Range Riders Add Analytics to the front office
Glacier Range Riders President Chris Kelly announced today, April 4, the Range Riders have hired Michael McDonald in the role of Baseball Analytics and Performance Science.
Flathead Valley Montana (April 4) – Glacier Range Riders President Chris Kelly announced today, April 4, the Range Riders have hired Michael McDonald in the role of Baseball Analytics and Performance Science. McDonald will oversee analytics for all Range Riders players utilizing data collected from performance tracking technology from both Yakkertech and Trackman.
"We're excited to have Mike join us in Glacier," said Kelly. "He brings a lot to the program. Our players have the latest technology to assist in their development, and in Mike they have the resource they need to understand those metrics and improve their performance, amplifying their opportunities to advance their game."
Flathead Field will be the only ballpark in the PBL to have both Yakkertech and Trackman data available for its players. Yakkertech is an optical in-game system that provides metrics on hitting, pitching and defense. Trackman is the largest baseball scouting program in the world, providing actionable insights to the Range Riders coaching staff and athletes.
"I am very excited about coming to Glacier this year. Marty and Chris have shown that they really care about growing baseball and being ingrained in the community. The willingness they have exhibited in investing into player development has me and the coaching staff motivated for the start of Spring Training. I am looking forward to hitting the ground running and helping develop our players and win baseball games in 2023." said McDonald.
McDonald has a range of baseball experience and joins the Range Riders from Chanticleer baseball where he served as Technical Coordinator overseeing both video coordination and analytics. Prior to Chanticleer, McDonald was the Quality Control Coach/Interim Bench Coach for the 2021 LMB Champions Toros de Tijuana in Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. In 2019 he was Interim Hitting Coach for the AAA Memphis Redbirds, an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2016-2019 he was Director of Player Development for Costal Carolina University Baseball after spending 2015-2016 as Director of Baseball Operations with Santa Clara University