As MLB clubs "discover more ways to be proactive instead of reactive to injuries ... they have found a new way to gain a competitive edge," according to Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The Cardinals have established their new Performance Department, a "companion to the team's medical and training staff." The Cardinals hired Dr. Robert Butler from Duke to oversee the department, and to "bring some data-driven know-how to it, and work in conjunction with head athletic trainer Adam Olsen, who was promoted this past winter." Goold: "The training table is this year's draft board." More than a decade after a "numbers-fueled sabermetrics revolution" changed how baseball evaluates talent, teams are "looking into data for ways to better treat, predict, and ideally, avoid injuries." Olsen in an email wrote, "We embrace a specific testing procedure paired with a progressive treatment strategy to create a philosophy unique to the Cardinals organization. In place of 'Bigger ... Faster ... Stronger' we strive to create 'antifragile' men who move efficiently with athleticism." Goold noted the Nationals this offseason also announced an "overhaul of their complete medical staff to include 'analytic input' just as the Cardinals have been doing." The Nationals "felt compelled to revamp their medical staff with an 'advisory board' of experts after a season undone by injury." The Nationals "lost 1,278 man games to the disabled list" in '15. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said, "What we were able to accomplish this offseason was bringing in a team of performance experts who have a background in the medical world so there's not that natural clash. It's much more of a collaboration than a battle" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/7).
SOCCER MEETS MONEYBALL: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Deborah Gage reported S.F.-based analytics startup Tag.bio has created software that helps Serie A club AS Roma "scout players, group players and analyze before a game how the opposing team is expected to perform." Raptor Group, which owns the soccer team, has "led a $250,000 investment into Tag.bio." Tag.bio co-Founder & CEO Tom Covington said that the company "plans to extend beyond sports into other markets" (WSJ.com, 3/4).
