good for an 83 wRC+. Read the rest of this entry »

No matter how many photo ops he posed for with the retiring Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, no matter how many cameos he made in the broadcast booth, Adam Wainwright never actually said that 2022 would be his last season in professional baseball. And sure enough, as first reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wainwright will return to the Cardinals in 2023.

Surely, if Wainwright were to pitch anywhere this year, it would be here. The Cardinals, perhaps by dint of producing so many memorable players in this century, do seem to be uniquely sentimental about their old guys. And Wainwright has been pitching there so long he probably still refers to Missouri as “French Louisiana.” Still, this is no mere victory lap. Wainwright is not the all-spinning, all-conquering ace he was 10–12 years ago, but he can still pitch. This past year, in a season during which he turned 41, he finished second on the Cardinals in innings and strikeouts and 13th and 32nd in the entire league in innings and ERA-, respectively. That’s quite impressive for someone who’s older than Blade Runner.

There are two main questions regarding Wainwright’s outlook this year: What can one last season do for him; and what can he do for the Cardinals? Read the rest of this entry »

You can almost hear the hum emanating from the Astros’ player acquisition and development machine. It’s proven and precise, a system honed over 10 years that finds talent all over the place and then helps those players succeed while signing them to win-win extensions. It’s hard to say who the Astros’ core players are because they have too many, and from too many generations. They might be the best team in baseball when it comes to working with pitchers; they also have Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Jeremy Peña bolstering old hands like Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve.

The Phillies, meanwhile, should come with a sign for opposing GMs looking to emulate them: “Don’t try this at home.” The team is a high-wire act. After the previous regime mostly whiffed on developing an Astros-style new core, Dave Dombrowski arrived and worked out which pieces to keep, which to discard, and where to augment. He’s been wildly effective at it, but his options were limited by timeline. Need a new outfielder? Well, there are none in the system, so you’ll need to sign free agents and make trades. Bullpen? Hah! Better start working the phones.

The bones of a nice house were there all along – Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Rhys Hoskins, Zack Wheeler, and Aaron Nola make for a heck of a foundation – but Dombrowski found the rug that really pulls the living room together. You’d never try to build your team this way, but if you absolutely have to, Dombrowski is the man for the job. Read the rest of this entry »

Director – Software Engineering

Job Summary:
The Detroit Tigers are currently seeking a Director, Software Engineering. This role will be responsible for the development and maintenance of software projects within Baseball Operations. This position will report to the Vice President, Assistant General Manager.

Key Responsibilities:

• Perform general development and maintenance tasks for the upkeep of internally developed software products.
• Use modern software techniques and best practices in all parts of the software life cycle.
• Supervise, provide feedback, and guide project work conducted by external consultants.
• Manage the integration of baseball analysis into our proprietary tools and applications.
• Provide coverage for the maintenance of software tools for other developers as situations arise.
• Assist with the design and development of new software products.
• Monitor, identify and recommend new or emerging techniques, technologies, and algorithms. 
• Meet with vendors and make recommendations for investment in new data and technology resources.
• Other projects as directed by the Baseball Operations leadership team.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• BS degree in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, similar technical field of study, or equivalent real-time experience.
• Demonstrated knowledge in developing in a Web-based object-oriented product environment.
• Minimum of four (4) years of programming experience in and strong knowledge of the following technologies:
• Java and Developing Java Web-based Applications
• JavaScript and CSS along with related front-end technologies.
• Full Stack Development experience is highly preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge in working with medium-to-large-scale relational databases.
• Expert level SQL Skills – Microsoft SQL Server experience is a plus.
• Ability to work in all phases of the product lifecycle, from requirements gathering to design, testing, and implementation.
• Experience deploying and managing web applications in the cloud, Azure preferred.
• Ability to learn new technologies and techniques as necessary.
• Familiarity with the sport of baseball, baseball-specific data, modern statistical techniques, and sabermetric analysis.
• Demonstrated leadership and self-direction.
• Demonstrated project management, problem-solving, and teaching abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate difficult and complex concepts to colleagues possessing a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives.
• Team player.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Experience with NoSQL Databases.
• Knowledge of streaming video.
• Experience or knowledge in any of the following technologies is a plus.
• Spring applications
• REST APIs
• GraphQL APIs
• Redis
• Service Bus messaging
• JUnit and Mockito for backend test cases
• Angular JS – Version 1.x a plus
• Bootstrap
• Build Tools (Maven, Gulp, and Bower)
• GIT/BitBucket
• DevOps Pipelines and CI/CD deployments
• Karma Test Cases
• Docker and Container Services
• Site Monitoring (Azure App Insights)

Working Conditions:

• Office environment; open to remote employees. 
• Evening, weekend, and holiday hours are required.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Detroit Tigers.