First published 2019
The Moneyball revolution has ended. Every major league front office now uses data to evaluate players, eliminating the advantage that analytics once provided. Authors Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik reveal how baseball's smartest organizations have shifted strategies from simply acquiring talent to developing it. The book examines how the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox leveraged advanced technology to capture World Series titles. It traces the journeys of undersized players like José Altuve and Mookie Betts as they became MVP-caliber sluggers, and shows how controversial pitcher Trevor Bauer transformed himself into a Cy Young contender. The authors document how new analytical methods have overturned traditional approaches to pitching and hitting. Through detailed reporting, they show how former fringe players became home run champions and how aging pitchers reinvented themselves as dominant aces. The book demonstrates that success now comes from maximizing untapped potential rather than simply identifying finished products.
Genres: business, sports, non-fiction, technology, baseball, 21st-century
Vibes: analytical, informative, thought-provoking
Tropes: innovation, underdog-story
Setting: Astros, Red Sox
Period: 2017, 2018
1 pages · Audio CD · Basic Books