So it came out in Jeff Luhnow's Sloan Sports chat that the Astros have hired Mike Fast - otherwise known on Twitter as Fastballs. He's an Austin-based writer for Baseball Prospectus whose archive can be found here.
According to Fast's "acceptance tweet," he'll have a role in baseball operations.
In Zachary Levine's article for the Chronicle, he writes:
Fast, one of the foremost experts on pitch trajectory (PITCHf/x) data, has also written on HITf/x data for BP. Some of his latest writings have been on hit-and-run success, quantifying how much control pitchers have over batted balls and an analysis of hot and cold zones for hitters.
Rany Jazayerli had this to say:
I have a problem with Astros hiring @fastballs. My problem: WHAT TOOK SO LONG? He's one of the best baseball analysts anywhere. About time.
High praise, indeed.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
