/ Baseball Analytics Course

Learn How to Become a Baseball Analyst

In just eight weeks, you can learn from an industry pioneer how to interpret and forecast baseball data, helping you launch your career as an Analyst.

Baseball teams at all levels are investing heavily in analytics – because it leads to winning! Learn the skills teams are looking for in our 8-week online course taught by baseball analytics pioneer Ari Kaplan. MLB analytics and data science jobs start here. 

NEXT START DATE: January 6
Weekly Live Interactive Zoom Chats with Ari Kaplan

NEXT START DATE:
January 6

Weekly Live Interactive Zoom Chats with Ari Kaplan

MONDAYS 5 pm PT  8 pm ET TUESDAYS  1 am GMT
8-week online course
Access to SMWW network
Resume enhancement
Ongoing career advice
Class size limited to 30 students

Mentors

Chania

TAKE THE FIRST STEP

Learn More About Becoming a Baseball Analytics Student

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What You Can Expect from our Baseball Analytics Course

The average salary of a major league baseball player rose to $4.36 million per year in 2019, which means MLB teams average $132 million in salary for just the 25 players on their active roster. It is no wonder teams are investing heavily in analytics, they need to ensure their millions are being well spent.

The importance of baseball analytics continues to increase, and there are no signs of it slowing down. The curriculum for this course is specific to baseball and includes:

  • Week One: Role of Analytics and the Analyst in Baseball
  • Week Two: Introduction to Solutions Used by MLB Teams: Rapsodo, Blast Motion, Motus, Edgertronic, etc. 
  • Week Three: Advanced Scouting and Gamer Preparation with Data
  • Week Four: Introduction to Team-Used Software: R, SQL, Python
  • Week Five: Statistics Overview, Common and Advanced
  • Week Six: How to Analyze Data in-Depth
  • Week Seven: Arbitration, Forecasting, and Defensive Metrics
  • Week Eight: Software for Interpreting and Visualizing Baseball Data
     

In addition to the weekly live interactive zoom video chats with baseball analytics expert Ari Kaplan, students will receive textbooks handpicked by Ari. The online Baseball Analytics Course includes access to cutting edge revolutionary software and data.

Sports Jobs This Course Will Prepare You For

The prevalence of technology is shifting the dynamics of baseball scouting, especially during the pandemic. Prospects were previously beholden to hoping scouts would be at their games, but being able to share data from the likes of Rapsodo, Blast Motion, Driveline, and Motus, or post videos through showcase platforms has empowered amateur players. The world of baseball analytics is relatively new, so you are probably wondering what this educational opportunity can do for your sports career. Well, we have your answer. Taking this course will prepare you for sports careers like these:

  • Baseball Analyst
  • Baseball Coach
  • Baseball Manager
  • Baseball Operations
  • Baseball Research and Development
  • Baseball Journalist
  • Baseball Information Systems
  • Data Scientist
  • GM
  • Scout
  • Sabermetrician
  • Baseball Player Development

Meet Your Course Mentor:

Ari Kaplan

In the live interactive weekly zoom video chats, you will get to know Ari Kaplan. Ari is a leading figure in sports analytics, having worked with over half of all MLB organizations and many global sports media organizations during his 27 seasons in baseball. He received Caltech's "Alumni of the Decade" distinction for pioneering groundbreaking sabermetrics used to evaluate pitcher talent.

Kaplan has received great recognition for his work in baseball analytics, Sports Illustrated named Ari "Top Ten General Manager Candidate" and Crain's Chicago Business Journal included him in their annual "40 Under 40" cover story.

Kaplan is the founder of Scoutables with Fred Claire, the former World Champion Dodgers GM. Scoutables has provided advance scouting and analytics to broadcast and online media and over half of all MLB organizations. In 2010, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts brought in to Kaplan to create and lead the organization's analytics department. During his tenure, Kaplan led the in-house analytical and technical transformation. Taking this course will be similar to sitting in his office for one hour every week. An opportunity of a lifetime for baseball sabermetricians.

