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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Astros add ‘Baseball Prospectus’ alum Fast in drive for stats knowledge

Congrats, Mike! (and for bbc’s sake let’s hope he…“cleans up real nice, not fat neither”!

The Astros added to their statistical strength in the front office, hiring Mike Fast of Baseball Prospectus to serve in the baseball operations department.

Fast, one of the foremost experts on pitch trajectory (PITCHf/x) data, has also written on HITf/x data for BP. Some of his latest writings have been on hit-and-run success, quantifying how much control pitchers have over batted balls and an analysis of hot and cold zones for hitters.

“We’re definitely excited to have someone with his background and interests,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said. “It’s a lot of the same things that we’re interested in studying.”

Fast joins director of decision sciences Sig Mejdal in a front office that is increasingly statistically minded. His job title has not been determined yet.

Repoz Posted: January 24, 2012 at 06:34 PM | 32 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: astros, community, sabermetrics, site news

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1. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: January 24, 2012 at 06:50 PM (#4044828)

Congrats to Mike Fast, I enjoyed his work.

2. Mike Fast Posted: January 24, 2012 at 07:19 PM (#4044872)

Thank you!

I've never met Lisa in person, but maybe now I'll get the chance. (She and I are both already taken, though.)

3. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: January 24, 2012 at 07:38 PM (#4044897)

Good luck Mike.

4. Best Regards, Larry M. Posted: January 24, 2012 at 08:07 PM (#4044938)

Good luck Mike.

With bbc or the job?

5. icebaseball16 Posted: January 24, 2012 at 09:01 PM (#4044999)

Congratulations Mike and good luck!

6. Mattbert Posted: January 24, 2012 at 09:11 PM (#4045010)

If your boss is the Director of Decision Sciences, does that make you like an Associate Decider? Senior Decision Scientist?

That's a badass business card.

7. base ball chick Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:18 PM (#4045054)

mike is a real nice guy. and i hope he isn't gonna get the usual bad treatment stats people have gotten.

8. shoewizard Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:37 PM (#4045067)

Mike's work and skill set seem particularly applicable for a major league team. I think he'll do great.

Congrats Mike. Best of luck

9. Mike Fast Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:39 PM (#4045068)

Thanks, Lisa. I am very impressed with both Jeff Luhnow and Sig Mejdal. I wouldn't have taken the job if I thought I might be ignored. The challenge is more going to be on the opposite end from that, I think.

10. Der_K is feeling better now. Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:44 PM (#4045072)

Congrats, Mike!

11. A Random 8-Year-Old Eskimo Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:49 PM (#4045074)

Congrats Mike. This is deserved.

12. Mike Emeigh

Posted: January 24, 2012 at 10:59 PM (#4045084)

mike is a real nice guy. and i hope he isn't gonna get the usual bad treatment stats people have gotten.

I don't know Jeff Luhnow. I do know Sig Mejdal, and there isn't a better guy in the business. Mike's in good hands.

-- MWE

13. Austin Posted: January 24, 2012 at 11:42 PM (#4045130)

Is this going to be a full-time job, Mike?

14. Mike Fast Posted: January 25, 2012 at 12:01 AM (#4045144)

Austin/13, yes.

15. Walt Davis Posted: January 25, 2012 at 12:29 AM (#4045170)

Using this sort of data is an area where teams can probably make some real strides. I've got no idea if Mike's the best guy for the job but he's the best guy with these data that I've yet encountered on the intertubes.

And I assume they made him a contract offer competitive with Prince Fielder's. :-)

16. Bruce Markusen Posted: January 25, 2012 at 01:17 AM (#4045205)

Mike, your feeling on the possible name change? (I know you probably can't comment.) I'd love to see them bring back Colt .45s or Colts.

17. Austin Posted: January 25, 2012 at 01:31 AM (#4045212)

Mike: Cool! We'll obviously miss reading your work on BP, though.

18. Dock Ellis on Acid

Posted: January 25, 2012 at 02:03 AM (#4045226)

To Bruce's dismay, there's no way bringing back Colt .45s would ever happen. As long as ballparks are Fun for the Whole Family™, ballclubs are not going to be (re)named after guns.

EDIT: Apologies, I should take this comment to the other Astros thread. I don't want to change the subject. This is a celebration. Congratulations, Mike!

19. Howie Menckel Posted: January 25, 2012 at 02:10 AM (#4045231)

Exactly the kind of [cliche alert] 'thinking outside the box' moves that bad teams need to make because otherwise they are doomed.

