The Phillies on Thursday hired Google Quantitative Analyst Andy Galdi as the their "first-ever" Dir of Baseball Research & Development, according to Matt Gelb of PHILLY.com. New GM Matt Klentak said of the 30-year-old Galdi, "He's the perfect guy to help grow us forward in this area. ... Baseball is a very traditional industry. It is very much a copycat industry. I'm excited about what somebody coming in from a place like Google, what outside ideas he'll be able to provide and help us." The Phillies said Galdi will "oversee all baseball analytics, including data visualization and reporting, statistical research, and data infrastructure." In other words, he will "help interpret the myriad data available." Assistant GM Ned Rice "will be Galdi's boss." Galdi "will oversee Lewie Pollis, a 23-year-old intern who was promoted to a full-time analyst, and two or three other interns." The team has invested more than $1M "in its proprietary information system" (PHILLY.com, 1/29). MLB.com's Todd Zolecki noted Phillies investor John Middleton "wanted a beefed-up analytics department and it appears he got one." Galdi spent three years at Google, where he worked on YouTube. Under the direction of Middleton and Klentak, the Phillies are "working to make the transition from being one of baseball's least analytically inclined clubs." Galdi, who has a Master's degree from Stanford, "worked as a baseball operations intern with the Mets" in '09. He "spent the following two years working in the NBA Commissioner's Office as a statistical analyst, focusing on analyzing referees and the impact of potential rules changes" (MLB.com, 1/28).
