The SIS Baseball Podcast

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon is joined by …

 * ESPN broadcaster Eduardo Pérez, who celebrates the global nature of the game, and talks about his appreciation of Shohei Ohtani, Luis Arraez, and (among others) Rays outfielder Harold Ramírez. Eduardo also talks about the new rules, the pace of the game, and why this Sunday’s broadcast of Astros-Rangers is going to stand out beyond the starting pitching matchup (1:07).

 * ESPN’s Paul Hembekides, co-author of the new book Got Your Number, The Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own. Paul gives a baseball history lesson as relates to the defense of Ozzie Smith, Roberto Clemente, and Willie Mays (17:19).

 * And SIS VP of Baseball Bobby Scales, who explains how pitchers throwing off baserunner and batter timing is going to be key in trying to limit stolen bases, discusses why singles have always mattered, and picks the pitcher who’s impressed him in the first two weeks of the season (31:49).

 Thanks as always for listening. Please follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected]

This episode has all the bases covered.
 We start in college with Mark Simon talking to No. 1 LSU’s starting first baseman, Tre' Morgan. He’s considered one of college baseball’s defensive standouts, so we pick his brain on picks, adventures in the outfield, and much more (0:28).
We move on to some MLB Prospect talk as Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser gives us the rundown on how some of the game’s top future stars rate defensively. We run the gamut from Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson to Pete Crow-Armstrong (13:24).
Then SIS VP of Baseball Bobby Scales joins us to talk about both interviews, preview a couple of MLB breakout pitchers for 2023, and gives his thoughts, as someone who formerly worked in player development, on why Anthony Volpe and Jordan Walker will start the season in MLB (28:20).
Thanks as always for listening. Please follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected]

On this episode, we honor Women’s History Month with conversations with three women who are moving the industry forward with their work in baseball analysis.

Mark Simon is joined first by Chelsea Janes, national baseball writer for the Washington Post to discuss player reaction to rule changes, what to make of the Padres and Orioles heading into 2023, and other season preview-related topics. Chelsea also discusses how baseball’s receptiveness to women writers has changed in her 10 years on the job (1:02).

Andrea Arcidipane, also known as “Scoutgirl” on social media, talks about her time working in baseball operations for the Yankees in 2022. Andrea also speaks on information communication and making her videos and charts accessible to any audience, and she shares a few players she finds interesting heading into 2023 (Vinnie Pasquantino, Caleb Thielbar, Adam Duvall, and Brandon Walter for different reasons). Find her work on Twitter and at https://scoutgirlreport.com/ (22:41)

And SIS research analyst Sarah Thompson talks about the presentation she did at the SABR Analytics Conference on evaluating minor league outfield defense. She shares her findings on specific players and the differences between minor league and major league out rates on fly balls (36:50).

Make sure to check out The Effect of Outfield Position Changes on DRS by Andrew Kyne as mentioned in the Andrea Arcidipane interview. Thanks as always for listening. Please follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

On this episode, Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) and Bobby Scales (@Bobby_Scales) are joined by …

4-time Gold Glove winner Marquis Grissom (@MGBA_Baseball). Marquis talks about the work he does with aspiring Black baseball players and youth baseball organizations and the value of going to an HBCU both for school and for baseball. (0:55)

Major League Baseball's senior director of front office and field staff diversity pipeline program Tyrone Brooks (@tbrooksBIN). Tyrone talks about the work he does with MLB and the Baseball Industry Network, his time in baseball, and opportunities around the upcoming SABR Analytics Conference. (16:28)

And children’s book author Matt Tavares. Matt is the author of the children’s book, Henry Aaron’s Dream that was recently pulled from school bookshelves in Florida for review - the good news is that it was eventually returned. Matt gives us a good history lesson on Hank Aaron. (36:39)

And stay tuned at the end – Bobby answers Mark’s question – can you change a player’s defensive aggressiveness during spring training? (49:57)

On today's episode of the SIS Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon and Bobby Scales are joined by the general manager of the Phillies, Sam Fuld. Sam and Bobby were teammates with the Cubs in 2009 and 2010. Sam's entering his 3rd season as GM.

