The SIS Baseball Podcast

On this edition of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, two-time Fielding Bible Award winner Matt Olson ( @mattolson21 ) joins Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) from Atlanta to talk shop – defensive excellence at first base. Matt remembers the first time he made a great defensive play (2:40), the state of Georgia’s excellence when it comes to great defense (4:09), who he watched growing up (5:...

On this episode of the SIS Baseball Podcast, senior research analyst Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) talks with the authors of “Future Value: The Battle for Baseball’s Soul And How Teams Will Find The Next Superstars,” Eric Longenhagen ( @longenhagen ) and Kiley McDaniel ( @kileymcd ). They discuss how much of the book is based on personal experience versus how much is from others in the business (...

On this edition of the SIS Baseball Podcast, senior research analyst Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) is joined by Keith Law ( @keithlaw ), senior baseball writer at The Athletic and author of the new book “The Inside Game.” Mark and Keith talk about the motivation for writing this book and what he would want someone to get out of it (1:11), bias as it relates to high school pitcher selection in the...

On this edition of The SIS Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) is joined by Wall Street Journal national baseball writer Jared Diamond ( @jareddiamond ), author of the new book, Swing Kings: The Inside Story of the Home Run Revolution. Jared and Mark discuss who these people are that have established themselves as hitting experts (2:08), the communications aspect of trying to teach hi...

On this episode of the SIS Baseball podcast, senior research analyst Mark Simon is joined by former major leaguer Eduardo Perez ( @PerezEd ) and NY Times national baseball writer Tyler Kepner ( @TylerKepner ) for an NCAA Tournament-style bracket selection show – to pick the best defensive player of the 21st century. Top seeds Adrian Beltre, Yadier Molina, Andrelton Simmons and Jason Heyward lead a...

This special edition of the SIS Baseball Podcast features a conversation with 3 of the smartest minds in baseball writing today. Eno Sarris ( @enosarris ) of The Athletic explained how current players are learning how defensive metrics work (0:56). Rob Arthur ( @No_Little_Plans ) shared the details of an article he wrote for Baseball Prospectus on how teams are valuing defense (5:18). Jay Jaffe (...

On this edition of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) welcomes baseball back. Hooray! He’s then joined by Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter, who explains how the school’s state-of-the-art pitching lab came to be (2:18), how information gets translated from the language of a PhD to the language of baseball (5:44), the difference between performance scienc...

On this month’s edition of the SIS Baseball Podcast, senior research analyst Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) shares interesting things he's learned about Matt Chapman, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Didi Gregorius from the new Defensive Runs Saved (1:06). Mark is then joined by Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore. They discuss the state of the Royals rebuild (3:05), what an MLB manager sh...

On this week’s edition of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball podcast, senior research analyst Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) opens the show by talking about the defensive analytics concepts he hopes a manager would know (1:16). Mark then talks with Nationals assistant general manager for baseball research and development, Samuel Mondry-Cohen. They discuss Sam’s path from batboy to front office exe...

On the final episode of the 2019 season, senior research analyst Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) explains why the Nationals defense was an important part of an epic championship story (1:00). Mark and research associate Andrew Kyne ( @Andrew_Kyne ) run through the winners of the 2019 Fielding Bible Awards, our honor for defensive excellence (2:58). Mark and Andrew also preview the 2020 Bill James H...

On this week’s episode, Sports Info Solutions senior research analyst Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) talks with writer, SABRcast podcast host and baseball historian Rob Neyer ( @robneyer ). They discuss 2019’s home run explosion (1:14), where defensive shifting is heading (3:45) and how relief pitchers are being used (8:18). They also talk about Rob’s observations on the value of defense (13:30) a...

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions baseball podcast, senior research analyst Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) begins the show by praising those who played extraordinary defense for sub-.500 teams this season. (0:57) Mark is then joined by Padres catcher Austin Hedges, who rates as the No. 1 pitch-framer in baseball. Hedges talks about the value of pitch-framing and explains where he learned...