Ari is one of the few long-term baseball leaders with a proven track record at Fortune 500 companies, as well as successfully running several high-profile organizations as CEO or President. On the media front, Ari co-authored five best-selling books on analytics, databases, and baseball. Ari's work has been profiled on CNN, Chris Matthews, and the Today Show and one of his high-profile analytics projects was turned into a documentary on the History Channel.

Occasional Guest Speaker

Dan Evans has been in professional baseball for over three decades, holding key decision making roles with five MLB franchises, including three years as the Los Angeles Dodgers Executive Vice President and General Manager. Evans’ career began as an intern with the Chicago White Sox, where he worked his way up from the bottom and eventually became their Assistant General Manager/Director of Baseball Operations.

Evans brings a unique perspective to the Baseball Analytics course, having been a SABR member since the beginning of his career, and an original board member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation.

He also has worked as a broadcast analyst for MLB games, authors a column for Baseball Prospectus and is an original member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation. In addition to teaching the Baseball General Manager and Scouting course, and assisting with the Baseball Analytics course, Evans also evaluates talent for the Toronto Blue Jays, overseeing their entire Pacific Rim operations.

Why Baseball Analytics Isn’t a Passing Fad

750 players start each baseball season on an active MLB roster, but the process of evaluating those players begins well before Spring Training.

Major League teams invest heavily in analytics, the cutting edge method of using data to help determine the true value of a player, in order to ensure their money is being spent properly. But player evaluation isn’t the only application for analytics, teams at all levels use statistical analysis to help establish an organizational philosophy, scout opponents, prepare for contract negotiations and much more.

Analytics has found its way into every aspect of baseball operations – the applications are truly endless.

At SMWW, we’ll teach you the skills you need to have a career in baseball analytics!

Our Baseball Analytics course is taught by one of the founding fathers of sports analytics, Ari Kaplan. Kaplan is responsible for developing the Chicago Cubs analytics department and founded Scoutables, an advanced scouting and baseball analytics platform used by over half of MLB teams and by many in the broadcast and digital media.

Unlike most online classes, we focus our program on interactive zoom video chats directly with your course mentor, which allows you the opportunity to build personal relationships and rapport with Ari Kaplan. After completing our Baseball Analytics course, we will help you redesign your resume to highlight your new skills and include that you have been taught first-hand by Ari Kaplan. Now that is powerful!

Baseball analytics is a rapidly growing sector of the sports industry, the time is now to learn the skills that teams need.

Why You Should Take Our Baseball Analytics Course:

While baseball analytics gained mainstream notoriety with the book and subsequent movie, Moneyball, the truth is, sports analytics as a whole are still in their infancy.

"More and more teams, collegiate and professional, are developing and expanding their in house analytic staff,” explains Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, President, and Founder of SMWW. “For example, there are 302 NCAA Division One Baseball teams. Of those 302 teams, about ten has someone on staff who does Baseball Analytics. Our research shows, that most all teams will employee at least one analyst in the very near future."

When Baseball Analytics course mentor Ari Kaplan was charged with leading the Cubs analytics department, his work wasn’t just in player evaluation, his tasks included roster strategy, forecasting, advance scouting, player/coach game preparation, Minor League player development, MLB draft analysis, international arbitration, financial modeling, budgeting, marketing, and community outreach.

That is the scope of analytics. Are you getting excited yet?

The field of baseball analytics is growing rapidly, and no one can teach you with as much depth and experience as SMWW and Ari Kaplan. This is your chance to get on the ground floor of this expanding segment of the sports industry.

As part of this course, Ari Kaplan will teach you:

  • Sabermetrics
  • Roles of Analytics in MLB
  • A day in the life of an Analyst
  • Standard and advanced baseball statistics
  • Arbitration
  • Data-driven Advanced Scouting and in-game preparation
  • How to capture & analyze data and video content
  • Various baseball analytics software options
  • Statistical solutions used in the MLB

 

Our ability to generate stats has gotten way ahead of our ability to make any sense of it… It's going to take a lot of work by people like Ari Kaplan before we understand what all this means. 
- Bill James, father of Sabermetrics

Scoutables Certificate & Resume Reference

Successful graduates of the SMWW Baseball Analytics Course will be sent an SMWW Certificate of Accomplishment.

