2026 SABR Analytics Conference highlights
The 15th annual SABR Analytics Conference was held from February 27–March 1, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona, bringing together the top minds in the baseball analytics community to discuss, debate, and share insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball.
Click on a link below to watch a video replay of each session.
Featured Panels
Career Paths in Baseball Biomechanics
Career Paths in Baseball Biomechanics Panel
Franky Mulloy, Cincinnati Reds; Hillary Plummer, San Diego Padres; Megan Stewart, Milwaukee Brewers; Will Vandenberg, Los Angeles Dodgers. Moderator: Will Carroll, Under the Knife.
Vince Gennaro: The Next Edge: Where the Competitive Advantage is Moving in Baseball
The Next Edge: Where the Competitive Advantage is Moving in Baseball
Vince Gennaro, Lab for Transformative Leadership, NYU School of Professional Studies
MLB Statcast Updates
MLB Statcast Updates
David Adler, Graham Goldbeck, Do-Hyoung Park, Major League Baseball.
Players We Love in 2026
Players We Love in 2026 Panel
Panelists: Dave Adler, Baseball HQ; Derek Carty, writer and podcaster, Jason Collette, Rotowire; Eno Sarris, The Athletic. Moderator: Derek VanRiper, The Athletic.
Keynote Talk: Doug Fearing
Doug Fearing of Teamworks Intelligence gave the keynote talk at the 2026 SABR Analytics Conference.
Afterward, he was presented with the 2026 SABR Analytics Conference Lifetime Achievement Award. Click here to learn more.
Arizona Diamondbacks Front Office 360 Panel
Arizona Diamondbacks Front Office 360 Panel
Panelists: Jennifer Brann, Max Glick, Cory Hahn, Maile Kamada, Kelvin Kondo, Jason McLeod, Kristyn Pierce, Connor Shannon, Arizona Diamondbacks.
Diamond Dollars Case Competition
Encore presentation by Rice University: Mark Cohen, Brady Detwiler, Brendan Lloyd, Andersen Pickard, and Saylor Robinson. Learn more at sabr.org/analytics/case.
Research Presentations
RP1: Ken Cherryhomes and Stacy Silvernail, "Introduction to Causal Analytics"
RP2: Conner Pelletier, Josh Hejka, and Sam Ehrlich, "Solving Ball Flight Physics"
RP3: Kevin Giordano, "Contact Depth Affects Most of the Other Hitting Metrics We Analyze"
RP4: Arnel Aguinaldo, "Assessing the Accuracy of In-Stadium and Portable Multi-Camera Markerless Motion Capture for Baseball Pitching Kinematics and Kinetics"
RP5: Kristen M. Stewart, "Individual Muscle Capacity to Generate Elbow Varus Moment During a Fastball Pitch"
RP6: Wesley Gawel, "Lead Leg Ground Reaction Force Patterns and Their Association with Rotational Velocities and Bat Speed in Baseball Hitting: A Statistical Parametric Mapping Analysis"
RP7: Siddharth Ramakrishnan, "Torpedo-Style Bat Mass Redistribution: A Statcast-Calibrated Simulation of Exit Velocity and HR Proxy Effects"
RP8: Jessica Fackler, "Kinematic Consequences of Pull-Centric Swing Approaches"
RP9: Mark Kritzman and David Turkington, "Prediction with Transparency: Offensive Value in Baseball"
Student RP1: Peter Culley, "Building a Better Ballpark: Optimizing the Placement of the Outfield Wall in an MLB Stadium"
Student RP2: Joseph H. Caplan, "Relationship Between Fastball xCTRL and Kinematic Determinants of Arm Slot in NCAA Division I Baseball Pitchers"
Student RP3: Shane Sullivan, "Modeling When a Third Base Coach Should Send a Runner Home"
Student RP4: Nickolas Bartle, "Beyond the Aging Curve: A Bayesian Framework for Distinguishing and Quantifying Injury vs. Natural Decline in MLB Pitchers"
Student RP5: Tejas Rama and Sam Cowan, "‘Stomping’ Out Fielder Pitch Tipping"
Student RP6: William Lee and Bach Nguyen, "A Kalman Filter Approach to Pitcher Mechanical Consistency in Major League Baseball"
Student RP7: Christopher Martinez, "When to Challenge a Pitch? A Reinforcement Learning Approach to ABS Challenge Strategy"
Student Sessions
Bryan Walko: Introduction to Baseball Databases
Introduction to Baseball Databases
Bryan Walko, SABR
Jonah Gardner and Zoe Surma: Working With Baseball-Reference Data
Working With Baseball-Reference Data
Jonah Gardner and Zoe Surma, Sports Reference
David Hyland: Visualizing Performance Data with R
Visualizing Performance Data with R
David Hyland, Xavier University
Jeremy Losak: Building Your First Baseball Model
Building Your First Baseball Model
Jeremy Losak, Syracuse University
Shanna Shi: Working with Baseball Savant and R
Working with Baseball Savant and R
Shanna Shi, Major League Baseball
Meredith Wills: Front Office Scouting: How to Make the Analytics Draft Class of 2026
Front Office Scouting: How to Make the Analytics Draft Class of 2026
Meredith Wills, SMT