Sam talks about what the GM job is like on a minute-to-minute basis, the adjustment in going from field to front office, the kinds of questions he asks his staff, how he values defensive metrics, and much more.

You can find the FanGraphs article referenced by Sam here.

Thanks as always for listening. Please follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

For our final show of the year, we thought we’d do a best-of to spotlight the many great guests we talked to in 2022.

 Among the people you’ll hear from:

- Astros World Series MVP Jeremy Peña (0:46)

- Yankees SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa (3:01)

- Orioles prospect Gunnar Henderson (4:44)

- Nationals prospect Jake Alu (5:52)

- Diamondbacks outfielder/catcher Daulton Varsho (6:30)

- Cubs outfielder Ian Happ (7:39)

- Guardians Fielding Bible Award winner Steven Kwan (9:14)

- Platinum Glove winning Yankees catcher Jose Trevino (11:56)

- Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (13:32)

- Diamondbacks 1B Christian Walker (14:25)

- Team USA Women’s Baseball Coach Veronica Alvarez (16:20)

- Women’s baseball advocate Dr. Justine Siegal (17:03)

- White Sox director of minor league operations Jasmine Dunston (18:43)

- SIS VP of Baseball Bobby Scales (20:02)

- Dodgers broadcaster José Mota (22:50)

- College-bound catcher Adonys Guzman (24:00)

- Brewers prospect Eric Brown (25:00)

- Orioles outfielder Brett Phillips. (26:01)

If you like any of the clips heard here, check out the full episodes available on our podcast page. We'll have plenty more to come in 2023. Thanks as always for listening. Please follow

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon is joined by John Gibson, Ted Baarda, and Bobby Scales to review the 2022 NPB and KBO Fielding Bible Awards.

John goes through the NPB winners, explaining what made certain players so good defensively (0:34). Bobby talks about what it’s like to play in Japan and how defense is taught (14:08). Ted discusses the KBO winners and also talks about a few of the prominent free agents from NPB (22:43).

Thanks as always for listening. Please follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, we’re joined by two of MLB’s top defensive players, Platinum Glove (and Fielding Bible Award winning) Yankees catcher Jose Trevino and Gold Glove-winning (and Fielding Bible runner-up) Cubs left fielder Ian Happ.

Jose talks about the art and skill required to frame pitches, how he gets acquainted with a pitching staff, and why he’s passionate about keeping human umpires behind the plate (0:29).

Ian discusses the challenges of playing at Wrigley Field, why he was so aggressive at sliding, diving, and jumping this season, and how the Cubs used collaboration between the computers and the humans to refine their outfield positioning data (14:55).

Then, Mark is joined by SIS VP of Baseball Bobby Scales who talks about catching as an art, his own experiences at Wrigley Field, and what he’s most looking forward to for baseball in 2023 (32:31).

Thanks as always for listening. Please follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

On this episode, Mark Simon and Bobby Scales review the winners of The 2022 Fielding Bible Awards. You’ll also hear from some of the winners that we spoke to during the season, including Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker, Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers, and Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan.

Plus new interviews with Cardinals infielder Tommy Edman and Orioles shortstop Jorge Mateo.

Congratulations to all the winners!

 Thanks as always for listening. Please follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

On this episode, Mark Simon, New York Times national baseball writer Tyler Kepner and SIS VP of Baseball Bobby Scales discuss the biggest surprises of the 2022 season.

They include the accomplishments of Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols (yes, Judge was to some extent a surprise), Andrés Giménez and the Guardians, and many more (0:53).

Tyler also talks about his new book, The Grandest Stage, a history of the World Series (35:37).

Thanks as always for listening. Please follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].