No one can solve this team's woes alone, but I think Mike can help them make several better decisions per year than they made before....

20. Zach Posted: January 25, 2012 at 10:10 AM (#4045318)

Way to go, Mike!

21. Greg Pope Posted: January 25, 2012 at 10:18 AM (#4045324)

For as much crap as Crane has been taking for what he might do, the moves so far all seem to be in the right direction. Now, it might be in the direction of trying to put a mediocre team together on a shoestring budget. And I understand that there are some warning signs with what Crane has done in the past. But just on the face of the hiring there's nothing really to complain about.

22. Der_K is feeling better now. Posted: January 25, 2012 at 10:26 AM (#4045330)

Agreed, Greg. (Incidentally, I don't remember seeing any Snyder disucssion - but, if he's healthy (which I guess is the question), that's a tremendous pickup for the price.

23. base ball chick Posted: January 25, 2012 at 10:34 AM (#4045335)

greg,

the moves in the right direction are hiring mike fast, firing ed wade/tal smith and signing chris snyder. dumping brett myers, brandon lyon, carlos lee and wandy rodriguez (all planned moves) are not gonna make any difference seeing as how the same people who dumped michale bourn for crap are still there.

oh yeah - and letting people bring water into the ballpark and we'll see what happens when beer prices are lowered.

what other moves are in the right direction? firing pam gardner - i mean, having her resign?

if he changes the team name, he's got another move in the right direction.

24. Der_K is feeling better now. Posted: January 25, 2012 at 10:58 AM (#4045371)

I also thought signing Corpas, claiming F.Martinez, and acquiring Marwin Gonzalez were pretty good low risk, low gain plays. (Didn't like claiming Tatum, signing Cust, or r5 drafting Cruz). Not sure about the Lowrie/Melancon deal (my gut likes Lowrie more than my brain does ... probably a worthwhile risk).
Oh - and Luhnow seems like a pretty good pickup as well.

Anyway, you've gone from doing mostly stuff I think is stupid (and, bear in mind that I tend toward being an apologist for most GMs/teams) to mostly reasonable ideas, if not things that will make you good in the short term. Baby steps (and easy for me to say as a non-Houston fan).

25. Greg Pope Posted: January 25, 2012 at 11:34 AM (#4045393)

what other moves are in the right direction? firing pam gardner - i mean, having her resign?

I don't know who Gardner is, so I can't comment. But all I was saying was that a few moves in the right direction without any moves in the wrong direction could be a cause for some optimism, no?

26. Diamond Research Posted: January 25, 2012 at 12:13 PM (#4045419)

I am guessing that Luhnow pushed for Sig as both were from St. Louis. Now an org to keep an eye on.

27. villageidiom Posted: January 25, 2012 at 12:41 PM (#4045445)

If your boss is the Director of Decision Sciences, does that make you like an Associate Decider? Senior Decision Scientist?

Assistant to the Director of Decision Sciences.

28. chris h. is a member of Team Keefe! Posted: January 25, 2012 at 01:06 PM (#4045465)

Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief!

29. Crispix Attacks Posted: January 25, 2012 at 02:16 PM (#4045543)

If your boss is the Director of Decision Sciences, does that make you like an Associate Decider? Senior Decision Scientist?

Mike Fast is going to be the first person to get a graduate degree in behavioral psychology from an accredited baseball team.

30. base ball chick Posted: January 25, 2012 at 04:40 PM (#4045638)

Diamond Research Posted: January 25, 2012 at 11:13 AM (#4045419)

I am guessing that Luhnow pushed for Sig as both were from St. Louis.

- correctamundo

what i hear from my saint looey friends is that there was this big split into people who were luhnow's people and people who were mozeliak's people and megdal was a luhnow guy. so is the guy they brought over to be bench coach.

corpas? who is that?

greg,

pam gardner was president for business operations - meaning she ran the business of the actual ballpark and she was actually GOOD at her job.

31. Der_K is feeling better now. Posted: January 25, 2012 at 05:01 PM (#4045660)

My bad - I was thinking of Manny Corpas, the former Rockie, signed with the Cubs for $1M, + $1M in incentives ... mlb.com's transaction page (which I was reading from) has Hector Corpas signing w/ HOU. He's a washout from the Cards system, low level cannon fodder.

32. Diamond Research Posted: January 26, 2012 at 12:09 AM (#4045931)

Instead of Facilities Officer on my business card, I want Director of Structural Experiences. That would be cool.

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Astros add ‘Baseball Prospectus’ alum Fast in drive for stats knowledge

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