For the fifth straight year, Syracuse University Sport Analytics and Sport Management students participated in the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) Analytics’ Diamond Dollars Case Competition in Phoenix, Arizona, over Spring Break in March 2019. The competition is for undergraduate and graduate students from universities across the country to compete against each other by researching and presenting on a current baseball analytics topic. Presentations were made to a panel of judges consisting of Major League Baseball executives. Five SU teams competed in Arizona in 2019, with two teams winning their respective divisions.
The topic was “Developing a Strategy for Pitching Usage,” and teams were tasked with defining a strategy (or multiple strategies) that MLB teams can follow to assess the optimal way to deploy their pitching assets over the course of a 162-game schedule. Teams had to show how their strategy would impact team run prevention and ultimately team performance. Teams made their presentations by using programs such as R, Excel, and Tableau.
With the help of generous gifts from Mark Lomasky and Andrew Berlin, 25 students competed at this prestigious event. The competition is part of the annual SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix, which featured industry speakers, as well as a networking event and job fair for the students to engage with executives who work in the baseball analytics field. Students attended spring training baseball games and an Arizona Coyotes game. They met with members of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ business analytics team, including SPM graduate Greg Ackerman ’15.
The students were accompanied by Sport Analytics professor Dr. Rodney Paul, Sport Analytics program manager Francesco Riverso, and Sport Management assistant teaching professor David Meluni. The Baseball Statistics and Sabermetrics Club meets every Wednesday at 6pm in Falk Room 400. Email Dr. Paul at rpaul01@syr.edu for more information.