It Sounds Like The White Sox Are Finally Investing More and More Into Analytics
(SOURCE)
In an absolutely perfect world, Danny Farquhar would still be pitching, facing the adrenaline rush and competitive world of late-inning relief.
Even though he is retired from the playing field, life is pretty close to perfect for the 32-year-old pitching coach in the White Sox Minor League system.
“I love my new job,” said Farquhar during a recent phone interview with MLB.com. “It wasn’t in the cards for me to continue playing. I don’t have any regrets. I busted my butt to get back to where I was in 2019 for the season and I just honestly wasn’t good enough, and I said that in the past.
“It’s time to move on for the next phase in my life. I’ve always wanted to be a coach. I think I would excel the most in professional sports, which is where I am.”
Farquhar was an analytics-interested competitor even before analytics became such an important part of Major League Baseball. During his seven big league seasons and 253 relief appearances for the Blue Jays, Mariners, Rays and White Sox, Farquhar also was open to helping other teammates.
Right now you might be thinking to yourself, "who?" and unless you're a White Sox fan, that'd be for good reason. But rewind it back a few years and Danny Farquhar legit almost died in the White Sox dugout:
it was horrifying. Nobody on the broadcast team knew what was happening, but watching it in real time everyone knew something was up. Something BAD. But luckily for him and his family it happened where it did as White Sox medical personnel were obviously on site and he could be quickly rushed to the hospital.
And now his career has come full circle. Awesome news - by all accounts he was a clubhouse favorite on every team he played for. Throw one back for the good guys. But aside from him surviving his medical scare, I love the fact that he's heavy into analytics, as baseball is ever evolving. If you've read 'Astroball', it talks about how Carlos Beltran would eventually be a perfect manager because of his personal investment into analytics. Can never, ever have too many smart guys around, especially in an organization like the White Sox that has apparently been behind the curve in this realm compared to their peers. That is at least until recently. This quote really sits well for me:
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“The cool thing is we have all this information with all the technology where we can present a piece of paper to a guy and show him where to throw the baseball. These young guys coming out of college and some high school kids, they are open eyes and open ears and taking this information in really, really well. The younger guys are really, really good learners.”
Fuck and yes. INFORMATION. Beat it into every single player in every single affiliate's brain. Out with Earl Weaver 1970s spray charts. In with modernized baseball. Love everything about it. Finally, FINALLY it seems like the White Sox are catching up to the rest of the league. Here's another great article to reference from Crain's Business that supports this claim.
Happy for Danny. Hopefully he teaches Sox MiLB guys to spin it and spin it good.