This "Scoutables Certificate" represents not only your achievements in the course but also demonstrates your personal commitment to self-improvement and the ability to "self-train" yourself for higher positions within the baseball industry.

In addition to your certificate, you will be given the stamp of approval by SMWW. This approval includes a personal reference you may add to your resume with contact information for Dr. Lynn Lashbrook & Ari Kaplan.

Resume Redesign Service

Acquiring the skills necessary for your dream sports career is only one part of the employment journey. Even with the required skill set, you still have to market yourself properly to attract the attention of sports industry employers.

At SMWW, we’ll teach you the skills you need to thrive AND help you redesign your resume for optimal impact in the sports industry. We’ll help you craft a resume to include your new skills, credentials, and references. We'll also optimize it to reach hiring managers searching online.

We want you to become the next SMWW success story and will go to great lengths to help you get there!

Become an SMWW Scout

Successful graduates will be invited to join SMWW Scouting, our network of professional scouts working across all sports and in all countries. You will have the ability to market yourself as a SMWW Scout and Baseball Analyst.

SMWW will become your match-makers! (pun intended!)

The site will include your own webpage with your picture and biography and samples of your best Baseball Analytic reports. As a graduate of the Baseball Analytics course you are eligible to apply for acceptance as an SMWW Baseball Scout.

 

Course Details

Weekly Interactive Zoom Video Chats: A unique aspect of each 8-week course is the opportunity for students to participate in weekly, interactive zoom video chats with world-renowned statistician Ari Kaplan, fellow students, Dr. Lynn Lashbrook and renowned guest speakers. This is a tremendous opportunity to network within professional baseball via the internet. This is available via any online computer. Live interactive zoom video chats are recorded and archived so students can listen live or at their convenience.

Online Education: This innovative academic course is facilitated through a web-based educational delivery system. You will enjoy the online discussion boards, weekly readings, weekly quizzes, course projects, and interaction amongst fellow baseball business-minded students and faculty. All course materials and textbooks are included in the course fee.

Global Participation: SMWW students participate from over 162 countries. Courses have an international influence and instructors will cater assignments to specific countries or leagues. Countries with economic challenges are eligible for economic discounts.

University Credit Available: For additional fees to Fort Hays State University in Kansas, you may receive graduate or undergraduate university credit for Sports Management Worldwide's courses. Click here for more information.

MLB Winter Meetings Conference: All SMWW students are encouraged to attend the yearly SMWW Winter Baseball Meetings Conference. All SMWW Students receive a huge discount to attend. This is an incredible opportunity to network with fellow students, baseball executives, and SMWW faculty within the industry. 

Advanced Certificates: Want to take your career to the next level? Our Advanced Certificates have been hand-selected by our team of sports industry experts to put you on a path to success. These bundles allow you to take advantage of our biggest discount available, by bundling multiple courses and becoming an expert in that field. Learn more about our Advanced Certificates here.

Military Discount: For those individuals who represent their country in military service, (active, reserve, or retired) we offer a discount. Thank you for serving your country! For more information on the Military Discount please Click Here.

Tax Write Off (For USA Citizens): SMWW course tuition, books, and supplies can be used for education tax credits. Save your receipts and consult with your tax advisor on how this applies to you.

THREE MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF $650

Or a single payment of $1,950

Includes all course textbooks and access to a web-based classroom. Shipping is additional.

PRICE IN  
APPROXIMATELY $1950

If we offer an economic discount in your country, it is included in the estimate above. Exact pricing including the discount is shown before you complete checkout. Payment plan options are provided during checkout.

PAYMENT METHODS:
Prerequisites: Must be 18 or older to participate and have a passion for sports.
CALL TODAY: 1-877-SMWW-NOW
(In the UK: 087 12884799)

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