Please take the time to read the previous articles about how we got to this point.
Ben Cherington cannot make the analytics department big enough. Since he was hired as the new GM back in 2019 he has been adding to the analytics team in several positions including: devops, researchers, developers, analysts, machine learning engineers, and apprentices. However, during the 2024 season a new position opened in that department, a front end developer.
Front end developers are the software developers who create the user interfaces that customers use. They are the ones who bring the prototypes to life and tweak the application until the best customer experience is achieved. Most front-end development today is done for web applications using a Javascript Framework like React, Angular, or Vue JS. I am fluent in React and Angular. In fact this site is built using a static site generator called GatsbyJS which is built on top of React. Last year the Pirates job posted a full-time front end developer who is fluent in one of these frameworks. I believe they had a preference for Angular and someone who has experience with data visualization frameworks.
I wish I would have saved the job posting, but I did apply for it. I didn't hear back. The job description mentioned the Pirates building and practicing their data infrastructure over the years and now they need the tools to deliver that data to the stakeholders. The stakeholders being the coaches, players, and trainers. It shows that they are satisfied now satisfied with their data models, sources, process, and infrastructure. They believe they have built the foundation for their data infrastructure and they are ready to share it with on field members. In the job description it mentioned meetings with stakeholders including coaches and need to communicate with them and build the tools for them. It seems the Pirates have completed each step of the data science process and are ready to reap the benefits by communicating the data to the coaches and players. To learn more about the data science process please read, "Matt Hague Data Scientist".
One instance I can remember where the Pirates used a lack of communication between the analytics department and players as an excuse was when they traded away Robert Stephenson to the Rays for Alika Williams. Stephenson was struggling with the Pirates after a bit of a hot start, and the Pirates needed a defense-first shortstop, so they made the swap. After being traded to the Rays Stephenson immediately started working to approve his slider. The Pirates have a bit of an obsession with throwing the traditional slider (many teams do) so they had Stephenson focus on that and it was eventually solved by major league hitters. The Rays developed his slider to make it more like a cutter by increasing velocity and reducing the horizontal break, and he finished pitching the rest of the season like an allstar.
When interviewed later about Stephenson having success with the Rays, the Pirates front office said it was because of a lack of communications between the analytics departments and the coaches and players.
Hopefully the addition of a font-end developer will help with the lack of communication and there will be no more (or less) trades like Robert Stephenson.