NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – During his five years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Mike Fitzgerald watched their analytics department grow into a seven-man operation that worked hand-in-hand with the major league coaching staff.
Fitzgerald, who was hired last week to head up the Diamondbacks’ analytics efforts, would love to see his new organization grow in those same ways, but he doesn’t believe in trying to artificially speed up the process.
“I think if we try to have seven people in place by February 2017, we’re not going to have the right people in place,” Fitzgerald said on Tuesday morning, during a break from the Diamondbacks’ suite here at the winter meetings.