BASEBALL ANALYTICS

Get oriented fast and start thinking like an analyst. See how the course works, what you’re building toward, and how to use real MLB frameworks and data language to begin spotting meaningful baseball metrics from day one.

• Instructor intro
• Course structure & glossary
• Assignments & final project overview
• Video: Creating a new metric

Get fluent in the language of baseball analytics and how front offices make decisions. You’ll break down roles, contracts, and service time — then put it into practice by calculating real player pay and debating multi-year deals like an analyst in the room.

• Front office structure & decision-making
• Research, development, analyst roles
• Basic rules & vocabulary
• Players: Service time & payment 
• Workshop: Calculating Major League Service & total pay
• Workshop: Discussing the terms of a multi-year contract
• Discussion: Major League Service & its importance for analysis

See where sports data comes from, who uses it, and how it moves from raw numbers to decisions teams trust. You’ll explore real-world datasets, tools, and metrics, and understand how data gets matched, cleaned, and applied to player evaluation and positional value.

• Data collection, access & usage: How, where, who?
• Central database: Developers, engineers, data scientists
• Technology, new data, publicly available data, go-to websites, metrics 
• Standard scouting scale & roles, defense & positional value
• Demo: Fangraphs WAR by position
• Demo: Matching data sets with ID numbers

Assignment #1: Match two Fangraphs data sets with MLB ID numbers.

By the end of this class, you’ll be able to break down a Major League hitter using public data — combining role, split stats, StatCast, and advanced value metrics to make a clear, defensible case for what that player is worth and where they’re headed.

• Workshop: Evaluating hitters with value metrics 
• Defining the player’s role as a starting point
• Demo: Building an evaluation using multiple websites & public data 
• Discussion: Where is this hitter trending? What is his role & what is his value?

Get hands-on with real baseball data to evaluate pitchers — analyze key metrics, track performance trends, and estimate value and risk using publicly available stats.

• Workshop: Evaluating pitchers with value metrics 
• Demo: Building an evaluation using multiple websites & public data
• Health & pitchers: Analytics and estimating risk
• Discussion: Where is this pitcher trending? What is his role & what is his value?

Assignment #2: Select a young Major League hitter/pitcher and write an evaluation, noting strengths and areas of improvement. What is the player’s role and value?

Learn how to translate your Major League evaluation skills to the minors — understand the quirks of available data, spot future stars, and make informed forecasts even when the stats aren’t perfect.

• Data derived scouting reports
• Time horizons & the Aging Curve
• Indicators of future performance & Prospect Lists
• Workshop: Evaluating a Minor League hitter/pitcher
• Discussion: Limitations & tools for evaluating the minors
• Demo: Exporting data & making connections 

Step into the front office and tackle the big question: should a team lock in a rising star with a long-term deal or test the waters year by year? Use stats, comps, and strategy to make data-backed recommendations that could shape your final project.

• Arbitration & the role of statistics
• Demo: Exporting data & making connections: Finding comparable players
• Contract extensions for young players
• Discussion: Extension vs. arbitration
• Workshop: Discussing a contract extension & motivations for a team/player

Assignment #3: Forecast performance for a player through his first year of free agency.

Learn how analytics drives free agency decisions: evaluate players, compare peers, weigh health and risk, and turn data into smart contract offers that balance short- and long-term team goals.

• Qualifying offers
• Timing of contracts inside of the free agency period
• Age, health & risk evaluation
• Short- and long-term horizons
• Demo: Making a list of comparable players
• Adding Fangraphs & StatCast data to lists

Explore the strategy behind every trade, from player stats to payrolls, and see how analytics shape decisions that can make or break a season. Dive into real case studies, run simulations, and hear firsthand from industry experts about what drives trades in the big leagues.

• Case Study: How the acquisition of a player impacts a lineup 
• Acquisition & team’s playoff odds 
• Payrolls & the addition of players
• Workshop: Discussing a trade & motivations
• Guest Speaker: Expert on trades

Assignment #4: Make a list of historical comparable players for your chosen player. Estimate what your player may earn in each of his arbitration years.

Learn how pro teams turn data and video into winning strategies. From spray charts to matchup analysis, discover the tools players and coaches use to build advance reports, craft game plans, and adjust on the fly — with insider tips from an expert.

• Advance report
• Data & video
• Spray charts, hot/cold zones, matchups, stolen base stop lights, etc.
• Adjusting to rule changes
• Building a game plan
• Guest Speaker: Expert on game planning

See how cutting-edge tech reshapes player coaching. Analyze real MLB cases, use tools like TrackMan and force plates, and learn how biomechanics and data-driven adjustments can revive performance and sharpen skills.

• Case Study: Pitcher who revived his career
• Physical tools: Force plates, TrackMan, radar guns, Kinatrax
• Pitch design & swing paths
• Wearables, forceplates, biomechanics & video capture
• Replicating game situations & batter/pitcher matchups (Trajekt)
• Workshop: Examining a pitcher who struggles 

Assignment #5: Find 3 contract extensions that might be relevant to your focus player and state whether the team should consider a multi-year contract for the player. What might that offer look like?

Learn how teams turn data into identity, using analytics to shape draft strategies, evaluate player risk vs. reward, and define the style and philosophy that drives every roster decision.

• Grading physical tools
• Draft Combine & other data collecting events
• Case Study: Drafting a player & his injury history
• Using analytics to build team philosophy & strategy

Step into the agent’s shoes and see the game through their eyes. Learn how to scout talent with data, read the market, and pitch players to the highest bidder using real-world analytics strategies.

• Using analytics to uncover & recruit players
• Understanding which analytics appeal to teams
• Reading the market for specific metrics
• Valuing a player & finding the highest bidder

Step out of the classroom ready to land your baseball analytics role. Wrap up your course learnings, explore how analytics is shaping the future of the game, and get practical tips on resumes, interviews, and breaking into the industry. 

• Course wrap-up 
• Discussion: The future of analytics in baseball
• Interview & resume tips
• Discussion: Finding a job in baseball
• Q&A

Turn your season-long analysis into a professional scouting dossier. You’ll present a full performance forecast, contract strategy, and actionable recommendations for a top prospect — just like a real front office analyst.

• Presentations
• Instructor feedback

Final Project: Refine and update all prior assignments for a selected player. Include a performance evaluation, a forecast of performance through the first year of free agency, lists of comparable players, an estimate of the player’s salary, a short summary of the contract extensions & contract offer details.