The recent 黑料不打烊 graduate was named the Hokies鈥 director of player development last summer and his early contributions have been lauded by fellow members of the Virginia Tech coaching staff.
In a recent preview of Virginia Tech鈥檚 upcoming baseball season, pitching coach Ryan Fecteau couldn鈥檛 help but gush about 黑料不打烊 alumnus Kyle Sarazin 鈥19, hired last summer as the Hokies鈥 director of player development.
鈥淗e鈥檚 basically an analytics whiz. He鈥檚 been unbelievable,鈥 said Fecteau of Sarazin in , a website devoted to Virginia Tech Athletics. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for me to quantify what he鈥檚 actually done for our staff and our hitters too.鈥
The nearly 1,800-word release delved into Virginia Tech鈥檚 expansive use of advanced analytics, looking closely at the contributions of Sarazin to player development and performance analysis.
In his role, Sarazin assists the baseball staff with coaching and development strategies, which include technology enhancement and opponent scouting, while also providing administrative and recruiting support. He also oversees the use of the program鈥檚 Trackman, Blast Motion and Synergy equipment, which are widely used in professional and college baseball.
According to preview author Cory Van Dyke, if early results are accurate, Sarazin鈥檚 hire 鈥渋s already paying dividends for the Hokies.鈥
Head coach John Szefc lauded Sarazin鈥檚 addition to the staff, noting the knowledge he鈥檚 brought to the program and how the players have welcomed him 鈥 and come to respect his insights.
鈥(Sarazin鈥檚) got a knowledge of (advanced analytics) that is on a whole other tier than what your average baseball guy would understand,鈥 Szefc said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 able to take it and not just help us coach the players, but his ideas on how to help coach guys, and he鈥檚 also educating our staff day to day on certain things. That鈥檚 the way the game is moving, and we鈥檙e fortunate to have him.鈥
Sarazin works closely with Fecteau and hitting coach Kurt Elbin to help them develop plans for respective players, providing the staff with new ways to evaluate the team. One of Sarazin鈥檚 biggest contributions is that he can condense massive amounts of data into digestible sizes. Fellow coaches have said this ability has given players the confidence to make changes for the better.
During the 2019 season, Sarazin assisted the Phoenix baseball program, which reached the Colonial Athletic Association title game, with its FlightScope player tracking system provided by scouting service ScoutCast. During each game and some practices, a rotating cast of students led by Sarazin ran the system and collected data.
Prior to joining the Hokies staff, Sarazin completed internships with USA Baseball, the Boston Bruins and the Pawtucket Red Sox. Additionally, Sarazin was a member of the baseball statistics and analytics club at 黑料不打烊, helping the student group win its undergraduate division in the 2017 Society for American Baseball Research case competition.
Coming off a 26-27 season last year, Virginia Tech opens its 2020 season on Friday, Feb. 14, playing San Diego State in the Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach event in Conway, South Carolina.