On this episode of the SIS Baseball Podcast, senior research analyst Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) opens the show by praising the Cardinals infield’s defensive excellence (0:52) and is then joined by Arizona Diamondbacks Gold Glove-winning shortstop Nick Ahmed ( @NickAhmed13 ). Ahmed talks about the kinds of things he has improved upon from one year to the next (2:04), the challenge of turning do...

On this episode, Sports Info Solutions senior research analyst Mark Simon ( @MarkASimonSays ) details the story of the success of Yankees outfielder Mike Tauchman, who has had an unexpectedly impressive season in the field (0:59). Mark is also joined by minor league third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes ( @KeBryanHayes ), who is ranked among the top infield prospects in the minor leagues. Ke’Bryan explains...

This week’s episode of the SIS Baseball Podcast highlights defensive excellence in the Bay Area. Senior research analyst Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) points out how well Chad Pinder has played recently, with help from Oakland Athletics coach Ryan Christenson (1:04).  Then, Mark talks to San Francisco Giants outfielder Kevin Pillar (@KPILLAR4). They discuss the challenges of making sliding, diving,...

In this episode of the Sports Info Solutions podcast, senior research analyst Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) recounts the Indians recent success (1:22), then talks to Tigers broadcaster & special assistant Kirk Gibson (@23KGibby) about what stats he’d like to see related to mentally getting through a season (3:30), teaching hitters proper swing techniques (8:34), what interests him about analyti...

On the SIS Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays), senior research analyst for Sports Info Solutions, shows us how baseball analytics are cool, interesting, and fun. SIS develops analytics and provides them to MLB teams, media, and fantasy baseball outlets. On the podcast, we’ll give you a peek into our world, talk to important people around the industry about analytic storylines, and shar...

In this episode of the SIS Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) begins by marveling at Zack Greinke’s defense (1:05). Mark then talks to MLB Radio and Arizona Diamondbacks broadcaster Mike Ferrin (@Mike_Ferrin). Mike makes his case for the best team in baseball (3:25) and discusses how much organizations value defense in this era (4:51). He also makes his pick on which defensive player h...

In this episode, Sports Info Solutions senior analyst Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) is joined by three baseball writers – Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) of the San Francisco Chronicle, Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) of the Tampa Bay Times and Dan Hayes (@DanHayesMLB) of The Athletic. Slusser talks about how the Athletics are struggling to match the success of last season, particularly in relief pitchin...

On the SIS Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon, senior research analyst for Sports Info Solutions, shows us how baseball analytics are cool, interesting, and fun. SIS develops analytics and provides them to MLB teams, media, and fantasy baseball outlets. On the podcast, we’ll give you a peek into our world, talk to important people around the industry about analytic storylines, and share what we find to...

On this podcast, SIS senior research analyst Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) talks about Cody Bellinger’s great defensive season (1:07). David Cone (@dcone36) joins the show to discuss his new book Full Count, The Education of a Pitcher (2:30). He also shares how he got into analytics (5:30), comfortability with stats like FIP and the defensive metrics (6:33), what pitchers should learn (10:50), his...

Sports Info Solutions Senior Research Analyst Mark Simon  (@MarkASimonSays) compares the defense of Nick Ahmed and Andrelton Simmons in his Batter Up! segment (1:07), welcomes MLB's Director of Engineering and Data Quality and former SIS president Ben Jedlovec (@BenJedlovec) to discuss his career in baseball and how new stats develop (2:56) , sits down with Andrew Kyne (@Andrew_Kyne) of SIS t...

Sports Info Solutions Senior Research Analyst Mark Simon  (@MarkASimonSays) is back for round two of the SIS Baseball Podcast.  This week, Mark looks at the San Diego Padres (@Padres) upgrading the  left side of their infield (0:52), welcomes New York Times national  baseball writer Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) to the show to talk pitching  and his new book (2:50), sits down with Andrew Kyne (@Andr...

Welcome to the pilot episode of the SIS Baseball Podcast with Sports  Info Solutions Senior Research Analyst Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays).  Mark discusses his spotlight player for 2019 (0:48), welcomes The  Athletic's Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) to the show to talk about shifting  and defense (4:04) and introduces new stat developments at SIS with  research associate Andrew Kyne (@Andrew_Kyne) (...