Marlins create 'Baseball Solutions' team within research & development department

[Ely Sussman]

Headed by a former Phillies executive, this new group of employees will be responsible for developing tools and applications for player evaluation and development.

I know, Miami Marlins fans are fed up with hearing about new hires who don't play baseball themselves. Ryan Plunkett is not going to be bat in the middle of Miami's lineup or shore up their mediocre defense. Still, this seems significant: the Marlins announced on Thursday that the Harvard University graduate has been named vice president of their Baseball Solutions group. Plunkett was plucked from the Philadelphia Phillies where he most recently served as assistant director of foundational research. Prior to that, he was a quantitative analyst.

"The Baseball Solutions group will be tasked with developing tools and applications for player evaluation and development to allow for a seamless connection between Research & Development and the entire Marlins organization," per the team's press release. 

In talking to local media about the new guy, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix added, "The implementation of all the data that we're getting is so important and Ryan is such a great fit for that...The intellectual curiosity that he showed, the leadership traits—even though he's pretty young in his career—and the culture fit that he is, he's going to enhance our culture."

Via LinkedIn, here is how Plunkett summarized his work experience with the Phillies:

Across Major League Baseball, every front office uses data to better understand what's happening on the field and to identity potential player adjustments and team strategies that can maximize their chances of winning. The separator has been (and will continue to be) which teams do the most effective job of interpreting the data and presenting it to players and coaches in a way that they actually act upon those findings to deliver better results. At least the Marlins are expanding their research and development efforts in pursuit of that.

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[Slacker Mills]

As self-appointed  chairman of the Common Sense Division, I'll go withi the players who put a bat on the ball and then run really fast.

[Slacker Mills]

19 minutes ago, Slacker Mills said:

As self-appointed  chairman of the Common Sense Division, I'll go withi the players who put a bat on the ball and then run really fast.

... like Dane Myers is doing in the Dominican Winter League right now!

[rurrusuno]

You can never go wrong with trying to improve data and analytics. It's going to be used more for businesses and companies in the future. 

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Maybe, there will be a movie in the future touting the Marlins' innovations (and successes). We'll need a wider lens. 

[Hans Herrera]

I think there is an additional “separator” between interpreting the data and executing your findings.

You will have more chances of success if you correctly get what data is showing, but at the end, you need the right players for delivering those findings.

This team is still missing 4-5 competent players from having a quality team.