The Nationals have signed free-agent catcher Kurt Suzuki for two years and $10 million. The Nationals have had Kurt Suzuki before. In August 2012, they got him from the A’s. In August 2013, they sent him back to the A’s. In between, he batted 445 times, with a backup catcher’s slash line. Suzuki is now 35 years old, and he spent a long time as a relatively unremarkable catcher, by major-league standards. Never good enough or bad enough to stand out. I still don’t think Suzuki stands out in any way in the public consciousness, but when you look at the numbers, his career has taken a turn.

Over the past two seasons, out of all regular and semi-regular catchers, Suzuki the hitter ranks fourth in wRC+. First place is only four points away. His wRC+ ranks above that of Gary Sanchez. It ranks above that of J.T. Realmuto. It ranks above that of Willson Contreras. I don’t mean to suggest that Suzuki and Realmuto are one and the same or anything, but statistics reflect performance, and for the most part, performance reflects ability. Suzuki has had the ability to be this productive, over 661 plate appearances.

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Position: Baseball Operations Intern

Location: Minneapolis, MN

About Inside Edge:
Inside Edge Scouting Services specializes in data capture and analytics down to the finest details of every Major League game. Major league clubs, media, and other clients subscribe to Inside Edge’s real-time pitch-by-pitch data, custom-tailored reports, and advanced analytic tools to gain an edge on their competition. They provide a fun, fast-paced work environment and an opportunity to get started on a career in baseball and differentiate yourself from other job seekers. Past interns have gone on to positions with both major league clubs and media organizations.

Position Description:
Candidates filling this position will gain valuable experience with technologies and processes increasing their qualifications to work in baseball and the broader sports industry. Hires can expect to begin training March 8. Interns will need to make a commitment to working most nights, weekends, and holidays over the course of the season.

Key areas of responsibility:

• Participate in a rigorous training program before the season starts
• Use Inside Edge software to enter and crosscheck live pitch and scoring data
• Mark actions to be reviewed by supervisors
• Add, review, and update qualitative player notes
• Review video replay ensuring integrity of charted data
• Update internal Inside Edge logs and databases
• Generate end of game reports

Qualifications:
While in-depth training will be provided, candidates need a strong understanding of both the basics and subtleties of baseball games, and will be required to quickly and accurately recognize pitch types, locations, and scoring data.

Wages and term of employment:

• The position runs March 7 through the end of the 2019 regular season (September 29th)
• Starting compensation is $9.86 per hour

To Apply:

• Fill out Inside Edge’s online screening.
• Send an email with your resume to r.moore@inside-edge.com. Feel free to include supplemental information and a quick note on what you’re including. A cover letter is unnecessary.
• Depending on the results, Inside Edge will contact you for a resume and to set up an interview.

A timeline for the hiring process can be found here.

Position: Miami Marlins Baseball Analytics Intern

Location: Jupiter, Florida

Description:
The Analytics Intern will assist Baseball Operations decision-making through the analysis and research of baseball information. The specific day-to-day responsibilities of this position will vary depending on the baseball calendar, but will revolve around analyzing data to answer baseball-related questions. A competitive candidate will possess an established foundation of statistical, programming, and database skills. The position will report to the Director of Analytics.

Essential Functions:

• Research and develop predictive models to support Baseball Operations in player evaluation, roster construction, and in-game strategies.
• Expand upon Marlins analytical strategy by creating new data models, metrics, applications, and reports.
• Improve and refine existing processes for the Baseball Operations Department.
• Perform ad-hoc research projects as requested.
• Present results in a complete, concise, and engaging manner.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Strong work ethic, attention to detail, and ability to self-direct.
• Demonstrated baseball research, experience visualizing data, and/or strong technical acumen.
• Ability to communicate baseball analytics concepts to individuals with diverse baseball backgrounds, including coaches, scouts, and executives.
• Understanding of and passion for the game of baseball.
• High level of familiarity with the current state of baseball research.
• Meaningful work experience with Tableau, SQL Server, R, and/or Python.
• Ability to work extended hours including evenings, weekends, and holidays from February – October 2019.

Suggested Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, engineering, applied math, physics, computer science, operations research, or related field.
• Understanding of advanced forecasting techniques is strongly preferred.
• Experience with a scripting language (e.g. PowerShell, Ruby, Perl) is preferred.
• Ability and desire to learn other programming languages as needed.
• Baseball/softball playing experience is a plus.

Please note, this position is paid.

To Apply:
Please email materials (resume, cover letter, research, etc.) to marlinsanalyticsjobs@gmail.com.

