With Sig Mejdal, O's should take big leap forward in analytics

We have a pretty good source that essentially informed us that the Orioles need to dramatically upgrade their usage of analytics moving forward. The source is the players on the 2018 Orioles.

It was not a good look for the organization when, after Kevin Gausman and Brad Brach were traded to Atlanta and Zach Britton was dealt to the Yankees, that all three spoke about being exposed to much more analytical data and information with their new clubs.

Whatever the problem was in Baltimore, it needed fixing.

Britton was quoted in this article on FanGraphs.com.

"There's a gigantic difference in how we use analytics here compared to Baltimore," Britton said. "I'd never been exposed to that amount of information," he added. "And it's not just, 'Here's a stack of stuff to look over.' It's (targeted) to each individual player. I don't want to get into specifics, but some of it is how my ball moves, both my sinker and my slider, compared to different hitters' swings. It kind of opens your eyes to things you maybe didn't think of when you didn't have that information. If you look at the teams in the postseason, most are well-known for their analytics departments. Especially the Astros."

Yep, especially the Astros. And now two of those key Astros are in Baltimore. Mike Elias was hired as executive vice president and general manager. Yesterday his first hire was Sig Mejdal to serve as assistant general manager, analytics.

Not only is Mejdal a leader in this field, but the Astros had him work for much of the last two years in the field, so to speak, with their minor leaguers. That not only got the young kids a jump on using and understanding analytics, but allowed Mejdal to see how his data actually goes from computer to player, first hand.

When he was in Baltimore recently, former Oriole Rich Dauer, a Houston coach from 2015-2017, spoke about working in that organization. And also how the data went from the front office to the clubhouse.

"The Astros organization is the most analytical and smart group of guys that I've ever been around in my life," said Dauer. "And they always stay ahead of the game. They know that everyone is trying to copy them, so they have to go to new levels in order to be smarter. I learned so much there. But then you have to take the human element and put it in with the computer element.

"The front office guys would meet with the coaching staff and the coaching staff would meet with the players. We had all the information on the bench. It's just staying ahead of the game. Sig is top shelf. I love that guy."

Maybe O's fans will come to love him, too. Britton's comments were telling and made his former organization look bad. Wherever the Orioles came up short, that needed to be resolved. Now it has been. The Orioles may go from near the bottom of the majors in this regard and now move toward the top. It's a step in the right direction, a huge one.

If the Orioles are to ever compete again with teams like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, they have to compete with them in all aspects of the operation. Now, when it comes to analytics, the Orioles should be on a par with the best teams and maybe even have a chance to top many of them.

Huge, indeed.

Finally, Happy Thanksgiving to all O's fans today and to all our readers. Hope everyone has a great day!