Today’s episode features Nick Wan, Director of Analytics for the Cincinnati Reds Baseball Team. 

Evan and Nick’s conversation covers the value sports analytics provides to everyone involved, from hiring personnel to coaches to players. 

You’ll hear about how specific baseball rule changes affect analytics and the accessibility of sports data to analysts and fans alike.  

You’ll also learn how Nick’s work landed him on the front page of the New York Times and what he envisions for the future of sports analytics.   

Key Takeaways  

• The breadth of analytics usage in the sports world 
• The demand for data that is applicable and actionable 
• How public research can add value to the analytics world 
• The importance of critical thinking to ensure sound methodology 

Quotes  

“The goal is really to produce work that is not just strong statistically, but also applicable.” - Nick Wan  

“Everyone's reading FanGraphs in the industry. It truly is a bastion of the analytics community, not just in baseball, but in sports in general.” - Nick Wan  

“You do have to be a pretty sharp, critical analyst or analytics contributor to recognize when the methods are off a bit.” - Nick Wan 

Featured in this episode  

Evan Wimpey 
Director of Analytics Strategy at Elder Research. 
Company website: www.elderresearch.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-wimpey-40469b47  

Nick Wan 

Director of Analytics, Cincinnati Reds Baseball Team
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nickwan_datasci 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NickWan 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickwan 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realnickwan/ 
Check out Nick’s front page NYT article feature: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/14/upshot/how-arizona-state-reinvented-free-throw-distraction.html  

Chapters  

01:17 How Nick got into sports analytics from a neuroscience background 
05:49 How sports data analytics teams are organized functionally 
08:28 Who are the end users of sports analytics? 
12:00 Demand for applicable data 
13:56 Accessibility of sports data  
18:21 The value of the public research field of sports analytics 
24:18 How do rule changes in the game affect analytics?  
29:33 Neuroscience: the future of sports analytics?  

Find more show notes, transcripts, & more episodes at:
https://www.elderresearch.com/resource/podcasts/