As the FanGraphs prospect team starts to roll out team lists this off season, we’ve updated THE BOARD! to include team lists as they are published. You also might notice we did an update on the interface.

Important Notes:

• Team Lists will be added as they are published. Once all 30 lists and the Top 100 prospects are published, the Team Lists will just become the preseason 2019 list.
• The Scouting section for 2019 is split into position players and pitchers. This is to accommodate the addition of columns for Tommy John surgery date and spin rate for pitchers.
• The MLB Organization and Position selection now behaves like our splits tool. If you select one team, say the Padres, it will only show players in the Padres organization. If you were to click on another team, say the Braves, it will show you players in both the Padres’ and the Braves’ organization.
• You can now search for players within a board using the search box. The search function is limited to the current board, so it won’t find a player on the 2018 International board if you have the 2019 Team Lists loaded. It’s effectively a custom filter that filters on the player’s name and signing/college information.
• A .csv data file of the current board with associated filters can be exported from the top right corner of the data grid.

Position: Software Developer, Baseball Informatics

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Description:
The Developer will design, code, and maintain software solutions that allow Baseball Operations to translate information into actionable insights used by decision makers.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the design and creation of software systems that will be utilized by Baseball Operations staff.
• Makes use of the existing frameworks in use and data assets within Baseball Operations.
• Makes use of Pirates’ standards and industry best practices to implement elegant and high performance code.
• Participate in gathering and documenting requirements for existing and new software systems in Baseball Operations.
• Understand business processes, required outcomes, and decisions that will be impacted by our use of the software you create and maintain.
• Work with other Informatics developers, interns and consultants in the maintenance and extension of the software development frameworks and tools utilized.
• Be capable in both front-end design and coding techniques as well as service oriented back-end development.
• Assist in evaluating software development tools and techniques for use by Baseball Operations.
• Develop and maintain familiarity with baseball metrics and research.
• All other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements:
Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field
• A minimum of two (2) years experience developing software

Desired:

• Experience with Angular 2+
• Mobile UI Design in React Native, Xamarin or similar
• Knowledge of SQL, preferably SQL Server and writing stored procedures and functions
• RESTful Web Service Design

To Apply:
To apply, please visit this site and complete the application.

What follows is simply a list of prospects who exceeded rookie-eligibility requirements in 2018. They are sorted into FV tiers (as listed at time of graduation) but not ranked within those tiers. Note the players whom we missed in the “Not Ranked” section at the bottom of the list. Lou Trivino (dominant reliever, probably should have been a 45 FV) and Niko Goodrum (a multipositional bat, typically a 45 FV for us) are prominent whiffs. Several of the 35 FV players were graded more highly in previous years (Fletcher, Laureano, O’Hearn, Palka) and they are a lesson in impatience and over-correction. Also take a gander at this piece from last winter, which I think has aged pretty well, especially the list of middle infielders.

Position: Baseball Systems Developer

Department: Baseball Operations

Reports To: Application Development Specialist, Baseball Systems

Job Description:
The Baseball Systems Developer will be responsible for developing, maintaining, testing and implementing web based, packaged, and/or mobile applications to support the Baseball Operations staff. The Systems Developer reviews, analyzes and develops information systems including planning, design, develop, testing, debugging and installation to support the applications and systems of the organization. May be expected to write documentation to describe program development, logic, coding, and corrections.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Work with the Information Technology department, Baseball Systems Development staff, Analytics staff, and senior Baseball Operations staff to understand department needs and develop technical solutions that integrate existing and future applications into the organization’s information systems.
• Employ an iterative software development approach to ensure quick roll-out along with incremental improvements to baseball systems over time.
• Create specifications through gathering and documentation of user requirements as needed.
• Work with Baseball Operations staff to prototype and implement user interfaces that are efficient, user-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing.
• Provide time estimates for programming tasks based on defined project scope.
• Develop responsive web, mobile, and desktop applications while making use of industry best practices and recommended coding standards to write clear, readable, and efficient code.
• Ensure code quality with the use of automated unit and integration testing.
• Responsible for training staff on use of system, including in-person training or videos, and development and maintenance of a reference manual as needed.
• Provide ongoing support and troubleshooting of all baseball systems, including upgrades to take advantage of new technology.
• Adhere to Reds Information Technologies security standards, support protocols, and server hardware/software build outs.

