The Pittsburgh Pirates hired Kevin Tenenbaum as their new Vice President of Research and Development.
Tenenbaum was previously with the Cleveland Guardians, where he held the same role, and had worked in Research and Development since 2017. He previously worked with the Baltimore Orioles from 2013 to 2017, spending the final two and a half years as an Analyst in Baseball Analytics.
The Post-Gazette reports that Tenenbaum replaced Sean Ahmed, who was previously the Director of Research and Development. Ahmed resigned from his position prior to the end of the 2024 season, according to the Post-Gazette.
A year ago, the Pirates hired Sarah Gelles as a Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager. Gelles had previously worked with the Astros in Research and Development from late 2018, until being hired by the Pirates. Prior to working with the Astros, she also worked with the Orioles, spending time as the Director of Analytics and Major League Contracts while Tenenbaum was working in Baseball Analytics.
Tenenbaum is a graduate of Middlebury College, which is located in Vermont. The small school is rivals with Amherst College, which is where both Gelles and Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington went to school. Both schools are rivals with Williams College, which is the alma mater of Pirates owner Bob Nutting.
Aside from loading up on executives from the New England Small College Athletic Conference, the Pirates have made an extreme push towards incorporating analytics under Cherington. That hasn’t led to good results, especially on the hitting side.
Cherington hired Ahmed in 2020, who previously spent six years in the Research and Development department of the Cubs. Gelles and Tenenbaum represent the second attempt at Cherington to rebuild the R&D department. The Astros, Orioles, and Guardians aren’t bad organizations to look when seeking help in this task.
Last time the Pirates were contenders, they had Mike Fitzgerald leading their R&D department, which was much smaller. Fitzgerald was hired by Arizona in 2016, where he’s currently the Vice President and Assistant General Manager. The Pirates saw a sharp decline following his departure. They were ahead of the pack with league trends like defensive shifts and sinker usage with Fitzgerald. After he left, they fell behind the pack, sticking too long with the old trends.
Years after Fitzgerald left, the Pirates still needed an overhaul in this department. The role of Gelles and Tenenbaum will be to identify the best data to give to the Major League coaches, and ideally to find a way for the Pirates to gain an edge like they did in 2013-2015. Both hires come from organizations that are stronger than the Pirates, analytically. The hope is the Pirates hired Fitzgerald-types, who impacted their previous organizations’ success.
The Pirates will still need a hitting coach who can teach hitters what to do with the data. And, one or two hitters from the outside who can hit consistently.