Experience, Education and Licensure:

• Minimum of a BS or equivalent in Computer Science, Information Systems or equivalent; advanced degree preferred.
• A minimum of 2 years of experience developing enterprise level applications utilizing the Microsoft technology stack including the Microsoft .NET framework.
• Requires past working experience in all phases of the systems development life cycle (SDLC), including planning, designing, developing, testing, and deployment of information systems.
• Interface successfully with functional users and clients.
• Proven track record of building customer relationships.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Proficient in Microsoft .NET using C# and WebAPI/MVC Framework.
• Experience using web technologies particularly HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript.
• Knowledge and experience with at least one Javascript application framework such as AngularJS, Vue.js, React, or similar framework.
• Mobile development, relational SQL knowledge, and cloud services are nice to have skills.
• Ability to apply business and industry knowledge to internal applications, databases and systems.
• Additionally, the position requires developing, reporting from, and integrating existing applications.
• Passion for baseball, strong intellectual curiosity, and ability to work with a team framework highly desired.
• Candidate must be available to work non-traditional hours (various nights, weekends, holidays)

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.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application found here.

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, disability, citizenship status, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by law.

Position: Analyst, Baseball Research

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Statistical modeling and quantitative analysis to aid in the creation and improvement of models/tools for decision making in player development, game strategy, scouting, trades and free agency.
• Assist R&D department with data and model quality assurance.
• Prepare reports and presentations to disseminate information throughout baseball operations.
• Facilitate greater knowledge within R&D department of modeling best practices.
• Perform ad hoc quantitative projects to support baseball operations.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in mathematics, statistics, economics, physics or other quantitative field.
• 1-5 years of full-time work experience in a quantitative field.
• Data analyst experience: ability to interpret and analyze statistics.
• Exceptional skill communicating complex statistical concepts.
• Experience with statistical programs such as R, Python, Matlab, SPSS, Stata.

To Apply:
Please visit this site to complete an application.

It’s difficult, as a human person, not to arrive at the conclusion that the world is riddled with injustice. Epictetus felt it keenly. Marcus Aurelius felt it keenly. Owing to the infancy of medical science at the time, probably a lot of other ancients felt it keenly, as well.

Among those feeling it keenly in the year 2018, however, seems to be Cincinnati reliever David Hernandez. On Thursday, the winners of the Silver Slugger Award were announced. Hernandez, it seems, was unimpressed by the results.

It should be noted immediately that Michael Lorenzen and Hernandez were teammates in 2018, so there’s certainly a case to be made that bias is at play here. It should also be noted that, in this case, the “people” who “vote on awards” are major-league managers and coaches. These are important points to establish.

What’s also probably important to establish is that Hernandez, whatever the weaknesses of his rhetorical style, doesn’t lack for evidence.

This is the batting-runs leaderboard for pitchers from 2018. Batting runs account for everything that occurs at the plate. Walk? That’s a way to first base. Grounder to third? That’s also included, in its way. Most of the leaders here have a figure that’s just above zero because most pitchers regress to something even worse than that that.

Not Lorenzen, though. Over 34 plate appearances this year, he hit four homers and slashed .290/.333/.710. Overall, he recorded the top batting line of the year among pitchers with as few as 10 plate appearances:

The actual winner of the Silver Slugger, blameless German Marquez, did reach the .300 threshold, but he also recorded just a single extra-bast hit — a homer off a position player pitching — this season. Lorenzen, on the other hand, hit a double and four homers in roughly half the plate appearances.

Homers like this one, after a weird bunt thing:

There are certainly moments when one is wrong to feel aggrieved. For right-hander David Hernandez, however, this isn’t one of them. His teammate Michael Lorenzen both (a) probably deserved but also (b) didn’t win the Silver Slugger Award for pitchers. An injustice has probably occurred. A minor, minor, minor injustice.

The Houston Astros announced Tuesday afternoon that pitcher Lance McCullers was to undergo Tommy John surgery, causing him to miss the entire 2019 season.

Because fate is crueler to pitchers than German fairy tales are to misbehaving children (in some traditions, Santa Claus has sidekicks who actually eat kids), it’s never a surprise to hear of a pitcher going under the knife. It’s true that Tommy John surgeries have a solid success rate, with the majority of pitchers returning to the mound and resuming their careers — mostly where they were left off. The prospect of elbow surgery certainly isn’t as frightening as various shoulder operations, which are sufficiently risky and cruel that none have a pitcher’s name affixed to them. Still, nobody wants to miss a year-plus of their career due to a medical issue. For the Houston Astros, this complicates both their short- and long-term rotation plans.

One of the reasons the Astros were such a dangerous team in 2018 was the depth of the starting rotation. With the additions of both Justin Verlander and then Gerrit Cole in a six-month period, the team had too many starter — something about which nobody in history has ever complained. It gave them the luxury of being able to absorb some nasty surprises. Without the rotation staying healthier than in 2017, the Astros happily used Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock nearly exclusively as relievers, with sexy results.

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